A handheld SEO device - that duplicates the Google algorithm?

[edgarlomax]

I know this sounds mad but I was talking with a friend in the States who works for Apple and he told me that there's a device which plugs into your computer and enables you to interogate a website using the same algorithm that google uses. It's been reverse engineered and coded into this device apparently.

He's been right before when he told me of the iPad last year so I thought that this might be the next thing as well.

Anyone have any gossip on something like this?

[FranticFish]

Sounds like a misunderstanding to me.

There are spider simulators, but all a spider does is fetch the code from the site, check response times. It just gathers some of the data.

All the other stuff - using the data from the site and across the web as a whole - is done in Google's DCs. Webpages and websites are looked at as part of the whole web to calculate things like PR, authority, localrank etc etc - and it's likely that this varies from niche to niche too.

So unless all this device does is hook into Google to show what it knows about the website already, then its existence sounds like an impossibility to me. Otherwise we're talking the entire Google infrastructure in a box.

[martinibuster]

Google doesn't evaluate a website as if it exists on it's own. The hallmark of PageRank is that it discerns something about a site relative to a query based upon outside influences from other websites. There are many other factors involved that, as I understand it, are intended to foil algo cracking including multiple algos.

[edgarlomax]

I've just had a skype talk with my friend and he's filled in a few details. He's not very senior but gets his hands on some interesting stuff.

The device exists and will be launched soon. His team have had a demo device and tested it. He likes it.

It uses some kind of algorithm which has been reverse engineered from the Google algorithm to come up with the same evaluation.

It can be used to deliver a report immediately or save it to rate sites against each other.

A server version has been discussed but he doesn't know if it's been built or not.

Two guys have designed it and built it and they live in Europe somwhere, he doesn't know where. His boss has spoken to one of them.

His device was blue but apparently they are going to be yellow.

The device has gone now to another company. He doesn't know which one but thinks it's a pr firm in Redwood City.

[wheel]

It uses some kind of algorithm which has been reverse engineered from the Google algorithm to come up with the same evaluation.

This is where they lose all credibility.

Are these the same guys that had a cold fusion device a few years ago?

[Philosopher]

Maybe I would have believed this was possible 5-7 years ago. Back then, it was not too hard with a large enough dataset to do some reverse engineering and come up with a pretty accurate picture of what the algorithm was looking for.

Today...nah. I don't think so. There are too many factors involved.

personalized search
geo-targeted results
manual intervention
niche specific weighting

to name a few.

Not to mention iff this is a hand-held device, all it would really be able to look at is the site itself which is only a fraction of the whole picture. It wouldn't be taking into account link quantity, link quality, link reputation, etc. so it would be pretty much useless.

[HuskyPup]

he told me that there's a device which plugs into your computer and enables you to interogate a website using the same algorithm that google uses.

What if, note if, this device remotely connected using the computer's net access to a cloud-based server trying to emulate Google?

Just a thought.

[edgarlomax]

Hey, I'm just repeating what he said. I'll speak to him again this weekend and try and get more info.

[dusky]

I heard of device Apps cross-promotion between Apple's Smartphone and Google's Nexus one (http://www.google.com/phone) specifically in-house built-in Apple's handheld (probably the next version of the iphone) new web search apps from google and music and entertainment channels from Apple on the Nexus. That's what your friend probably means. Stands to reason why both would want that, Apple's massive Smartphone market share with google's massive web search market share, they will both make a kill! Google will manage its apps from its DCs and the Apple handheld can directly retrieve results from them through Telecom and mobile operators, there is no reverse-engineering and all is a legitimate joint partnership.

[edgarlomax]

No, that's not what he meant at all. I know about that device and so does he.

[edgarlomax]

I'm going to talk to him this weekend. Apparently he has more information. Will report back here.

[edgarlomax]

I've just finished a chat with him and he said that it's launching very soon. Images below. Apparently theres a rack based server as well.

file:///C:/Documents and Settings/EdHome/My Documents/widget.jpg

file:///C:/Documents and Settings/EdHome/My Documents/widget-rack.jpg

Will try and get some more info soon.

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 4:16 pm (utc) on Mar 30, 2010]
[edit reason] removed identifying info from jpg names [/edit]

[indyank]

Do you expect us to see what is on your My documents folder

[tedster]

Please note - this forum does not permit links to images. See the
Google Forum Charter [webmasterworld.com]

Right now we're discussing an application of some sort that isn't even released. Until it is released and until there is authoritative news to refer to (from independent sources, rather than company or investor information) I'm locking this thread.