Google is a huge corporation. To provide the services it does, it must be. It’s also one of the most profitable businesses on the planet, thanks largely to its search engine. The company’s algorithm is updated regularly, affecting how its search engine functions.
These changes are significant because they impact how people find information online. Google can ensure that users find what they’re looking for while also making advertisers happy by changing its search engine.
In this article, you’ll learn why Google changes its algorithm and what the algorithms’ primary functions are.
Why is Google Changing its Algorithm?
The Google search algorithm is constantly changing due to increasing web traffic. Each year, Google updates its algorithm, which affects how you rank on the search engine. Because of the importance of Google’s algorithm, many SEOs and web admins spend a lot of time figuring out what’s going on with it. If you don’t understand how Google works, your site could fall in the rankings or be penalized for something you didn’t realize.
An algorithm is a set of rules that a computer (or another machine) follows to complete a task. The changes are intended to improve Google’s results by emphasizing “high-quality content” over “low-quality content” and rewarding sites for regularly updating their content. These changes emphasize mobile compatibility.
What are the main Changes in Google Algorithm?
Here are some google algorithm that makes a significant impact on google search engine
● The Panda Algorithm
The Panda algorithm was released in February 2011. Its purpose is to cut down on low-quality content, which Google defines as “thin” or “irrelevant” content. The algorithm targets sites with thin content and ranks them lower in the search results. Panda was the first major update of Google’s search algorithm.
The new algorithm devalued content farms, thin or duplicate content, and websites that weren’t mobile-friendly. It also took into account user feedback to improve search results for users.
For example, if someone searched for “pizza” and got a bunch of links to pages about pizza restaurants, they might mark those bad results as “not what you were looking for.” This would be a way for Google to find and improve its results.
● The Penguin Algorithm
The Penguin algorithm was introduced in 2012 to target webspam (search engine spam) issues. It penalizes websites engaging in practices such as link schemes and pages intended to manipulate search engines into artificially inflating a website’s ranking in search results.
Websites found guilty by Penguin will be penalized (delisted) from Google’s index, which means that they won’t be able to rank highly for any keywords they target on Google Search. It’s a way for Google to punish those engaging in manipulative link-building practices. The Penguin algorithm is meant to lower their rankings in the search results by penalizing them.
● The Hummingbird Algorithm
The Hummingbird algorithm was released on September 26, 2013, and it’s Google’s most recent major ranking update. It focuses on better understanding user intent and making search more conversational by prioritizing results that match what users intend to find when they type a query into Google’s search box.
Hummingbird is an expansion of Google’s Knowledge Graph. It allowed users to ask questions and get answers directly on the search engine results page (SERP).
● The RankBrain Algorithm
The RankBrain algorithm was released in October 2015 as a way for Google to handle complex queries better than before, especially long-tail questions where there aren’t many top results with clear answers.
It is responsible for handling 15 percent of all searches, and it is considered the fourth most important ranking factor. The algorithm uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve search results and understand user intent better.
● The Possum Algorithm
The Possum Algorithm is Also known as the Mobile-friendly update. This algorithm was released in 2015 and aimed to improve mobile search results by providing more relevant information to users who searched for products or services on their smartphones or tablets. The algorithm also ensured that websites were mobile-friendly, making them easy to read and navigate on smaller screens.
● Mobilegeddon Algorithm
Mobilegeddon Algorithm update was rolled out in 2015 and focused on optimizing websites for mobile devices. It also adjusted rankings based on how well websites performed on smartphones and tablets compared to desktop computers. This was a significant change because it affected mobile users significantly, who could now find what they were looking for more easily on their phones or tablets than before.
Mobilegeddon became one of the most significant changes ever made by Google and had a significant impact on SEO strategies across the board. This led many companies to invest in responsive design to meet the needs of smartphone users better than their competitors did.
● The Fred Algorithm
The Fred algorithm update was released in March 2017. It affected websites with thin content or pages that did not add value to a user’s search experience. This was done by using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the quality of each website and determine whether it should be removed from the search results.
Google has a team of engineers who are constantly working on improving their algorithms. The team is called the core search quality team, and they work on all things related to search engine optimization (SEO).
The number of changes that Google makes to its algorithm each year is staggering. In 2014 alone, there were over 500 changes made. In 2015, there were over 1500 changes made. SEO experts need to keep track of these changes to keep up with what Google wants.