SEO Google Algorithms History

It would be impossible to find anything in the vast amount of information floating around the World Wide Web without some expert help. That is where the Google search and ranking algorithms come in. These are designed to sort out through billions of pages of information and present you with the most relevant results to your search.

So, here we’ll talk about the Google search algorithms, more precisely about the evolution of the SEO algorithms responsible for showing you the adequate results to your query.

What Is The Google Algorithm?

Google is the world’s most used search engine, taking up over 92% of the search market share (According to StatCounter). Each company wants to be among the top-ranked ones on the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP); as experience shows, only the first couple of entries get the most clicks and traffic.

For Google to satisfy the billions of searches performed every minute, it employs advanced search and ranking algorithms that analyze and discern what is vital for a specific search. For Google to see which page to display on the top of the SERPs, it uses algorithms, but the web pages need to do their part called Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

The ranking algorithms and SEO are integrally related – a website’s SEO “tells” Google what the particular webpage is about. The Google SEO algorithm is quite advanced today, but it was not always so. It did not come overnight, but it slowly developed and changed many times to become the high-quality version we know and use today.

Critical Google Algorithm Updates History

Let’s see how the Google SEO-related algorithm developed over the years. We’ll outline the five major updates that marked specific milestones and significantly changed website ranking, and influenced how we do SEO.

Google Panda

The Google Panda update marked a new era in online searches, as it targeted websites with low quality, websites with duplicate content, spam content, and keyword stuffing. It was introduced on February 24,2011 and worked by assigning quality scores to web pages. The poorer the quality of the page, the poorer the score; thus, the website’s rating was lower.

Initially, the Panda effects were not so strong, but this changed later on. Panda was incorporated into the Google core algorithm in January 2016, and since then, it has had a more significant influence on website ranking. To adjust your website and avoid penalties by Panda, you should never use keyword stuffing, avoid content duplication, and don’t use thin content.

Google Penguin

The Penguin update was introduced on April 24, 2012, and it analyzed the backlink profiles of sites. Penguin lowers the rank of sites that have spammy links, irrelevant links, and links with over-optimized anchor text. Penguin is entirely automatic and works on downgrading sites with unnatural-looking backlinks.

Google Penguin strived to diminish the low-effort link building and lower the practices of buying links. To adjust your website and not get penalized by Penguin, you should monitor your website’s link profile and run regular audits. If you find any malicious and suspicious links, you can use the Google disavow links tool. The best way to get a good score by Penguin is to forgo all the links on your website and start afresh, with editorially given links to quality and trusted sites. Penguin is now integrated into the Google core algorithm.

Google Hummingbird

Google Hummingbird was the third major update to the Google ranking algorithm, and it was introduced on August 22, 2013. Hummingbird worked on analyzing the content of websites and identified low-quality content and cases of keyword stuffing. It helps with the interpretation of the search queries and helps in providing results that match the search intent.

The Hummingbird algorithm involves advanced analysis, and it helps pages rank even if they don’t match the exact search words. It uses natural language processing, co-occurring terms, and synonyms. To adjust to Hummingbird, you should avoid keyword stuffing and use advanced keyword research with tools like Google keyword planner, Google Related Searches, and Google Related Questions.

Google Mobile

The Google Mobile-friendly update was introduced on April 21, 2015. This update targeted websites that did not have a mobile version or have poor mobile usability. This update was introduced due to the rise in mobile internet use, focusing on a high ranking of websites with mobile-centric optimization.

This algorithm analyzes websites and assigns a higher ranking on websites with mobile versions, but it also checks how user-friendly the mobile versions are. To adjust to the Mobile update, you should optimize your pages for mobile use, and the focus should be on user experience, usability and speed. The Mobile update was later integrated into the Google core algorithm.

Google Core Updates

The four updates to the Google algorithm outlined above marked significant milestones in online search; Google continuously updates its algorithm to improve user experience. We’ve included some of the most significant updates to the Google core algorithm here:

• RankBrain – a part of the Hummingbird algorithm update, RankBrain identifies shallow content, poor UX, and query-specific relevance. RankBrain helps Google identify the meaning behind user searches and present best-matching results. It was introduced on October 26, 2015.
• Medic – a significant update introduced on May 4, 2018; the Medic algorithm update identifies lack of authority on YMYL websites and recognizes weak E-A-T signals. This update affects websites that are related to potentially life-altering decisions like education, law, or finance.
• Bert – the Bert algorithm update was introduced on October 22, 2019, and it identifies poorly written content, content with lack of focus, and lack of context. This algorithm is based on natural language processing technology that works to understand user queries better, interpret text, and identify entities and the relations between these.
• Core Updates – all of the updates above are core updates, as Google refers to the major updates to its search and ranking algorithm. While Google still announces significant updates, daily changes to the algorithm affect SEO and website ranking.

Conclusion: Prepare For The Future Beforehand

To ensure better service and improved search results, Google has continuously improved its search algorithm. Since 2011, with the initial Panda update and all the subsequent updates, website creators have been forced to pay attention to each detail and adjust their online strategies accordingly.

In other words, all of these algorithms work on rewarding good writing, editing, and optimization. To have a shot at ranking higher on the SERPs, a website needs quality copy to bring value to the readers and provide an impeccable user experience.