Major Updates in Google History

Introduction


google updates


Nowadays Google is unavoidable. It has become a part of the daily routine. Each and everything is being searched on Google and they intended to deliver the user with a better online experience without compromising the quality of the content and gaining the user's trust and confidence in return. In order to do that Google needed to routinely make improvements in their algorithms and program codes to deliver that experience. Here are some of the updates made by Google to achieve that result.


Panda Update

panda update

Google Panda Update which is one of the most important updates in Google’s history happened in 2011 against sites using content spamming in order to gain top ranks. According to this update, sites should not have the following traits.

  • Duplicate content: - Contents that are already published. Duplicating the same work is not acceptable.

  • Low-quality content: - Pages that are created without care. These pages will have poor quality in terms of grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, poor presentation, etc.

  • Content spinning: - Using the same content over and over again in different pages with minor changes.

  • Content automation: - The user will not get any useful information or reliable services from the site.

  • Thin pages: - Pages on a website will have very little content.


Panda Update 4.0


Following the success of the Panda Update, on 19 May 2014 Panda Update 4.0 was permanently integrated into the main algorithm of Google search engine as a permanent filter. As a result, Google was able to avoid many results in having content spamming. Pages with keyword stuffing were caught by the Panda update. But Google made it clear that synonyms of the keywords can be used and it won't be considered as keyword stuffing.


Penguin Update
penguin update

The Penguin update in 2012 was done to tackle link spamming. Link spamming is done using different methods which are

  • Paid links – The practice of selling or buying links for the purpose of higher ranking

  • Link exchange – The exchange of links between sites. 

  • Comment spamming – Publishing links in the comment sections of social media posts, blogs, forums, etc.

  • Wiki spamming – The practice of editing websites like Wikipedia to add links to pages.

  • Guest blogging – An user creates multiples blogs as guest bloggers in different blogging sites and adds links in their blogs.

  • Link farming Link farming is similar to link exchange. But the links which are being exchanged are not necessarily between the same parties. There are certain websites that provide such services. In link farming, the links are shared among themselves by different pages who are subscribed to these services. 
    link farming

In 2016 it was updated to Penguin update 4.0 which made the filtering in real-time. As a result, the penalties for link spamming were given in just a matter of days.


Pigeon update - 2013

pigeon update

Pigeon update is done to improve the local search results. This update was done to improve the ranking of local search results. If a person searches for a result from a particular location, the results will also be indexed based on that location.


Hummingbird update - 2013

humming bird update
The Hummingbird updated helped in providing deep information with semantic search results in an interactive way. The update showed results based on the feedback of users about a subject. 
semantic search result
Example of semantic search result


Rank Brain - 2015


rank brain update

Google started using machine learning to provide search results more relevant to the keywords searched. Google was able to predict what a user is trying to find out based on the previous searches and preferences and present suggestions according to the keywords used which makes it easier for the user.




Mobile-Friendly Update/Mobilegeddon


mobile friendly update
From 21 April 2015, Google started ranking pages based on mobile-friendliness. The pages which were mobile-friendly, they were ranked higher. There were certain conditions that needed to be met in order for the page to be considered as mobile-friendly. The site should be readable without tapping or zooming, tap targets are spaced appropriately and pages should avoid unplayable content on mobile devices and avoid horizontal scrolling.
Google uses a number of factors to rank search results. Even though mobile-friendly change is important, if a page with high-quality content is not mobile-friendly, it could still rank high if it has great content.


Parked Domain Update

This update was introduced on 16th April 2012. If a user registers a domain with a domain provider and keeps it as such without making the site usable, like without any contents or making any change, Google will not index that site.


Exact Match Domain/The EMD Update


This is a filter Google launched in September 2012 to prevent sites having the keywords searched as the exact domain names from the ranking because they are having poor quality. When a fresh EMD happens, sites that have improved their content may regain good ranking.

Pirated Update


pirated update
This update was introduced to move against websites that infringe on copyrights. Using this update, if a website uses content from other sites its raises copyright issues, and the rightful owner of the content can move legally against the pirated content through Google. The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) helps the content creators with the copyright issue.




Bracket Update


In 2017, this update was done to move against the unfair rating of a page or an establishment on Google. If a user gives an unfair rating favoring an establishment, Google can calculate if the rating is manipulated and even know whether that person has even visited that place.

Possum Update – 2016


Google made changes in its update in 2016 to use more AI in its algorithm to give suggestions and results based on the user's previous preferred choices.

You can find out more about the history and evolution of SEO in my other blog.


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