Occasionally there is a major shift or technology applied to the algorithm. It may be an addition to the current algorithm or a replacement. These major algorithm shifts create dynamic changes in the rankings and are tracked by many SEO professionals. Evaluating these major updates over the years enables people to see where the trend is going and how the search engines, especially Google, prioritize the content of their results.
As you’ll notice, the updates are named like hurricanes, as they mark major shifts in relevance, quality, and spam. Yes, websites built and optimized specifically to fool the search engines are called “spam” as well!
Google Panda, 2011 One of the earliest and most impactful updates was the Panda update. For starters, this update targeted “thin” content that was very shallow or was duplicated across dozens or hundreds of pages. An example of “thin content” is a website attempting to rank for plumbing contractors and building a page for every city or town, then interlinking all the pages with the city name and the word plumbing as the anchor text. The text on the page would be the same, with only the name of the city changing.
This update also targeted websites that simply aggregated feeds from other websites and published them as their own. Other tactics were those that published duplicated or stolen content from other websites or had the same content repeated across the website (such as 200 how‐to articles on the same subject). Google targeted sites that were built specifically for rankings and had little to no quality based on user experience or the content itself. This was one of the first algorithms that focused on identifying the authorship of content, as many sites were simply stealing or appropriating content and publishing it as their own.
Google Penguin, 2012 This update was targeted at sites developing false relevance from linking schemes. This targeted sites that were buying links or participating in link networks designed to inflate a backlink profile. Additionally, Google targeted websites that employed “doorway pages,” which was a method of showing the search engine a false page designed for rankings but sending the searcher to another page.
Google Hummingbird, 2013 Hummingbird was a unique update in that it focused on the on‐page content of websites rather than backlinks or spam. This algorithm was focused on a context‐driven evaluation of the content. This marked a major shift in Google’s search technology as the search phrase itself, rather than the individual words, was being evaluated for relevance. Previously, in a search for “mechanical gaming keyboard” the algorithm would attempt to find the best matches for the three words separately. This update was the first application to evaluate the intent of the phrase rather than the individual words.
This update showed a dramatic shift in evaluating the content of pages, as simple keyword repetitiveness was not going to be effective. Rather, the natural use of synonyms, contextual cues, natural conversational content, and long‐tail keywords would be used to evaluate the page for relevance.
For example, think of the many synonyms for cars: autos, automobiles, vehicle, motor, wheels, motorcar, hybrid, SUV, and so on. Webster’s lists 57 synonyms. In natural conversation, people use synonyms all the time, because using one word becomes repetitive and contrived. According to Google, “Synonyms affect 70 percent of user searches across more than 100 languages.”
Google Pidgeon, 2014 Pidgeon was designed to enhance the local search results using distance and location. The emphasis started the development of enhancing the visibility of local businesses in the results.
Google RankBrain, 2015 After these major algorithm shifts, there was a change, as many of the newer algorithms were additions to the primary algorithm. In this case, RankBrain was added as an update to the Hummingbird algorithm. RankBrain was a machine‐learning AI designed to learn words and concepts of rare or uncommon words. It was designed to understand the variations of different search phrases. In 2013, Google announced that 30 percent of search terms were phrases that had never been used before! Also, as new words, trends, and events happen around the world, Google needs to keep up with the increasing vocabulary. RankBrain was designed to learn these new words or phrases and connect them to meaningful results.
Google Fred, 2017 Fred was another update that targeted false relevance, specifically keyword stuffing, link schemes, and misleading backlinks.
Google BERT, 2019 While not an algorithm update, BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations) is a Google technology for natural language processing. The goal is to understand language nuance and idioms. As an example, think of the many ways that the word “like” is used in English:
- I like coffee
- This coffee tastes like dirt
- I feel like dancing
- My friend and I are alike
- It’s like, you know
It’s a single word with multiple meanings based on the context of the words around it. BERT was designed to pick up and interpret these meanings.
Google MUM, 2021 Another technology change, Google’s MUM (Multitask Unified Model) is built on BERT architecture but is 1,000 times more powerful. This expands the language capabilities of the search results to reach across language barriers and find answers through accessing and translating information in other languages.
How to Handle Updates
Don’t panic. If you are following best practices, then you should see very little or negligible changes to your rankings. Remember, the algorithms change daily and so will your rankings as the entire system is always in flux. You will find millions of articles complaining about and analyzing every update, and it is easy to get caught up in the drama of the game.
The goal of SEO is to influence the search engines to gain higher rankings, but you can’t do this without creating a great experience for the searcher. By creating content that answers questions, informs searchers, and helps people, you will naturally develop relevance. By developing relationships and marketing your organization, you will build influential links that enhance your credibility. These factors result in higher rankings. Maintain this focus, and the shifts in algorithms and technology won’t change your status much at all.
This is where additional disciplines enhance your ability to market your website, build links, and gain visibility. Through content marketing, conversion optimization, social media marketing, and more, you are actively building links and content that enhance your relevance.
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