How does Google Search Work?

Every year Google runs hundreds of thousands of tests to see if a change they are considering to Search will actually make it better. One of the ways Google tests for that is by turning to real people. Learn more about their Search Quality Raters and how it works.

Every time you search, there are thousands, sometimes millions, of webpages with helpful information. How Google figures out which results to show starts long before you even type and is guided by a commitment to you to provide the best information.

Even before you search, Google organizes information about webpages in our Search index. The index is like a library, except it contains more info than in all the world’s libraries put together.

In a fraction of a second, Google’s Search algorithms sort through hundreds of billions of webpages in our Search index to find the most relevant, useful results for what you’re looking for.

To help you find what you’re looking for quickly, Google provides results in many useful formats. Whether presented as a map with directions, images, videos or stories, we’re constantly evolving with new ways to present information.