A Complete History of Major Google Algorithm Updates
Did you know that people perform over 1.2 trillion searches in Google every year?
As we speak, thousands or millions of people are searching for products and services such as those that you offer!
If you feel that you are not getting the right return on investment (ROI) for your social media marketing, what can you do?
You have probably heard about “Google Algorithm Updates”. What does this mean? And how can you use them to get better results for your investment?
Why not check out our in-depth explanation of the history of Google Algorythmical changes.
The Panda Update
We start in 2011. Of course, Google used algorithms much earlier than this. With the 2011 Panda update, however, Google began to more closely examine On-page SEO methods and techniques.
Google started to penalize keyword stuffing and other unorthodox methods of improving rankings. From this point on Google rewarded websites that actually offered text and content that was of benefit to the audience.
Affiliate sites and sites that had very little beneficial content were immediately downgraded. Google became the champion of those who want quality webpages on the internet.
Venice
In 2012 Google rolled out the Venice update. when you run a search for a service, are you pleased to see results that are local to your address? This change was mostly added to the Google algorithm with the Venice update.
Google accomplishes this by prioritizing results that are close to your IP address’s geographical location.
Penguin
In 2012, Google continued to progress in identifying tactics that falsely provide value to a site. For instance, prior to the Penguin update, you could apply purchased back-links to your site. The algorithm could not tell real from fake. You could literally purchase our way yo the top of the rankings.
With the Penguin update, however, Google installed backlink checking. This meant that links that were genuine backlinks would add value to your site. However, backlinks that were clearly artificial would result in a low score.
While backlinks are not necessarily unorthodox, Google continues to penalize sites that have paid low-quality links. To benefit from back-links you have to adhere to a quality strategy.
Pirate
The name of this update tells you much about its purpose. The Pirate update assists in the combatting of illegally pirated material. In analyzing sites, it takes into account DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) action against materials on that site.
While this does not necessarily lead to the removal of a site, it does count negatively against their ranking and value in the Google algorithm.
Hummingbird
It may seem hard to believe that as far back as 2013 Google was laying the groundwork for “Siri” and “Alexa” type voice searches. With the Hummingbird update, Google began to take search terms as phrases rather than individual words.
This immediately improved the quality of search results. Typing in a question would result in a clear answer, rather than related expressions to entered words.
This reinforced Google’s efforts to ensure that web searches and content would be based on natural languages rather than a rule-based keyword-only search pattern.
Pigeon
Google continued with bird-related themes in 2014 with the Pigeon release. This release led to more accurate localization and contextual results.
Many take for granted that thanks to Google’s localization service, you will receive convenient local recommendations that have true relevance to your location and search.
In the same year, Google also rolled out an incremental update that underscored their commitment to security. Websites that implemented HTTPS protocols were given a slight advantage.
RankBrain
In 2015 Google unleashed RankBrain, and the world was never the same again. This update employed machine learning that would literally learn search terms and common queries and then learn how to respond more accurately and efficiently.
Whilst this might seem to only affect queries, it also impacted web development. It meant that from 2015, webpage content and natural language carried a greater value.
You cannot manipulate your site’s technical aspects to impress RankBrain. The only way to increase your value is to employ great writing and writers.
Mobile Speed and Medic Update
As part of two updates in 2018, Google first released a page loading related update. This means that if a user has to wait an eternity for a page to load, the page will lose value in Google’s eyes.
This was yet another update that valued the user experience in browsing webpages. Google is concentrating on providing the best possible experience for its users.
Google’s second update came a little later and was known as Medic. Rumors abound as to its true purpose, however, it seems that it was released to protect users from false information.
BERT
One of the greatest changes to the Google algorithm in the last number of years came in 2019 with the release of Bert. Bert is actually an acronym for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers.
Simply put a word may have a number of meanings. For example, think of the word “Ball”. Is it a piece of sports equipment or a black-tie party? The word could be understood in more than one way.
The context, or surrounding words, clarify the intent behind the word. Bert is able to understand the surrounding words and thus the true meaning of the word in a search query. Clever boy.
This is leading to far more accurate search query results and happy Google users.
Everything You Need to Know about Google Algorithm Updates and More
If you are a digital marketing manager or are a business owner, your knowledge of Google Algorithm Updates will give you the cutting edge that you need to get you up the Google rankings.
If you want to learn more about digital marketing, we are happy to help. We leverage our years in the marketing world to bring you reliable services and premium advice.
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