Google's API Leak Revealed the Three Click Metrics That Drive Rankings

For years, Google told the SEO industry that clicks don't influence rankings.

Then, in May 2024, over 14,000 internal API documents leaked via GitHub. And the code told a very different story.

Three metrics. Right there in the documentation.

The leaked documents revealed that Google's NavBoost system — the same ranking system confirmed during the DOJ antitrust trial — tracks three specific click metrics: “goodClicks,” “badClicks,” and “lastLongestClicks.”

These aren't vague references to user satisfaction. They're named variables in production code. NavBoost uses them within a rolling 13-month window to adjust rankings based on how real users interact with search results.

That's not hyperbole when you consider what these documents actually show.

It gets more specific.

The leak also exposed a system called CRAPS (yes, really) that processes raw click data into demotion scores. When a page accumulates enough “badClicks” — short visits where users bounce back to the search results — CRAPS generates signals that push that page down in rankings.

The inverse is also true. Pages that earn “goodClicks” and “lastLongestClicks” — where users stay, engage, and don't return to Google looking for a better answer — get a ranking boost through NavBoost.

This isn't a theory built from correlations. This is Google's own internal architecture, exposed in their own documentation.

Why Google denied it.

Google has long maintained that clicks are too noisy and too easily manipulated to use as a ranking signal.

But Google's public-facing position remained that click data was only used for evaluation, not for live rankings.

The API leak made that position impossible to maintain. The code doesn't lie — even when the press statements do.

What this means for your SEO strategy.

If you've been focused exclusively on content quality, backlinks, and technical SEO, you've been working on one side of the equation. The API leak confirmed that user engagement — specifically how people click on and interact with your search listings — feeds directly into the ranking system.

The three metrics are straightforward:

• Google wants to see that users click on your result (goodClicks)
• That they stay on your page (lastLongestClicks)
• That they don't bounce back to try a different result (avoiding badClicks)

Every click order through SerpClix sends exactly these signals. Real humans searching for your keyword, clicking your listing, and spending time on your page. That's a goodClick and a lastLongestClick in Google's own terminology.

SerpClix uses an army of over 400,000 real human clickers to boost your organic CTR. Get started with a free trial or log in to your dashboard to set up your next click order.

Please note: there are no guarantees in search engine optimization, ever. There are innumerable factors that can affect search engine rankings. And, realistically, most sites should focus their efforts on traditional SEO before even thinking about using non-traditional techniques like SerpClix. All SEO efforts can involve an element of risk. Some techniques are certainly more risky than others. SerpClix employs real human clickers, so we think our service is far less risky than trying to use automated or robotic click methods. But, like all SEO strategies, there is an element of risk because Google’s algorithm is unknown and subject to change at any time. For more information please see our Buyer FAQs.