The Ultimate Google + Recommendations Algorithm Updates Timeline

Google is a fickle beast. The search engine is essential to the success of your web content, but no one really knows how Google 's algorithm works (at except for the elusive Google search team, of course).

Google's search engine is also constantly evolving. Google has not become the number one search engine in the world without prioritizing its user experience. It has achieved this leadership position by continuously updating its algorithm to meet the needs of its users and by providing the best possible outcomes (not to mention user engagement with new daily doodleson the Google home page ).

If your content doesn't keep up with these Google algorithm updates, you may lose valuable space on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ... as well as potential visitors, prospects and customers.

In this guide, we've covered everything you need to know about Google's Algorithm, its latest nine updates, and how your business and its content can keep up.

Google Algorithm

Google's search engine algorithms determine the results you see for each search term or query. They work behind the scenes to filter web content, examine indexed pages for relevance and quality (for example, search factors), and return the results that are most relevant to the query.

Although the namere exact is not certain, SEOs believe there are certain ranking signals that Google takes into account when showing results. These include factors like keyword usage, domain history, site usability, etc.

This is why, as businesses and marketers, we need to optimize our on-page SEO , off-page SEO , and Technical SEO to help rank our pages and help consumers find our content.

Did you know that over 3.5 billion Google searches are performed every day ? The search engine is by far the most popular among its competition, which means that the vast majority of your audience (and potential audience) actively searches Google for information that your website or blog can provide.

How can you make sure your content gets classifiedgetting high enough on the SERPs to grab the attention of your audience? By adhering to the Google algorithm and its updates.

Major updates to the Google algorithm

1. Google Panda (2011)
2. Google Penguin (2012)
3. Google Hummingbird (2013)
4. Google Pigeon (2014)
5. Google Mobilegeddon (2015)
6. Google RankBrain ( 2015)
7. Increased length of Google snippet (2017)
8. Google Mobile-First Indexing (2018)
9. Updated Google Medic (2018))
10. Google BERT (2019)

Since its conception twenty years ago, Google has made thousands of updates to how its search engine works, including those in this timeline . In fact, the team makes small updates to their algorithm almost daily.

Google also releases major updates several times a year - you can read more about Google's recommendations on these .

In this article, I've detailed nine of the most important and impactful Google Algorithm Updates in chronological order.

1.Google Panda (2011)

Release date : February 23, 2011

Google has released the Panda update to tackle light, duplicate or plagiarized, keyword stuffing, content farms, websites with high ad-to-content ratios and other quality issues. It has also been released to reward unique and high quality content.

Google Panda assigns each webpage an internal quality score that attempts to mimic the human qualification, which is how a human can react and rank a piece of content. This score is then factored into the ranking of each website on the SERPs.

Panda was initially introduced as a filter for search engine results, but in January 2016 it was added to the main algorithm >.

How to set Google Panda update:

• Use a site crawler like Botify or Screaming Frog to identify light content (for example, low word count or duplicative) on your website and blog. If you find any, consider combining and / or archiving these pages.
• Ecommerce sites are particularly vulnerable to duplicate content - in these cases, use canonical URLs to tell Google which version of each page should be prioritized in the SERPs.
• Rewrite and update content to reflect better grammar, syntax and language. Ensure consistency in formatting the content.
• Remove or rework any low-quality or poorly performing content. (You can identify this content based on low traffic and / or low conversion rates.)
• Focus on creating truly unique content that delivers unique value to your visitors and customers. Google offers over 20 questions to help you determine quality and value.

2. Google Penguin (2012)

Release date : April 24, 2012

The update Google Penguin was released to combat black-hat link building techniques , such as spam links, link directories, and keyword-filled anchor text. Google calls them "black hat web spam " and defines them as "techniques that do not benefit users, where the intention is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that would classify pages higher than they deserve to rank. ”

Prior to the Penguin Update, link volume - regardless of quality - had a strong influence on the ranking of pages on the SERPs. Penguin tries to better understand how websites earned their links and to ensure that only high quality, trustworthy linksiance and relevant rewarded the sites to which they led.

Google Penguin only affects inbound links - links leading to a site, not far from it. Penguin monitors black hat link building techniques and over-optimized anchor link text. This is when too many inbound links for a website contain the same anchor text, which can alert Google that the links are not natural or acquired.

Penguin was also added to the base algorithm in late 2016.

How to adjust Google Penguin update:

• Follow white- link building techniques to create high quality, relevant backs.
• Do not participate in Private Blog Network (PBN) link systems , which often result in penalties for the site.
• If you are hiring an agency or freelance writer for link building, be sure to ask how they build links. No money should be exchanged between the agency and the person or organization that links to your site.

3. Google Hummingbird (2013)

Release date : August 20, 2013

Google released on Hummingbird Update to provide a more conversational and human search experience. Google wanted to better understand the context of what people were looking for, relative to the specific terms of their search query.

The Knowledge Graph was introduced the previous year, but Hummingbird has improved this functionality. This update also resulted in the creation of Google Authorship, which was discontinued in 2014 .

Hummingbird uses natural language processing which includes semantic indexing, synonyms, and other features to interpret queries and produce results. It eliminates shoddy content bWith keywords to create a more personalized and precise search process and display SERP results that match the searcher's intent.

How to adjust the update from Google Hummingbird

• Focus on the content concept, not just keyword-based content t. Broaden your keyword search to include different phrases, frequently asked questions, and similar terms.
• Use tools such as AnswerthePublic to develop context when researching keywords.
• Be competitive analytics by researching your keywords on a new Google SERP and see what associated SERP content and features (like Knowledge Graphs or Featured Snippets ) shows.

4. Google Pigeon (2014)

Release date : 24July 2014 (in the United States) and 22 December 2014 (in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia)

Google has published the Pigeon Update to better calibrate the local algorithms with the basic algorithm. The purpose of this update was to reward local businesses that have a strong organic presence with better SERP visibility. It was also about responding to user search queries with accurate local results influenced by traditional web search ranking signals.

Pigeon treats local search the same as traditional organic search, just with local clues. It takes the searcher's location into account when displaying SERP results and allows searchers to treat Google search and Google Maps in the same way. For example, you can search for "best accountant nearby " in both engines, and the results should be similar.areas.

How to adjust Google Pigeon update

• Take advantage of - SEO and off-page SEO tactics to ensure that Google recognizes your location. business and other local ranking factors.
• Create content and media that associates your business with a specific location, such as a neighborhood, town or city. This will help improve your local SEO .
• Register on Google My Business to manage ho w information about your business appears on the Google SERPs. Create and manage profiles on other important directories like Apple Maps , Facebook , factual , Foursquare , Superpages and Yelp .
• Make sure your location information is consistent across all of your web properties i.e. website, social networks, Yelp listings, etc.

5. Google Mobilegeddon (2015)

Release date : April 22, 2015

The Google Mobile update (dubbed "Mobilegeddon ") officially incorporated mobile usability as a ranking signal. The update prioritized mobile-friendly websites over mobile SERPs, and sites that were not mobile-friendly were penalized or removed from SERPs altogether.

Mobilegeddon was yet another effort by Google to continue to provide the best possible search experience for its users. "When it comes to searching on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and fastest results, regardless of whether the information is on web pages or mobile-friendly apps " , Google announced in 2015.

Mobilegeddon penalizes websites that are not cmobile friendly and rewards those who are. It only affects mobile searches and individual web pages (not entire websites), and it affects queries and websites worldwide, in all languages.

(Since Google has moved to mobile-first indexing , however, the mobile usability of your site now has an impact on your rankings for every query.)

How to set Google Mobilegeddon update

• Make sure your website is mobile-o ptimized! (Here is a blog post explaining how to do this .)
• Use Google's Mobile Optimization Test Tool to see how your site is performing Web. This tool will show you what your site looks like on a mobile device and alert you to any problem loading or processing.

6. Google RankBrain (2015)

Release date : October 26, 2015

Google RankBrain update was part of Hummingbird. RankBrain is a machine learning-based component of Google's algorithm that works to better understand searcher intent and deliver the most accurate and relevant SERP results.

Many SEO strategists believe it is used to measure how searchers interact with search results and then rank the results accordingly. (This could explain why your SERP looks different when you search for the same thing multiple times.)

It has also been theorized that the target RankBrain algorithm identifies the functionality of relevance to websites ranked for a given query, establishing ranking factors and signals specific to the query.

Google called RankBrain the third most important ranking signal.

How to adjust the updatefrom Google RankBrain

• Refer to recovery steps recommended for the Hummingbird update .

7. Increased Google Snippet Length (2017)

Release Date : November 30, 2017

The Google Snippet Length Increase Update increased the value of Google meta deion length from 155 to 300, almost doubling the number of words. The goal of this update was to provide more useful deions of web pages and to help Internet users better understand how a result might be relevant to their query.

For about six months, the meta Deions length was between 160 and 300 characters (depending on search and resulting content), but as of May 13, 2018, Google has reduced most lengths of clips around 150, therewhere they were originally.

How to adjust the update for increasing the length of Google snippets

• Since Google has reduced its meta-deions to their length of About 150 origin, we do not recommend that you edit your snippets at this time.
• Keep your deions under 150 characters to ensure the full snippet shows up on the SERPs.

8. Google Mobile-First Indexing (2018)

Release date : March 26, 2018

The Mobile-First indexing update was another nod from Google to those websites that use a mobile-friendly website.

Here's how Google explains : "[Historically,] our crawling, indexing and ranking systems have generally used the desktop version of content from '' a page, which can cause problems for mobile searchers when this version is very different fromthe mobile version. Mobile indexing first means we'll be using the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help our users - mostly mobile - find what they're looking for. "

When producing search results, Google will continue to extract a single index of data; this update means that they will further feed this index with mobile versions of the website content. Also, this update mainly affected how websites are indexed, not their rankings, but that doesn't mean it will affect rankings down the line.

"Having mobile-friendly content is always helpful for those looking for ways to improve performance in mobile search results," Google says. "[But] we can show users content that is not compatible with mobile or whose loadingis slow if our numerous other signals determine that this is the most relevant content to display. "

How to adjust Google Mobile First Indexing Update

• As always, make sure your website is mobile-friendly. (If you have AMP pages and not AMP , Google will prefer to index the mobile version of non-page pages. AMP.)
• If you have separate URLs for your mobile site (an m-points site), verify that your mobile page reflects the same content as your desktop site. (Google prefers to index the 'URL of your mobile.)
• Make sure that structured data and metadata is used on both your computer and your mobile.
• Read the Google best practices on how to prepare for mobile first indexing.

9. Google Medic update (2018)

Release date : August 1, 2018

The updateOur Google Medic was the third Core Algorithm Update of 2018. The disproportionate impact it has on health and wellness industries sites is how it received its nickname. However, he did not target these industries; it also had a big impact on websites in all other industries.

In general, SEO specialists have speculated that the Medic update is another update targeting "quality" issues such as thin and duplicate content, slow loading, inaccurate title tags and poor user experience.

Unlike the other updates on this list, the Medic Update did not target a specific type of web content or release a new part of the Core Algorithm. However, Google has released an official statement on this subject: "There is no " fix "for pages that may perform less well otherthan staying focused on creating quality content. Over time, your content may increase relative to other pages. "

How to adjust Google Medic update

• Make sure your off-page SEO and Technical SEO are intact and that 'there is no underlying ying.
• Continue to produce useful content that provides unique value to your visitors.
• Follow white hat link building techniques.

10. Google BERT Natural Language Processing Update (2019)

Release Date : October 25, 2019

The The Update by Google BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) was Google's effort to better understand the language in which people are searching. It is similar to RankBrain and takes the extra effort to understand research; he did not replace it.

BERT etait's a major update to the search algorithm. As reported by Google : "With the latest advances from our research team in the science of language comprehension. We are dramatically improving our understanding of queries, which is the biggest leap forward the past five years and one of the greatest advancements in search history. "

In short, BERT helps Google users find useful and accurate information. The update allows Google to capture more nuance and context in queries and not rely so much on using prepositions or wordings to clarify questions. (Check out some live examples of BERT here .)

BERT has also been applied to featured snippets in over two dozen countries and languages.

How to adapt to the Google BERT update

• Focus on theWriting clear, high-quality content and avoiding typing for machines (like BERT) is Google's effort not to be a machine.
• Refer to the recommended recovery steps for the update Hummingbird .

Scale Better with Google Updates

As a business owner and marketer, these updates from Google can seem repetitive, detailed, and a lot of work. You are not wrong. When I first reviewed these and factored in the changes I needed to make to my website, I admit I was a bit overwhelmed.

But it's important to remember that Google wants to create a fantastic search experience for its users… including you and me. These algorithm updates are designed to eliminate lazy, low-quality, and illegal content that is notonly fulfills our search queries, but also competes with our own business and marketing content.

In short, these algorithms are good things! It is up to you to use them to your advantage.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for completeness.