By now, we’ve all heard some sort of mention of “algorithms,” whether it’s been in regard to seeing the same couple of friends at the top of our News Feed over and over again, or the strangely accurate ads that show up on our social media pages after a recent Google search. Seriously, how does it know those are the exact flower pots I’ve been wanting?! The answer is simply: algorithms.

 

Here we will go over how Google algorithms work, algorithm updates, and what it all means for your business; but before we get into all of that, let’s talk about what an algorithm itself is. 

 

According to the Oxford Dictionary, an algorithm is, “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.” Google uses all kinds of algorithms to organize and optimize the endless number of websites and information found on the World Wide Web. 

 

Google algorithm is specifically, a search engine optimization (SEO) formula used to rank Google website search results, filter spam, and improve overall user experience. Google uses a variety of criteria, including their PageRank system, to try to deliver results that are most relevant to the user’s search. 

 

Who Created Google Search Algorithm? 

Google algorithm made its worldwide debut when Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google Inc. in 1998. Google started as a research project called “BackRub” when Page and Brin were Ph.D. students at Stanford University in Stanford, California. Their goal for Google Inc. was to market Google Search, which was an immediate success and led to the launches of Google News in 2002, Gmail in 2004, Google Maps in 2005, Google Chrome in 2008, and Google+ in 2011. Google Search is now the most used web-based search engine in the world.

 

Google algorithm is not just one system, but a culmination of ranking systems and formula modifications, that monitor multiple different factors in order to present the Google Search user with the most useful information.

 

In a fraction of a second, Google algorithm simultaneously weighs out factors like the meaning of the query, relevance and usability of webpages, quality of content, the expertise of sources, and context (like your location) and settings, to present the most relevant search results pages (SERPs).

 

Different factors carry different weight, and that weight varies depending on the context of the search. If you were to search for "current news," the date of the SERPs is weighted heavier in importance than it would be for say, a search for the definition of a word. For a definition, the credibility of the source will be factored in more significantly than would the date the information was made available.

 

Google follows a rigorous process involving live tests and thousands of external Search Quality Raters around the world in order to maintain their high standards of quality and relevance for Google Search algorithms. There are strict guidelines laid out for Google algorithm and they are available for anyone to view here: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf 

 

How Often Does Google Algorithm Change? 

In short, changes are being made to the algorithm all the time. As more information is gathered over time, changes are made to the systems and criteria. Changes to the Google algorithm are called Google algorithm updates and there are thousands of them that occur every year. Most of the updates are minor and basically unnoticeable. However, major algorithm updates are called core updates and those can immediately and drastically affect you and your business.

 

Google Algorithm updates are periodic changes and improvements made to the algorithm used to rank websites in Google’s search results. All year long and every year, Google performs algorithm updates to maintain fairness in their SERPs and optimize their ranking system based on the most current data sets. 

 

A core update is a kind of Google algorithm update that significantly impacts the search results pages. Core updates are major changes to the ranking system formula that can affect multiple settings, platforms, and industries. It’s really important to keep up with core updates because these changes can have direct effects on your business via your website’s ranking. 

 

Some of the most notable Google algorithm updates over the years have been:

Fritz (Jul 2003) – a major change to Google with an index that began updating daily versus monthly

Florida (Nov 2003) – the first significant algorithm update that began targeting spam tactics like “keyword stuffing”

Big Daddy (Dec 2005) – a major infrastructure overhaul

Caffeine (Jun 2008) – increased indexing speeds in order to match the real-time search requirements

Panda (Feb 2011) – a filter to regularly clear low-quality websites with thin content

Penguin (Apr 2012) – a filter to remove spammy websites from search results

 

One of the reasons for algorithm updates is to prevent people from taking advantage of loopholes in the system. Let’s consider the “keyword stuffing” update. Previously, a website owner may have tried to embed multiple targeted keywords on the website so it would be seen by the search engine spider, but not necessarily the end-user. Basically, tricking the algorithm into displaying their website at a higher ranking than it has genuinely earned. 

 

By regularly updating the algorithm to recognize manipulative behaviors such as “keyword stuffing,” Google lessens the value of websites that try to abuse the system and therefore, works to improve the results of each search query. With each algorithm change, there are some websites whose rank and position improve, and some whose decline. There have been instances where major websites lose half their daily traffic overnight. Bringing us to the last part of this article: what does it all mean for you and your business?

 

Anytime Google does an algorithm update, it means your website can immediately lose or gain rank in search results. This makes it wise to know both when and how the algorithm is being updated so if your website does lose (or gain) ranking, you can have a better understanding as to why. 

 

In regard to one update in 2020, Yulia Ibragimova, Olga Andrienko, and the SEMRush team said, “the update is stronger and influences more SERPs and positions.” Jeff Coyle added, “if you are reliant on snippets, recipe carousels, or special feature SERP features, find a solution like AHREFs that allows you to do a very quick SERP Feature gap analysis and include that in your research workflow. If you miss this, it will cost you hours of wasted effort trying to understand and attribute where the gains and losses are coming from.”

 

The Internet and society in general, are ever-changing so it only makes sense that a search engine platform like Google, which fields nearly 40,000 search queries per second, would have to change too. One of the keys to keeping up in this constantly evolving marketplace is to be aware of algorithm changes and use SEO best practices every step of the way.