why do some pages rank well despite having weaker content and fewer backlinks ?

Yggdrasil Root said:

I am leaning seo and check several cases where pages with relatively thin content and fewer backlinks consistently rank above pages that appear more comprehensive .

I love to hear real world experience from others who have encountered this challenge.

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Trendy now Google is no longer looking at content quality or even backlinks but rather determining how well that site is matching up to the query and how that user acts after visiting it.
The weaker site will actually win basned on format match, CTR or engagement over the more detailed post.

I think Backlinks is the mean factor of ranking in Search engine in 2026