Search Central LiveDeep Dive Europe 2026

Knowledge base v2.13.0 · Community edition · data through 2 October 2026

Topic · How Search works

Ranking signals by result type

A Day 1 slide said signals differ by result type: web pages rely on text, links and passages; images on resolution, colour and associated text; news on freshness, originality and diversity; local on location, type, rating, reviews and hours; video on language and text from speech. Google's documentation does not list signals this way. Day 2 expanded two of them: the text around an image is critical context for understanding and ranking it, so alt text alone is not enough, which is consistent with Google's image SEO guide; and freshness counts for queries that deserve fresh results, such as a breaking local event, as Google's ranking systems guide confirms. Google added that some freshness signals are calculated during indexing and used in ranking. Day 3's quality talk repeated the split by result type: text, links and passages for web pages and, probably, freshness, diversity and originality for news. A community speaker said Google loves fresh content (not in Google's docs). Author’s view: Google's 'query deserves freshness' systems are narrower than a general preference for fresh content, so refresh pages whose queries expect current information and judge other refreshes by quality.

Based on D1-C045, D2-C537, D2-C656, D2-C657, D3-C142, D3-C486, D3-C487

6 claims · raised in 5 sessions · said or shown on Day 1 and Day 2 and Day 3

Open in Reef mapOpen in Graph

What to do

  • Put descriptive text next to important images (captions and surrounding copy), not only in the alt attribute.
  • For news and event pages, publish and update quickly; freshness is weighed for queries that deserve fresh results.

Day 1: Crawling 1

Shown on screen 1

SlideNot in docsD1-C045

Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour, associated text), news (freshness, originality, diversity), local (location, type, rating, reviews, hours) and videos (language, text from speech).

Speaker Cherry Prommawin, Gary IllyesIn Day 1, 11:45 · How Search works and where's AI?Evidence slide photo, transcript

  • Repeated by D2-C537 Day 2: The text around an image is critical: Google uses it as context to understand the image and to rank it, so an…
  • Extended by D2-C656 Day 2: Freshness is a signal for queries that deserve fresh results ('query deserves freshness'): when a breaking…
  • Repeated by D3-C142 Day 3: Google's quality talk said ranking signals differ by result type: for web pages they include the text on the…

Day 2: Indexing 2

Said on stage 2

StageConsistent with docsD2-C537

The text around an image is critical: Google uses it as context to understand the image and to rank it, so an alt attribute alone is not enough.

Speaker Gary IllyesIn Day 2, 13:50 · Using images to your advantage and Engaging Search users with videosEvidence transcript

Used byrequirement DEV-IMG-03

  • Repeats D1-C045 Day 1: Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour…
  • Extended by D2-C950 Day 2: Because not every generated alt text can be checked by hand, a community speaker's safer script adds the page…
StageConfirmed by docsD2-C656

Freshness is a signal for queries that deserve fresh results ('query deserves freshness'): when a breaking event hits a city, such as possible closure of Barcelona's airport, users want really fresh results, not results from two weeks ago.

Speaker GoogleIn Day 2, 15:30 · Calculating (some) signalsEvidence transcript

  • Extends D1-C045 Day 1: Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour…
  • Extended by D3-C487 Day 3: Google's ranking systems guide describes 'query deserves freshness' systems that show fresher content where…

Day 3: Serving: Ranking, Search Console, and Performance 3

Said on stage 2

StageConsistent with docsD3-C142

Google's quality talk said ranking signals differ by result type: for web pages they include the text on the page, links and passages, while for news, probably, freshness, diversity and originality become more important.

Speaker GoogleIn Day 3, 11:15 · How Google thinks about QualityEvidence transcript

  • Repeats D1-C045 Day 1: Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour…

Analysis by the author 1

AnalysisD3-C487

Google's ranking systems guide describes 'query deserves freshness' systems that show fresher content where it would be expected, which is narrower than a general preference for fresh content; refresh pages whose queries expect current information, and judge other refreshes by quality.

Author Ibrahim AnjroAnnotates Day 3, 14:20 · Lightning session L: Understanding SERPs and your users

  • Extends D2-C656 Day 2: Freshness is a signal for queries that deserve fresh results ('query deserves freshness'): when a breaking…

Across days and sessions 5

  1. Stage D2-C656 Day 2 · Calculating (some) signals

    Freshness is a signal for queries that deserve fresh results ('query deserves freshness'): when a breaking event hits a city, such as possible closure of Barcelona's airport, users want really fresh results, not results from two weeks ago.

    extends
    Slide D1-C045 Day 1 · How Search works and where's AI?

    Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour, associated text), news (freshness, originality, diversity), local (location, type, rating, reviews, hours) and videos (language, text from speech).

  2. Stage D2-C950 Day 2 · Lightning session F: Media

    Because not every generated alt text can be checked by hand, a community speaker's safer script adds the page title to the LLM's image description, so the alt text carries the page's intent and not only what the image shows.

    extends
    Stage D2-C537 Day 2 · Using images to your advantage and Engaging Search users with videos

    The text around an image is critical: Google uses it as context to understand the image and to rank it, so an alt attribute alone is not enough.

  3. Analysis D3-C487 Day 3 · Lightning session L: Understanding SERPs and your users

    Google's ranking systems guide describes 'query deserves freshness' systems that show fresher content where it would be expected, which is narrower than a general preference for fresh content; refresh pages whose queries expect current information, and judge other refreshes by quality.

    extends
    Stage D2-C656 Day 2 · Calculating (some) signals

    Freshness is a signal for queries that deserve fresh results ('query deserves freshness'): when a breaking event hits a city, such as possible closure of Barcelona's airport, users want really fresh results, not results from two weeks ago.

  4. Stage D2-C537 Day 2 · Using images to your advantage and Engaging Search users with videos

    The text around an image is critical: Google uses it as context to understand the image and to rank it, so an alt attribute alone is not enough.

    repeats
    Slide D1-C045 Day 1 · How Search works and where's AI?

    Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour, associated text), news (freshness, originality, diversity), local (location, type, rating, reviews, hours) and videos (language, text from speech).

  5. Stage D3-C142 Day 3 · How Google thinks about Quality

    Google's quality talk said ranking signals differ by result type: for web pages they include the text on the page, links and passages, while for news, probably, freshness, diversity and originality become more important.

    repeats
    Slide D1-C045 Day 1 · How Search works and where's AI?

    Ranking signals differ by result type: web pages (text, links, passages), images (resolution, colour, associated text), news (freshness, originality, diversity), local (location, type, rating, reviews, hours) and videos (language, text from speech).

Built on these claims 1

Developer requirements 1

Sources 3