"Scientific measurement shows our search quality [was already] the highest it's ever been," says Google Fellow Amit Singhal, one of the keepers of the algorithm. But he acknowledges that the company started noticing more sketchy items slipping into results, months before the blogosphere went ballistic. "We've been at it a while," he says of the effort the company has invested in the new revisions. "Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA."

Could you explain "Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA"?

My comments:

In other words, Google will not make rash changes – it's not their way of doing things.

DNA is the acid that carries generic information in a cell. If it's in your DNA, it's in your genes and cells. In other words, it's something you're born with. It's your nature.

Knee-jerk, on the other hand, refers to the involuntary way the knee quickly moves if you hit it at certain spots. Knee-jerk changes therefore refer to habitual changes in reaction to something that's just happened, i.e. changes without careful thinking.

When Google says it's not in their DNA to make knee-jerk changes, they mean to say that they will not make rash decisions because it's not the Google's way. They will of course make changes when they deem necessary and in due course, but in a systematic, well thought out manner.

In other words, all in good time.

And that means you'll probably have to wait a bit.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.