Google Algorithm Updates
GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES
The major reason for the 'Google Algorithm Update' is due to the uncertainty caused after the rollout of each update. Google rolls out hundreds of core algorithm updates each year so that it could deliver the best answers to their users; the search engine giant announces a few that have a far reaching impact on the search engine research pages(a.k.a SERP). They are constantly changing their algorithm to push webmasters to create better sites, experiences, and content.
Some of the major updates are given below:
1. PANDA UPDATE (February 2011)
The Google Panda Update (a.k.a farmer update) was done, when Google was spammed with duplicated and mediocre content or which were filled with meaningless matter and full of grammatical errors. Webmasters and other users inserted or rather stuffed with keywords wherever they could. More the presence of keywords more were the chances of getting high page rank. So in the SERP there was abundance of low quality results. This could lead to a situation where users lack trust on Google.
The foremost purpose of Google Panda Update was to reward high-quality websites and decline the presence of low-quality websites in their SERPs and to avoid content farming.
The major highlights of this update, which helped to resolve the problems in Google SERPs are:
- Thin content: Pages with less information or low content. Google considers pages with very little or no content as thin pages.
- Duplicate content: Copied or same content that appears as result in more than one place. This can also happen when many pages of a website show the same text with little variation or no variation.
- Content spinning: Repeated sentences or rearranging a sentence in such a way that the content is same whose meaning is the same.
A website which successfully passes these filters or met the terms and conditions, were crawled, cached and indexed by Google. Websites which didn't pass filters were merely crawled and cached but never indexed.
2. PENGUIN UPDATE (April 2012)
The Google Penguin Update was done when Google faced a problem with their settings where websites that have a lot of incoming links would rank in top in Google listings. People generated links to their website from other websites. They also started buying and selling links which was against the terms and conditions of Google.Webpages which were awarded a page rank by Google were considered the best websites to obtain links from. But this resulted in a strange distribution of links of websites from higher page rank owners. Several websites were launched by the same owner under one host server, solely for the purpose of link building. the penguin update was rolled out to attack such link spammers. In other words, the Penguin Update was done against link spamming.
What is link spamming?
Practices like selling or buying links(paid links), link exchange, automated link building(several websites were launched by the same owner under one host server solely for the purpose of link building) etc. is known as link spamming.
Comment spamming: is black hat seo technique used for low quality link building activity.
This practice is done by pasting spammy links along with the comment to any blog post (knowingly or unknowingly about the punishment from Google) to increase the ranking of their websites.
Wiki spamming: is a technique by which a lot of links are obtained from websites like wikipedia in which contents can be edited and contributions can be done.
Guest blogging: is a technique of building a lot of links unnecessarily from and to many pages and websites.
Usage of the above stated three techniques, is punishable under Penguin update.
When this update succeeded, Google released new version of Penguin Update. The greatly known updates among those is Penguin 4.0 done in 2016.
In Penguin update 4.0, it was made realtime. Earlier punishments were given only after an updation was done, but when it became realtime,the needful were done at the same time without any delay.
3. PARKED DOMAIN UPDATE (APRIL 2012)
Providing quality results increases the trust value and considering this aspect on mind Goolgle does updates. One such update is Parked Domain Update.
Parking a domain after booking it, since websites weren't made at that time is what is meant by parked domain; most of the companies which provide domain registration services gives this facility to keep it parked until we decide to create a website in the booked domain. No contents were shown in parked domain websites instead they provide some links and advertisements.
Earlier, these parked domains were shown in the Google SERPs as a result to the searches. Since this can affect the trust value of Google and to overcome this situation Google did this updation.
4. EXACT MATCH DOMAIN UPDATE (September 2012)
This update was a mechanism by Google, which prevented low quality websites from ranking high just because they had their domain name exactly matching with the search engine user terms.
It also removed those new websites which weren't able to achieve any sort of credibility in the form of page rank in a given time period.
5. PIRATE UPDATE (2012)
It is a filter that was introduced for thew purpose of protecting the website owners rights on copyrighted content. this update prevented websites that infringed(break the terms) the copyrights of other users, digital content or digital properties. The victims was able to file a complaint for the infringement under DMCA(Digital Millennium's Copyright Act) under Google, after which Google would verify the exact owner and disable the defaulting party's from appearing on SERPs.
6. HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE (2013)
This update focused on semantic search results. Google processed its search engine listings on the basis of the user activity, time spent on a website, the age, educational qualifications and economic status of the search engine users; all of which were tracked with the help of Google's special cookies or spy bots. In a small way AI(Artificial Intelligence) was also used in this update.If searches were done in an interactive way (search done by asking questions like what, when, how etc.), then the results were also given in an interactive way itself.
Symbolising the way Google works-earlier Google worked as a librarian who only provides books when asked. But after this update, it worked in such a that it provided about the contents (like characters) of the book too. In other words, the gave deep information.
When this update became a success, they brought new version (like RankBrain Update) which also provided deep information and was done with AI.
7. PIGEON UPDATE (2014)
This update was not aimed at penalizing websites, but related to local SEO that is providing location based search engine results. Google attempted delivering results based on the location of IP address from which the query was coming from.
For example, if someone in Chicago searched for beauty parlour, Google would return his/her query with beauty parlours in Chicago and not in New York or some other place.
Some business needs local audience and if these websites does local SEO promotions or campaigns, then the points to ponder are:
- Submit your business details on Google My Business and verify: Websites had to list their business on Google for local visibility which was verified by a pin number sent via post to the registered address.
- If we are doing any local SEO promotions related to that location, important details like verified address, phone number, pin number etc of that location should be added and that's a must.
- It is also important to submit our websites and get connected to the locally visible directories online such as the yellow pages (like Just Dial). We must also embed our location in our website.
- If we have social platforms based on that business, the likes and comments if it comes from the local audience or related is a very important factor to reach out that locality.
Additionally, Geo Tagging or adding of your location on Google Maps and showing the same on you website is also required.
8. RANKBRAIN UPDATE (2015)
The RankBrain Update uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to process search engine results (as it was also said in Hummingbird Update) as per the human needs.This update employed AI for tracking the user's needs based on age group, individual preferences and their recent searches even on websites other than Google.
We can say that RankBrain update is a sequel to the Hummingbird Update. For a particular product, the search did by a person may not be in the same way as did by another person. So according to the search Google provides results in the best possible manner.
9. MOBILEGEDDON UPDATE (2015)
The update arrived due to the increasing online activity by users on their mobile phones. The update aimed at making their websites mobile friendly and viewing of websites comfortably on mobile phones without having to tap or zoom.
Websites which weren't mobile friendly would be pushed down in search engine ranking or wouldn't be shown in SERPs in mobile phones.
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