It is a question that comes up periodically about Google’s search algo – does the algorithm treat different languages differently when it comes to their core Google ranking algo or is it a one-size-fits-all approach where all languages have the identical algo applied.

The latest Google Webmaster Hangout for English/Hindi webmasters tackled this topic, with Syed Malik Mairaj answering the question.

Well the core of the search engine is the same, it doesn’t change with the language.  Because it’s not just English and Hindi, there are a number of dozens of languages that we cater to.  So the core of the search engine remains the same.

Except that, of course, every language is different.  So when it comes to the nitty gritty of the specific language, the grammatical issues or the vocabulary itself, then I think we have, of course, our machines will have to have their customized knowledge.  So it is really only there.

His answer does hint that there are individual filters for various languages.  This makes sense, since Google would want to ensure content that is actually readable, rather than a nonsensical spam page that happens to have words from a specific language.

This also confirms what Gary Illyes said at SMX Sydney earlier this year when he said that the same core algo is used worldwide but then Google applies a country and language boost to those results.

From my previous article on the country and language boosts:

After the algo, then Google will apply a country boost and a language boost to the search results. This is why when I search from Canada, I see sites skewed a bit towards Canadian sites while someone searching from the UK would see more UK-centric sites in the search results.

Likewise, this also ensures that someone searching in English sees English results while someone searching in French or Japanese would see results in those languages first.

I asked Gary Illyes for clarification on how exactly the country and language boosts get applied to sites, for obvious reasons. He said the country and language boosts are applied on a page level, not as a site-wide boost.

Here is the full video: