Difference between revisions of "Timeline of Google Search"
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{{Attribute English Wikipedia|original-exists=yes|substantial-edits=yes}} | {{Attribute English Wikipedia|original-exists=yes|substantial-edits=yes}} | ||
| − | {{w|Google Search}}, offered by {{w|Google}}, is the most widely used search engine on the {{w|World Wide Web}} as of | + | {{w|Google Search}}, offered by {{w|Google}}, is the most widely used search engine on the {{w|World Wide Web}} as of 2024, with over three billion searches a day. This page covers key events in the history of Google's search service. |
For a history of Google the company, including all of Google's products, acquisitions, and corporate changes, see the {{w|history of Google}} page. | For a history of Google the company, including all of Google's products, acquisitions, and corporate changes, see the {{w|history of Google}} page. | ||
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| − | == | + | ==Full timeline== |
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| − | + | NOTE: Some search updates in recent years (including core updates starting 2019) are covered in the later section [[#List of search updates made in later years]]. | |
{| class="wikitable sortable" | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
| − | ! Year !! Month and date (if available) !! Event type !! | + | ! Year !! Month and date (if available) !! Event type !! Subtype / affected aspect !! Affected algorithm !! Event |
|- | |- | ||
| 1996 || January–March || Prelude || || || [[wikipedia:Larry Page|Larry Page]] and [[wikipedia:Sergey Brin|Sergey Brin]], graduate students in computer science at [[wikipedia:Stanford University|Stanford University]], begin working on [[wikipedia:BackRub|BackRub]], the precursor to Google Search. Page begins work alone initially, supported by a [[wikipedia:National Science Foundation|National Science Foundation]] Graduate Fellowship, and Brin joins him shortly thereafter. The project is an outgrowth of their work on the [[wikipedia:Stanford Digital Library Project|Stanford Digital Library Project]].<ref name="Anatomy">{{Cite journal | | 1996 || January–March || Prelude || || || [[wikipedia:Larry Page|Larry Page]] and [[wikipedia:Sergey Brin|Sergey Brin]], graduate students in computer science at [[wikipedia:Stanford University|Stanford University]], begin working on [[wikipedia:BackRub|BackRub]], the precursor to Google Search. Page begins work alone initially, supported by a [[wikipedia:National Science Foundation|National Science Foundation]] Graduate Fellowship, and Brin joins him shortly thereafter. The project is an outgrowth of their work on the [[wikipedia:Stanford Digital Library Project|Stanford Digital Library Project]].<ref name="Anatomy">{{Cite journal | ||
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| 2003 || February || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Boston'' update at SES Boston.<ref name=moz/> | | 2003 || February || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Boston'' update at SES Boston.<ref name=moz/> | ||
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| − | | 2003 || April || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Cassandra'' update. The update claims to crack down on link spam, including mutual links between co-owned websites, as well as hidden text and hidden links.<ref name=moz/><ref name="WebmasterWorld forum">{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/11622.htm|title = Cassandra: Google update algo analysis thread. NO whining or cheering about how your site is doing in this one.|publisher = WebmasterWorld (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2003 || April || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google announces the ''Cassandra'' update. The update claims to crack down on link spam, including mutual links between co-owned websites, as well as hidden text and hidden links.<ref name=moz/><ref name="WebmasterWorld forum">{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/11622.htm|title = Cassandra: Google update algo analysis thread. NO whining or cheering about how your site is doing in this one.|publisher = WebmasterWorld (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2003 || May || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Dominic'' update. Commentators believed that the update affected the way backlinks were counted, and many webmasters reported new bots from Google that bounced.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/13088-1-30.htm?highlight=dominic#msg160172|title = Understanding Dominic - Part 2|publisher = WebmasterWorld (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2003 || May || Search algorithm update || Indexing, ranking || || Google announces the ''Dominic'' update. Commentators believed that the update affected the way backlinks were counted, and many webmasters reported new bots from Google that bounced.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/13088-1-30.htm?highlight=dominic#msg160172|title = Understanding Dominic - Part 2|publisher = WebmasterWorld (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2003 || June || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces what will later turn out to have been the last of its regular monthly updates. This update is called the ''Esmeralda'' update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/6/23/201523/090|title = Google Update Esmeralda|date = June 24, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | | 2003 || June || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces what will later turn out to have been the last of its regular monthly updates. This update is called the ''Esmeralda'' update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/6/23/201523/090|title = Google Update Esmeralda|date = June 24, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | ||
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| 2003 || July || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Fritz'' update, and also a change to its update policy, as it moves towards continuous rather than batch processing of updates.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/explaining-algorithm-updates-and-data-refreshes/|title = Explaining algorithm updates and data refreshes}}</ref><ref name=wired-search-history>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_google_algorithm/all/1|title = Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web|last = Levy|first = Steven|date = February 22, 2010|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wired Magazine|Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref> | | 2003 || July || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Fritz'' update, and also a change to its update policy, as it moves towards continuous rather than batch processing of updates.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/explaining-algorithm-updates-and-data-refreshes/|title = Explaining algorithm updates and data refreshes}}</ref><ref name=wired-search-history>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_google_algorithm/all/1|title = Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web|last = Levy|first = Steven|date = February 22, 2010|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wired Magazine|Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2003 || September || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces a "supplemental index" in order to be able to index some parts of the web more rapidly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067049/Search-Engine-Size-Wars-Googles-Supplemental-Results|title = Search Engine Size Wars & Google's Supplemental Results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = September 2, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> The supplemental index would eventually be scrapped. | + | | 2003 || September || Search algorithm update || Indexing || || Google announces a "supplemental index" in order to be able to index some parts of the web more rapidly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067049/Search-Engine-Size-Wars-Googles-Supplemental-Results|title = Search Engine Size Wars & Google's Supplemental Results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = September 2, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> The supplemental index would eventually be scrapped. |
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| − | | 2003 || November || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Florida'' update, which commentators consider game-changing in that it completely destroyed the value of 1990s SEO tactics and ushered in a new era of search engine optimization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2066309/What-Happened-To-My-Site-On-Google|title = What Happened To My Site On Google?|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = December 6, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> | + | | 2003 || November || Search algorithm update || || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google announces the ''Florida'' update, which commentators consider game-changing in that it completely destroyed the value of 1990s SEO tactics and ushered in a new era of search engine optimization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2066309/What-Happened-To-My-Site-On-Google|title = What Happened To My Site On Google?|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = December 6, 2003|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> |
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| 2003 || December || Search category || || || Google launches Google Print, that would later become [[wikipedia:Google Books|Google Books]].<ref name=official-google-history/> | | 2003 || December || Search category || || || Google launches Google Print, that would later become [[wikipedia:Google Books|Google Books]].<ref name=official-google-history/> | ||
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| − | | 2004 || January || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Austin'' update, to continue with the work of combating SEO tactics that ''Florida'' had made good progress on.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-latest-on-update-austin-googles-january-update/237/|title = The latest on update Austin (Google’s January update)|date = January 31, 2004|publisher = Search Engine Journal|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.search-marketing.info/newsletter/articles/austin-florida.htm|title = Google Update Austin: Google Update Florida Again|last = Wall|first = Aaron|date = January 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Marketing Journal}}</ref> | + | | 2004 || January || Search algorithm update || || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google announces the ''Austin'' update, to continue with the work of combating SEO tactics that ''Florida'' had made good progress on.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-latest-on-update-austin-googles-january-update/237/|title = The latest on update Austin (Google’s January update)|date = January 31, 2004|publisher = Search Engine Journal|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.search-marketing.info/newsletter/articles/austin-florida.htm|title = Google Update Austin: Google Update Florida Again|last = Wall|first = Aaron|date = January 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Marketing Journal}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2004 || February 17–20 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Brandy'' update, a massive index expansion, Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), increased attention to anchor text relevance, and the concept of link "neighborhoods."<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webpronews.com/googles-brandy-update-exposed-2004-02|title = Google’s Brandy Update Exposed|last = French|first = Garrett|date = February 17, 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:WebProNews|WebProNews]]''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sitepoint.com/brandy-google-update/|title = How To Beat Google’s ‘Brandy’ Update|publisher = Sitepoint|date = March 8, 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2004 || February 17–20 || Search algorithm update || Indexing || || Google announces the ''Brandy'' update, a massive index expansion, Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), increased attention to anchor text relevance, and the concept of link "neighborhoods."<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webpronews.com/googles-brandy-update-exposed-2004-02|title = Google’s Brandy Update Exposed|last = French|first = Garrett|date = February 17, 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:WebProNews|WebProNews]]''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sitepoint.com/brandy-google-update/|title = How To Beat Google’s ‘Brandy’ Update|publisher = Sitepoint|date = March 8, 2004|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2004 || October || Search category || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Scholar|Google Scholar]], its search service for academic publications.<ref name=official-google-history/> | | 2004 || October || Search category || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Scholar|Google Scholar]], its search service for academic publications.<ref name=official-google-history/> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2004 || December || User experience || || || | + | | 2004 || December || User experience || Search suggestions || || {{w|Google Suggest}} is introduced as a [[wikipedia:Google Labs|Google Labs]] feature.<ref name=suggest-sel>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googlecom-finally-gets-google-suggest-feature-14626|title = Google.com Finally Gets Google Suggest Feature|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|date = August 25, 2008|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref name=suggest-official>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/at-loss-for-words.html|title = At a loss for words?|date = August 25, 2008|publisher = Official Google Blog|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2005 || January || Search algorithm update | + | | 2005 || January || Search algorithm update || Indexing || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || To combat link spam, Google, [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] and [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]] collectively introduce the [[wikipedia:nofollow|nofollow]] attribute.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2062985/Google-Yahoo-MSN-Unite-On-Support-For-Nofollow-Attribute-For-Links|title = Google, Yahoo, MSN Unite On Support For Nofollow Attribute For Links|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = January 18, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2005 || February 2 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Allegra'' update, whose effects are unclear.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2047678/Googles-Feb.-2005-Update|title = Google's Feb. 2005 Update|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = February 10, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum30/27801.htm|title = Update Allegra - Google Update 2-2-2005|publisher = Webmaster World (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | | 2005 || February 2 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the ''Allegra'' update, whose effects are unclear.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2047678/Googles-Feb.-2005-Update|title = Google's Feb. 2005 Update|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = February 10, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum30/27801.htm|title = Update Allegra - Google Update 2-2-2005|publisher = Webmaster World (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | ||
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| 2005 || June || Webmaster tools || || || Google allows webmasters to submit XML sitemaps via Webmaster Tools, bypassing the need for HTML sitemaps.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061916/New-Google-Sitemaps-Web-Page-Feed-Program|title = New "Google Sitemaps" Web Page Feed Program|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 2, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> | | 2005 || June || Webmaster tools || || || Google allows webmasters to submit XML sitemaps via Webmaster Tools, bypassing the need for HTML sitemaps.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061916/New-Google-Sitemaps-Web-Page-Feed-Program|title = New "Google Sitemaps" Web Page Feed Program|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 2, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2005 || June || User experience || || || Google launches personalized search that automatically taps into users' [[wikipedia:Google Web History|web histories]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/06/search-gets-personal.html|title = Search gets personal|date = June 28, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Google blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061728/Google-Relaunches-Personal-Search-This-Time-It-Really-Is-Personal|title = Google Relaunches Personal Search - This Time, It Really Is Personal|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 28, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> | + | | 2005 || June || User experience || Personalization || || Google launches personalized search that automatically taps into users' [[wikipedia:Google Web History|web histories]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/06/search-gets-personal.html|title = Search gets personal|date = June 28, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Google blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061728/Google-Relaunches-Personal-Search-This-Time-It-Really-Is-Personal|title = Google Relaunches Personal Search - This Time, It Really Is Personal|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 28, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2005 || June || User experience || || || Google launches Google Mobile Web Search.<ref name=official-google-history/> | + | | 2005 || June || User experience || Mobile search || || Google launches Google Mobile Web Search.<ref name=official-google-history/> |
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| − | | 2005 || September || Search algorithm update || || || Although Google denies running an update, [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] clarifies that [[wikipedia:PageRank|PageRank]] was refreshed for some pages recently (with a three-month refresh cycle) causing changes to many site ranks. Observers call this the ''Gilligan'' update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/whats-an-update/|title = What’s an update?|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = September 8, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061165/Googles-Cutts-Says-Not-An-Update-I-Say-An-Update-Just-Not-A-Dance|title = Google's Cutts Says Not An Update - I Say An Update, Just Not A Dance|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = September 9, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> | + | | 2005 || September || Search algorithm update || Ranking || || Although Google denies running an update, [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] clarifies that [[wikipedia:PageRank|PageRank]] was refreshed for some pages recently (with a three-month refresh cycle) causing changes to many site ranks. Observers call this the ''Gilligan'' update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/whats-an-update/|title = What’s an update?|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = September 8, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2061165/Googles-Cutts-Says-Not-An-Update-I-Say-An-Update-Just-Not-A-Dance|title = Google's Cutts Says Not An Update - I Say An Update, Just Not A Dance|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = September 9, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2005 || September–November || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces and rolls out the ''Jagger'' update in three stages, one in September, one in October, one in November.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/002711.html|title = A Review Of The Jagger 2 Update|date = October 26, 2005|last= Pfeiffer|first = Ben|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum30/32004.htm|title = Dealing With Consequences of Jagger Update: Your site dropped? Lost rankings? What to do now?|publisher = Webmaster World (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | | 2005 || September–November || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces and rolls out the ''Jagger'' update in three stages, one in September, one in October, one in November.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/002711.html|title = A Review Of The Jagger 2 Update|date = October 26, 2005|last= Pfeiffer|first = Ben|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum30/32004.htm|title = Dealing With Consequences of Jagger Update: Your site dropped? Lost rankings? What to do now?|publisher = Webmaster World (forum)|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2005 || December (rollout continues till March 2006) || Search algorithm update || || || Google begins rolling out the '' Big Daddy'' update, continuing for the next few months until March 2006. The update changes URL canonization, site redirects, and related items.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/indexing-timeline/|title = Indexing timeline|date = May 16, 2006|accessdate = February 1, 2014|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> | + | | 2005 || December (rollout continues till March 2006) || Search algorithm update || Indexing || || Google begins rolling out the ''Big Daddy'' update, continuing for the next few months until March 2006. The update changes URL canonization, site redirects, and related items.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/indexing-timeline/|title = Indexing timeline|date = May 16, 2006|accessdate = February 1, 2014|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2006 || May || Analytics || Google releases {{w|Google Trends}} to make it easy to visualize the popularity of searches over time.<ref name=official-google-history/> | + | | 2006 || May || Analytics || Public information on search trends || || Google releases {{w|Google Trends}} to make it easy to visualize the popularity of searches over time.<ref name=official-google-history/> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2006 || August 23 || Customized search || || || Google publicly launches {{w|Google Custom Search}}. The main part of this is Custom Search Engine, a functionality that allows users to build search engines with their own custom modifications of Google Search, specifically, restriction of the search queries to a subset of the web (e.g., a specific set of domains).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Power of Google Search is Now Customizable|url=http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2006/10/power-of-google-search-is-now_23.html|publisher=Google|date = August 23, 2006|accessdate = July 13, 2019}}</ref> | | 2006 || August 23 || Customized search || || || Google publicly launches {{w|Google Custom Search}}. The main part of this is Custom Search Engine, a functionality that allows users to build search engines with their own custom modifications of Google Search, specifically, restriction of the search queries to a subset of the web (e.g., a specific set of domains).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Power of Google Search is Now Customizable|url=http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2006/10/power-of-google-search-is-now_23.html|publisher=Google|date = August 23, 2006|accessdate = July 13, 2019}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2007 || May 16 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2007 || May 16 || Search algorithm update || Ranking, presentation || || Google launches Universal Search, integrating traditional search results with results from [[wikipedia:Google News|Google News]], [[wikipedia:Google Image Search|Google Image Search]], Google Video Search, and other verticals. This is believed to be a major milestone in the user experience.<ref name=official-google-history/><ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/universal-search-best-answer-is-still.html|title = Universal search: The best answer is still the best answer|date = May 16, 2007|last = Mayer|first = Marissa|authorlink = Marissa Mayer|publisher = Official Google Blog|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-20-google-universal-search-11232|title = Google Launches "Universal Search" & Blended Results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|date = May 16, 2007|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
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| 2007 || June || Search algorithm update || || || The ''Buffy'' update happens. It is not considered a deliberate update, but rather an accumulation of many smaller changes.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/smx-seattle-wrap-up/|last = Cutts|first = Matt|title = SMX Seattle wrap-up|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = June 17, 2007|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/013882.html|title = Google "Buffy" Update - June Google.com Update|date = June 18, 2007|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> | | 2007 || June || Search algorithm update || || || The ''Buffy'' update happens. It is not considered a deliberate update, but rather an accumulation of many smaller changes.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/smx-seattle-wrap-up/|last = Cutts|first = Matt|title = SMX Seattle wrap-up|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = June 17, 2007|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/013882.html|title = Google "Buffy" Update - June Google.com Update|date = June 18, 2007|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2008 || March 14 || Transparency | + | | 2008 || March 14 || Transparency || Quality raters guidelines || || For the first time on record, Google's quality raters guidelines are leaked.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/the-google-quality-raters-handbook-13575|title = The Google Quality Raters Handbook|date = March 14, 2008|accessdate = January 20, 2019|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> Updated versions of the guidelines would continue to be leaked for several years until Google finally decides to make the guidelines publicly available in November 2015.<ref name=qrg-release/> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2008 || March 24 || User experience || || || The ''New York Times'' reports that Google now offers "search within search": when people search for names of websites, the top search result, which links to the website, may include a search box to further search within the website.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/business/media/24ecom.html|title = A New Tool From Google Alarms Sites|date = March 24, 2008|accessdate = June 2, 2019|publisher = New York Times}}</ref> | + | | 2008 || March 24 || User experience || Iterative search || || The ''New York Times'' reports that Google now offers "search within search": when people search for names of websites, the top search result, which links to the website, may include a search box to further search within the website.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/business/media/24ecom.html|title = A New Tool From Google Alarms Sites|date = March 24, 2008|accessdate = June 2, 2019|publisher = New York Times}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2008 || March/April || Search algorithm update || || || The ''Dewey'' update seems to lead to a large-scale shuffling of results. Some observers believe that Google is pushing its own properties, such as [[wikipedia:Google Books|Google Books]], but evidence of this is limited.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/016754.html|title = Google's Cutts Asking for Feedback on March/April '08 Update (The "Dewey" Update)|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = April 2, 2008|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> | + | | 2008 || March/April || Search algorithm update || Ranking || || The ''Dewey'' update seems to lead to a large-scale shuffling of results. Some observers believe that Google is pushing its own properties, such as [[wikipedia:Google Books|Google Books]], but evidence of this is limited.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/016754.html|title = Google's Cutts Asking for Feedback on March/April '08 Update (The "Dewey" Update)|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = April 2, 2008|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2008 || August 25 || User experience || || || [[wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]] (later called Autocomplete), originally launched as a Labs feature in December 2004, now becomes part of Google's main site.<ref name=official-google-history/><ref name=suggest-sel/><ref name=suggest-official/> | + | | 2008 || August 25 || User experience || Search suggestions || || [[wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]] (later called Autocomplete), originally launched as a Labs feature in December 2004, now becomes part of Google's main site.<ref name=official-google-history/><ref name=suggest-sel/><ref name=suggest-official/> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2009 || February || Search algorithm update || || || The ''Vince'' update happens. [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] calls it a minor change, but some SEO commentators consider it major.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-searchs-vince-change-google-says-not-brand-push-16803|title = Google’s Vince Update Produces Big Brand Rankings; Google Calls It A Trust "Change"|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = March 5, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | | 2009 || February || Search algorithm update || || || The ''Vince'' update happens. [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] calls it a minor change, but some SEO commentators consider it major.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-searchs-vince-change-google-says-not-brand-push-16803|title = Google’s Vince Update Produces Big Brand Rankings; Google Calls It A Trust "Change"|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = March 5, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2009 || February || Webmaster tools || || || [[wikipedia:Google|Google]], [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]], and [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] announce joint support for tags that help bots identify canonical versions of webpages without affecting human visitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/canonical-link-tag/|title = Learn about the Canonical Link Element in 5 minutes|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = February 15, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/canonical-url-tag-the-most-important-advancement-in-seo-practices-since-sitemaps|title = Canonical URL Tag - The Most Important Advancement in SEO Practices Since Sitemaps|last = Fishkin|first = Rand|date = February 13, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref> | + | | 2009 || February || Webmaster tools || Indexing || || [[wikipedia:Google|Google]], [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]], and [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] announce joint support for tags that help bots identify canonical versions of webpages without affecting human visitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/canonical-link-tag/|title = Learn about the Canonical Link Element in 5 minutes|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = February 15, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/canonical-url-tag-the-most-important-advancement-in-seo-practices-since-sitemaps|title = Canonical URL Tag - The Most Important Advancement in SEO Practices Since Sitemaps|last = Fishkin|first = Rand|date = February 13, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2009 || August 10 (announced), rollout completed and made live June 8, 2010 || Search algorithm update || || || Named ''[[wikipedia:Google Search#Google Caffeine|Caffeine]]'', this update is announced on August 10, 2009. It promises faster crawling, expansion of the index, and a near-real-time integration of indexing and ranking.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/08/help-test-some-next-generation.html|title = Help test some next-generation infrastructure|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine/|title = Google Caffeine: A Detailed Test of the New Google|last = Parr|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Parr|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/08/10/caffeine-its-google-on-red-bull-or-something/|title = Caffeine: It's Google On Red Bull, Or Something|last = Siegler|first = MG|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/12/28/google-caffeine-faster-search-index/|title = Google Is About To Get Caffeinated With A Faster Search Index|last = Schoenfeld|first = Erick|date = December 28, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> The rollout is made live on June 8, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Our new search index: Caffeine|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/08/google-caffeine/|title = Caffeine: Google Finally Brews Its New Pot Of Web Results — 50% Fresher|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''|last = Siegler|first = MG}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Google’s New Indexing Infrastructure "Caffeine" Now Live|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2009 || August 10 (announced), rollout completed and made live June 8, 2010 || Search algorithm update || Indexing, ranking || Faster updates to search results || Named ''[[wikipedia:Google Search#Google Caffeine|Caffeine]]'', this update is announced on August 10, 2009. It promises faster crawling, expansion of the index, and a near-real-time integration of indexing and ranking.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/08/help-test-some-next-generation.html|title = Help test some next-generation infrastructure|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine/|title = Google Caffeine: A Detailed Test of the New Google|last = Parr|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Parr|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/08/10/caffeine-its-google-on-red-bull-or-something/|title = Caffeine: It's Google On Red Bull, Or Something|last = Siegler|first = MG|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/12/28/google-caffeine-faster-search-index/|title = Google Is About To Get Caffeinated With A Faster Search Index|last = Schoenfeld|first = Erick|date = December 28, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> The rollout is made live on June 8, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Our new search index: Caffeine|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/08/google-caffeine/|title = Caffeine: Google Finally Brews Its New Pot Of Web Results — 50% Fresher|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''|last = Siegler|first = MG}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Google’s New Indexing Infrastructure "Caffeine" Now Live|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2009 || October 26 || Search category || || || Google introduces Social Search as a Google Labs feature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-social-search-i.html|title = Introducing Google Social Search: I finally found my friend's New York blog!|date = October 26, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref> The feature is expanded further in late January 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/search-is-getting-more-social.html|title = Search is getting more social|publisher = Official Google Blog|date = January 27, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last= Heymans|first = Maureen}}</ref> | + | | 2009 || October 26 || Search category || Social search || || Google introduces Social Search as a Google Labs feature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-social-search-i.html|title = Introducing Google Social Search: I finally found my friend's New York blog!|date = October 26, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref> The feature is expanded further in late January 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/search-is-getting-more-social.html|title = Search is getting more social|publisher = Official Google Blog|date = January 27, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last= Heymans|first = Maureen}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2009 || December 7 || Search category || || || Google launches real-time search for real-time [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]] feeds, [[wikipedia:Google News|Google News]], and other freshly indexed content.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html|title = Relevance meets the real-time web|date = December 7, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-launches-real-time-search-31355|title = Google Launches Real Time Search Results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|date = December 7, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2009 || December 7 || Search category || || Real-time search || Google launches real-time search for real-time [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]] feeds, [[wikipedia:Google News|Google News]], and other freshly indexed content.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html|title = Relevance meets the real-time web|date = December 7, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-launches-real-time-search-31355|title = Google Launches Real Time Search Results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|date = December 7, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2010 || Late April, early May || Search algorithm update || || || The update, named ''May Day'', is an algorithm change affecting the long tail. Foreshadowing [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], the update penalizes sites with large amounts of thin content.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-mayday-update-impacts-long-tail-traffic-43054|title = Google Confirms "Mayday" Update Impacts Long Tail Traffic|date = May 27, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/022293.html|title = Video: Google's Matt Cutts On May Day Update|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = May 30, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2010 || Late April, early May || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || The update, named ''May Day'', is an algorithm change affecting the long tail. Foreshadowing [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], the update penalizes sites with large amounts of thin content.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-mayday-update-impacts-long-tail-traffic-43054|title = Google Confirms "Mayday" Update Impacts Long Tail Traffic|date = May 27, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/022293.html|title = Video: Google's Matt Cutts On May Day Update|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = May 30, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2010 || September 8 || User experience || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Instant|Google Instant]], described as a ''search-before-you-type'' feature: as users are typing, Google predicts the user's whole search query (using the same technology as in [[wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]], later called the autocomplete feature) ''and'' instantaneously shows results for the top prediction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/search-now-faster-than-speed-of-type.html|title = Search: now faster than the speed of type|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/08/google-instant-its-search-before-you-type/|title = Google Instant: It Searches Before You Type|last = Tsotsis|first = Alexia|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-instant-behind-scenes.html|title = Google Instant, behind the scenes |date = September 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref> Google claims that this is estimated to save 2–5 seconds per search query.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/instant/about.html|title = About Google Instant |publisher = [[wikipedia:Google|Google]]|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> SEO commentators initially believe that this will have a major effect on [[wikipedia:search engine optimization|search engine optimization]], but soon revise downward their estimate of the impact.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/google-instant-fewer-changes-to-seo-than-the-average-algo-update|last = Fishkin|first = Rand|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|title = Google Instant: Fewer Changes to SEO than the Average Algo Update|date = September 21, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2010 || September 8 || User experience || Search suggestions || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Instant|Google Instant]], described as a ''search-before-you-type'' feature: as users are typing, Google predicts the user's whole search query (using the same technology as in [[wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]], later called the autocomplete feature) ''and'' instantaneously shows results for the top prediction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/search-now-faster-than-speed-of-type.html|title = Search: now faster than the speed of type|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/08/google-instant-its-search-before-you-type/|title = Google Instant: It Searches Before You Type|last = Tsotsis|first = Alexia|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-instant-behind-scenes.html|title = Google Instant, behind the scenes |date = September 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref> Google claims that this is estimated to save 2–5 seconds per search query.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/instant/about.html|title = About Google Instant |publisher = [[wikipedia:Google|Google]]|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> SEO commentators initially believe that this will have a major effect on [[wikipedia:search engine optimization|search engine optimization]], but soon revise downward their estimate of the impact.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/google-instant-fewer-changes-to-seo-than-the-average-algo-update|last = Fishkin|first = Rand|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|title = Google Instant: Fewer Changes to SEO than the Average Algo Update|date = September 21, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2010 || November 9 || User experience || || || Google launches Instant Previews, a feature where users can view previews of the ranked pages by hovering over the links in the [[wikipedia:search engine results page|search engine results page]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/beyond-instant-results-instant-previews.html|title = Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/google-instant-previews/|title = Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them|last = Parr|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Parr|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/09/google-instant-previews/|title = Google Instant Previews: Get Ready To Be 5% More Likely Satisfied With Google Search|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Siegler|first = MG|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2010 || November 9 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google launches Instant Previews, a feature where users can view previews of the ranked pages by hovering over the links in the [[wikipedia:search engine results page|search engine results page]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/beyond-instant-results-instant-previews.html|title = Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/google-instant-previews/|title = Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them|last = Parr|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Parr|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/09/google-instant-previews/|title = Google Instant Previews: Get Ready To Be 5% More Likely Satisfied With Google Search|date = November 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Siegler|first = MG|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2010 || December 1 || Search algorithm update || || || Google updates its algorithm to penalize websites that provide a bad experience to users. The update is prompted by a November 26 ''[[wikipedia:New York Times|New York Times]]'' story about a fraudulent company called DecorMyEyes that used the publicity generated by negative customer reviews to rise in the search engine rankings.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/being-bad-to-your-customers-is-bad-for.html|title = Being bad to your customers is bad for business|date = December 1, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&|title = A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web|last = Segal|first = David|date = November 26, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:New York Times|New York Times]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2010 || December 1 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google updates its algorithm to penalize websites that provide a bad experience to users. The update is prompted by a November 26 ''[[wikipedia:New York Times|New York Times]]'' story about a fraudulent company called DecorMyEyes that used the publicity generated by negative customer reviews to rise in the search engine rankings.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/being-bad-to-your-customers-is-bad-for.html|title = Being bad to your customers is bad for business|date = December 1, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&|title = A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web|last = Segal|first = David|date = November 26, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:New York Times|New York Times]]''}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2010 || December || Search algorithm update || || || Both [[wikipedia:Google|Google]] and Microsoft's [[wikipedia:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] indicate that they use social signals, including signals from [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]] and [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]], to rank search results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/what-social-signals-do-google-bing-really-count-55389|title = What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?|date = December 1, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-webmaster-video-reconfirms-use-of-social-signals-59320|title = Google Webmaster Video Reconfirms Use Of Social Signals|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 20, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2010 || December || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Social signals || Both [[wikipedia:Google|Google]] and Microsoft's [[wikipedia:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] indicate that they use social signals, including signals from [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]] and [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]], to rank search results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/what-social-signals-do-google-bing-really-count-55389|title = What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?|date = December 1, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-webmaster-video-reconfirms-use-of-social-signals-59320|title = Google Webmaster Video Reconfirms Use Of Social Signals|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 20, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || January–February || Search algorithm update || || || Foreshadowing [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], Google penalizes [[wikipedia:Overstock.com|Overstock.com]] and [[wikipedia:JCPenney|JCPenney]] for the use of SEO tactics.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4252178.htm|title = Overstock.com's Google Rankings - Too Good?|date = January 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Google SEO News & Discussion Forum, Webmaster World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704520504576162753779521700?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704520504576162753779521700.html|title = Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics|last= Efrati|first = Amir|date = February 24, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || January–February || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Foreshadowing [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], Google penalizes [[wikipedia:Overstock.com|Overstock.com]] and [[wikipedia:JCPenney|JCPenney]] for the use of SEO tactics.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4252178.htm|title = Overstock.com's Google Rankings - Too Good?|date = January 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Google SEO News & Discussion Forum, Webmaster World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704520504576162753779521700?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704520504576162753779521700.html|title = Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics|last= Efrati|first = Amir|date = February 24, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]]''}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || January 28 || Search algorithm update || || || Google launches its ''Attribution'' algorithm change to better sieve out websites that scrape content. [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] claims that slightly over 2% of search queries are affected, but less than 0.5% of results change noticeably.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/algorithm-change-launched/|title = Algorithm change launched|last= Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = January 28, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchnewscentral.com/20110131124/Latest/latest-google-algorithm-change.html|title = It's all about attribution|last = Harry|first = David|publisher = Search News Central|date = January 31, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || January 28 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google launches its ''Attribution'' algorithm change to better sieve out websites that scrape content. [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] claims that slightly over 2% of search queries are affected, but less than 0.5% of results change noticeably.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/algorithm-change-launched/|title = Algorithm change launched|last= Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = January 28, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchnewscentral.com/20110131124/Latest/latest-google-algorithm-change.html|title = It's all about attribution|last = Harry|first = David|publisher = Search News Central|date = January 31, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || February 23–24 || Search algorithm update || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], a major update affecting 12% of search queries. The update continues with the earlier work of cracking down on spam, content farms, [[wikipedia:scraper site|scrapers]], and websites with a high ad-to-content ratio.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html|title = Finding more high-quality sites in search|publisher = Official Google Blog|date = February 24, 2011|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|last2 = Cutts|first2 = Matt|authorlink2 = Matt Cutts|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/business/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/|title = TED 2011: The ‘Panda’ That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google’s Top Search Engineers|last = Levy|first = Steven|authorlink = Steven Levy|date = March 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wired Magazine|Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|url=http://searchengineland.com/how-google-panda-places-updates-created-a-rollercoaster-ride-for-iyp-traffic-101683|title=How Google Panda & Places Updates Created A Rollercoaster Ride For IYP Traffic|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> The rollout is gradual over several months, and Panda will see many further updates. | + | | 2011 || February 23–24 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], a major update affecting 12% of search queries. The update continues with the earlier work of cracking down on spam, content farms, [[wikipedia:scraper site|scrapers]], and websites with a high ad-to-content ratio.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html|title = Finding more high-quality sites in search|publisher = Official Google Blog|date = February 24, 2011|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|last2 = Cutts|first2 = Matt|authorlink2 = Matt Cutts|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/business/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/|title = TED 2011: The ‘Panda’ That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google’s Top Search Engineers|last = Levy|first = Steven|authorlink = Steven Levy|date = March 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wired Magazine|Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|url=http://searchengineland.com/how-google-panda-places-updates-created-a-rollercoaster-ride-for-iyp-traffic-101683|title=How Google Panda & Places Updates Created A Rollercoaster Ride For IYP Traffic|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> The rollout is gradual over several months, and Panda will see many further updates. |
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| 2011 || March 30 || User experience, incorporation of user feedback || || || Google launches the +1 button so that users can offer feedback on search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/+/learnmore/+1/|title = The +1 Button: Show appreciation for things you like on the web|publisher = Google|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> Commentators liken this to the [[wikipedia:like button|like button]] seen on [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/meet-1-googles-answer-to-the-facebook-like-button-70569|title = Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = March 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/30/google-plus-one/|title = With +1, Google Search Goes Truly Social — As Do Google Ads|last = Siegler|first = MG|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''|date = March 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | | 2011 || March 30 || User experience, incorporation of user feedback || || || Google launches the +1 button so that users can offer feedback on search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/+/learnmore/+1/|title = The +1 Button: Show appreciation for things you like on the web|publisher = Google|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> Commentators liken this to the [[wikipedia:like button|like button]] seen on [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/meet-1-googles-answer-to-the-facebook-like-button-70569|title = Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = March 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/30/google-plus-one/|title = With +1, Google Search Goes Truly Social — As Do Google Ads|last = Siegler|first = MG|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''|date = March 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2011 || April 11 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda to all English queries worldwide (not limited to English-speaking countries) and integrates new signals into its ranking algorithm.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/high-quality-sites-algorithm-goes.html|title = High-quality sites algorithm goes global, incorporates user feedback|publisher = Google Webmaster Central blog|date = April 11, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-rolls-out-its-panda-update-internationally-and-begins-incorporating-searcher-blocking-data-72497|title = Panda 2.0: Google Rolls Out Panda Update Internationally & Incorporates Searcher Blocking Data|last = Fox|first= Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = April 11, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || April 11 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda to all English queries worldwide (not limited to English-speaking countries) and integrates new signals into its ranking algorithm.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/high-quality-sites-algorithm-goes.html|title = High-quality sites algorithm goes global, incorporates user feedback|publisher = Google Webmaster Central blog|date = April 11, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-rolls-out-its-panda-update-internationally-and-begins-incorporating-searcher-blocking-data-72497|title = Panda 2.0: Google Rolls Out Panda Update Internationally & Incorporates Searcher Blocking Data|last = Fox|first= Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = April 11, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || May 9 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out further minor updates to Panda but does not discuss them in detail, saying they are more like Panda 2.1 than Panda 3.0.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/its-panda-update-2-not-3-google-says-76508|title = It’s Panda Update 2.1, Not Panda 3.0, Google Says|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan|date = May 10, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-13379.html|title = Google Panda 3.0|date = May 9, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || May 9 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out further minor updates to Panda but does not discuss them in detail, saying they are more like Panda 2.1 than Panda 3.0.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/its-panda-update-2-not-3-google-says-76508|title = It’s Panda Update 2.1, Not Panda 3.0, Google Says|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan|date = May 10, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-13379.html|title = Google Panda 3.0|date = May 9, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || June 2 || Webmaster tools || || || [[wikipedia:Google|Google]], [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]], and [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]] announce [[wikipedia:Schema.org|Schema.org]], a joint initiative that supports a richer range of tags that websites can use to convey better information.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/schema-org-google-bing-yahoo-unite-79554|title = Schema.org: Google, Bing & Yahoo Unite To Make Search Listings Richer Through Structured Data|last = Fox|first= Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-schemaorg-search-engines.html|title = Introducing schema.org: Search engines come together for a richer web|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Guha|first = Ramanathan|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/02/google-yahoo-and-bing-collaborate-on-structured-data-to-make-search-listings-richer/|title = Google, Yahoo, And Bing Collaborate On Structured Data To Make Search Listings Richer|last = Empson|first = Rip|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || June 2 || Webmaster tools || Indexing || || [[wikipedia:Google|Google]], [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]], and [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]] announce [[wikipedia:Schema.org|Schema.org]], a joint initiative that supports a richer range of tags that websites can use to convey better information.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/schema-org-google-bing-yahoo-unite-79554|title = Schema.org: Google, Bing & Yahoo Unite To Make Search Listings Richer Through Structured Data|last = Fox|first= Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-schemaorg-search-engines.html|title = Introducing schema.org: Search engines come together for a richer web|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Guha|first = Ramanathan|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/02/google-yahoo-and-bing-collaborate-on-structured-data-to-make-search-listings-richer/|title = Google, Yahoo, And Bing Collaborate On Structured Data To Make Search Listings Richer|last = Empson|first = Rip|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || June 21 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda 2.2.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-2-2-is-live-82611|title = Official: Google Panda Update 2.2 Is Live|date = June 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/why-google-panda-is-more-a-ranking-factor-than-algorithm-update-82564|title = Why Google Panda Is More A Ranking Factor Than Algorithm Update|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stonetemple.com/a-holistic-look-at-panda-with-vanessa-fox/|title = A Holistic Look at Panda with Vanessa Fox|last = Enge|first = Eric|date = July 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Stone Temple}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || June 21 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda 2.2.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-2-2-is-live-82611|title = Official: Google Panda Update 2.2 Is Live|date = June 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/why-google-panda-is-more-a-ranking-factor-than-algorithm-update-82564|title = Why Google Panda Is More A Ranking Factor Than Algorithm Update|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = June 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stonetemple.com/a-holistic-look-at-panda-with-vanessa-fox/|title = A Holistic Look at Panda with Vanessa Fox|last = Enge|first = Eric|date = July 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Stone Temple}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || July 23 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda 2.3.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-2-3-update-is-live-87230|title = Official: Google Panda 2.3 Update Is Live|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 26, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || July 23 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda 2.3.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-2-3-update-is-live-87230|title = Official: Google Panda 2.3 Update Is Live|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 26, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || August 12 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda 2.4, making Panda available in all languages around the world, except [[wikipedia:Chinese language|Chinese]], [[wikipedia:Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[wikipedia:Korean language|Korean]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/08/high-quality-sites-algorithm-launched.html|title = High-quality sites algorithm launched in additional languages|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = August 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googles-panda-update-launches-internationally-in-most-languages-89214|title = Google Panda Update 2.4: Panda Goes International, In Most Languages|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = August 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || August 12 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda 2.4, making Panda available in all languages around the world, except [[wikipedia:Chinese language|Chinese]], [[wikipedia:Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[wikipedia:Korean language|Korean]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/08/high-quality-sites-algorithm-launched.html|title = High-quality sites algorithm launched in additional languages|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = August 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googles-panda-update-launches-internationally-in-most-languages-89214|title = Google Panda Update 2.4: Panda Goes International, In Most Languages|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = August 12, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || August 16 || User experience || || || Google rolls out expanded sitelinks, starting with 12-pack links (but later reducing to 6-pack).<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/08/evolution-of-sitelinks-expanded-and.html|title = The evolution of sitelinks: expanded and improved|publisher = Inside Search (the official Google Search blog)|date = August 16, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Rocha|first = Daniel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-sitelinks-expands-to-12-pack-89555|title = Official: Google Sitelinks Expands To 12 Pack|date = August 16, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last= Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || August 16 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google rolls out expanded sitelinks, starting with 12-pack links (but later reducing to 6-pack).<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/08/evolution-of-sitelinks-expanded-and.html|title = The evolution of sitelinks: expanded and improved|publisher = Inside Search (the official Google Search blog)|date = August 16, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Rocha|first = Daniel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-sitelinks-expands-to-12-pack-89555|title = Official: Google Sitelinks Expands To 12 Pack|date = August 16, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last= Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || September 15 || Webmaster tools || || || Google rolls out pagination elements for websites to communicate to Google that various webpages are different pages of the same article.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/09/pagination-with-relnext-and-relprev.html|title = Pagination with rel="next" and rel="prev"|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog|date = September 15, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Li|first = Benjia|last2 = Kupke|first2 = Joachim}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-provides-new-options-for-paginated-content-92906|title = Google Provides New Options for Paginated Content|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = September 15, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || September 15 || Webmaster tools || Indexing || || Google rolls out pagination elements for websites to communicate to Google that various webpages are different pages of the same article.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/09/pagination-with-relnext-and-relprev.html|title = Pagination with rel="next" and rel="prev"|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog|date = September 15, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Li|first = Benjia|last2 = Kupke|first2 = Joachim}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-provides-new-options-for-paginated-content-92906|title = Google Provides New Options for Paginated Content|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = September 15, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || September 21 || Bias concerns in search results || || || In hearings before the United States Senate, {{w|Jeremy Stoppelman}} of Yelp and Jeffrey Katz of Nextag claim that Google search results are biased against competing offering s such as the reviews on Yelp, while Google still benefits from the information in these reviews. Eric Schmidt of Google claims that Google search results are not biased, and Google aims to offer search results that best meet the needs of users.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/technology/google-takes-the-hot-seat-in-washington.html|title = Google’s Competitors Square Off Against Its Leader|last = Lohr|first = Steve|date = September 21, 2011|accessdate = June 2, 2019}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || September 21 || Bias concerns in search results || Ranking || || In hearings before the United States Senate, {{w|Jeremy Stoppelman}} of Yelp and Jeffrey Katz of Nextag claim that Google search results are biased against competing offering s such as the reviews on Yelp, while Google still benefits from the information in these reviews. Eric Schmidt of Google claims that Google search results are not biased, and Google aims to offer search results that best meet the needs of users.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/technology/google-takes-the-hot-seat-in-washington.html|title = Google’s Competitors Square Off Against Its Leader|last = Lohr|first = Steve|date = September 21, 2011|accessdate = June 2, 2019}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || September 30 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda 2.5.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/confirmed-google-panda-2-5-update-arrived-this-week-95222|title = Confirmed: Google Panda 2.5 Update Arrived This Week|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = September 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Although the specifics of the update are unclear, a few sites gain significantly and a few others lose significantly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-losers-today-show-winners-youtube-95257|title = Google Panda 2.5: Losers Include Today Show, The Next Web; Winners Include YouTube, Fox News|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = October 1, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Other minor ''flux'' updates occur on October 3, October 5 and October 13, and some commentators call these Panda 3.0 and 3.1.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-googles-panda-2-5-flux-97603|title = Panda Update 3.0 Live & Panda "Flux"|date = October 19, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || September 30 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda 2.5.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/confirmed-google-panda-2-5-update-arrived-this-week-95222|title = Confirmed: Google Panda 2.5 Update Arrived This Week|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = September 30, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Although the specifics of the update are unclear, a few sites gain significantly and a few others lose significantly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-losers-today-show-winners-youtube-95257|title = Google Panda 2.5: Losers Include Today Show, The Next Web; Winners Include YouTube, Fox News|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = October 1, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Other minor ''flux'' updates occur on October 3, October 5 and October 13, and some commentators call these Panda 3.0 and 3.1.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-googles-panda-2-5-flux-97603|title = Panda Update 3.0 Live & Panda "Flux"|date = October 19, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || October 18 || User experience | + | | 2011 || October 18 || User experience || Privacy of search queries || || Google announces that they will start encrypting all search queries for security purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-search-more-secure.html|title = Making search more secure|date = October 18, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Kao|first = Evelyn}}</ref> This disrupts organic keyword referral data for many websites, making search engine optimization harder.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/google-hides-search-referral-data-with-new-ssl-implementation-emergency-whiteboard-friday|title = Google Hides Search Referral Data with New SSL Implementation - Emergency Whiteboard Friday|last= Wheeler|first = Aaron|date = October 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2011 || November 3 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces a ''Freshness'' update that would give priority to fresher, more recent search results, and claims this could affect 35% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html|title = Giving you fresher, more recent search results|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-search-algorithm-change-for-freshness-to-impact-35-of-searches-99856|title = Google Search Algorithm Change For Freshness To Impact 35% Of Searches; Twitter Firehose Remains Off|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/03/googles-new-algorithm-update-impacts-35-of-searches/|title = Google’s New Algorithm Update Impacts 35% Of Searches|last = Perez|first = Sarah|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> The algorithm largely affects time-sensitive queries. A number of sites gain and many others lose as a result of the update.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/07/the-winners-losers-of-googles-freshness-update-revealed/|title = The Winners & Losers Of Google’s Freshness Update Revealed|last = Perez|first = Sarah|date = November 7, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || November 3 || Search algorithm update || Indexing, ranking || Faster updates to search results || Google announces a ''Freshness'' update that would give priority to fresher, more recent search results, and claims this could affect 35% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html|title = Giving you fresher, more recent search results|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-search-algorithm-change-for-freshness-to-impact-35-of-searches-99856|title = Google Search Algorithm Change For Freshness To Impact 35% Of Searches; Twitter Firehose Remains Off|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/03/googles-new-algorithm-update-impacts-35-of-searches/|title = Google’s New Algorithm Update Impacts 35% Of Searches|last = Perez|first = Sarah|date = November 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> The algorithm largely affects time-sensitive queries. A number of sites gain and many others lose as a result of the update.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/07/the-winners-losers-of-googles-freshness-update-revealed/|title = The Winners & Losers Of Google’s Freshness Update Revealed|last = Perez|first = Sarah|date = November 7, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> |
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| 2011 || November 14 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces a 10-pack of updates, and says that this begins a series of monthly announcements of packs of updates.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/11/ten-recent-algorithm-changes.html|title = Ten recent algorithm changes|date = November 14, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: the Official Google Search blog|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> | | 2011 || November 14 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces a 10-pack of updates, and says that this begins a series of monthly announcements of packs of updates.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/11/ten-recent-algorithm-changes.html|title = Ten recent algorithm changes|date = November 14, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: the Official Google Search blog|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2011 || November 18 || Search algorithm update || || || Google releases an allegedly minor Panda update, which SEO commentators label as Panda 3.1, despite the lack of a generally agreed upon update named Panda 3.0.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/minor-google-panda-update-on-november-18th-101891|title = Google Panda Update 3.1: "Minor" One Made Live On November 18th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-31-14348.html|title = Google Panda 3.1 Update : 11/18|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> | + | | 2011 || November 18 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda)|| Google releases an allegedly minor Panda update, which SEO commentators label as Panda 3.1, despite the lack of a generally agreed upon update named Panda 3.0.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/minor-google-panda-update-on-november-18th-101891|title = Google Panda Update 3.1: "Minor" One Made Live On November 18th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-31-14348.html|title = Google Panda 3.1 Update : 11/18|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref> |
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| 2012 || December 2011-January 2012 (announced January 5) || Search algorithm update, user experience || || || A 30-change pack of updates, including landing-page quality detection, more relevant site-links, more rich snippets, and related-query improvements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/30-search-quality-highlights-with.html|title = 30 search quality highlights (with codenames!): December|date = January 5, 2012|last = Nayak|first = Pandu|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref> | | 2012 || December 2011-January 2012 (announced January 5) || Search algorithm update, user experience || || || A 30-change pack of updates, including landing-page quality detection, more relevant site-links, more rich snippets, and related-query improvements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/30-search-quality-highlights-with.html|title = 30 search quality highlights (with codenames!): December|date = January 5, 2012|last = Nayak|first = Pandu|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref> | ||
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| 2012 || January 10 || Search algorithm update, user experience || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Search Plus Your World|Search Plus Your World]], a deep integration of one's social data into search.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/search-plus-your-world.html|title = Search, plus Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/10/google-launches-social-search/|title = Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut|last = Ulanoff|first = Lance|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref> SEO commentators are critical of how the search results favor [[wikipedia:Google+|Google+]] and push it to users, compared to more widely used social networks such as [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]] and [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/examples-google-search-plus-drive-facebook-twitter-crazy-107554|title = Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s "Search Plus" Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://marketingland.com/twitter-google-wwe-bing-3206|title = Twitter Cries Foul Over Google "@WWE" Search, But Google Still Beats Bing|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Marketing Land|Marketing Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/10/search-google-plus-not-your-world/|title = "Search Plus Your World" Is Just About Google+, Not Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/google-social-search-too-much-too-soon/|title = Why Google's Social Search Is Too Much, Too Soon|last = Kessler|first = Sarah|date = January 13, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref> | | 2012 || January 10 || Search algorithm update, user experience || || || Google launches [[wikipedia:Search Plus Your World|Search Plus Your World]], a deep integration of one's social data into search.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/search-plus-your-world.html|title = Search, plus Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/10/google-launches-social-search/|title = Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut|last = Ulanoff|first = Lance|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref> SEO commentators are critical of how the search results favor [[wikipedia:Google+|Google+]] and push it to users, compared to more widely used social networks such as [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]] and [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/examples-google-search-plus-drive-facebook-twitter-crazy-107554|title = Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s "Search Plus" Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://marketingland.com/twitter-google-wwe-bing-3206|title = Twitter Cries Foul Over Google "@WWE" Search, But Google Still Beats Bing|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Marketing Land|Marketing Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/10/search-google-plus-not-your-world/|title = "Search Plus Your World" Is Just About Google+, Not Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/google-social-search-too-much-too-soon/|title = Why Google's Social Search Is Too Much, Too Soon|last = Kessler|first = Sarah|date = January 13, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2012 || January 19 || Search algorithm update || || || Google updates its algorithm to introduce a penalty for websites with too many ads "above the fold". The update has no name, but some SEOs use "Top Heavy" to describe the update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement.html|title = Page layout algorithm improvement|date = January 19, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || January 19 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) || Google updates its algorithm to introduce a penalty for websites with too many ads "above the fold". The update has no name, but some SEOs use "Top Heavy" to describe the update.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement.html|title = Page layout algorithm improvement|date = January 19, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2012 || February 27 || Search algorithm update || || || The update, codenamed ''Venice'', is announced as part of Google's end-of-February 40-pack update. Venice seems to give substantially increased weightage to local results (location inferred from the user's IP and other signals) for many search queries, such as those looking for businesses of various types in the vicinity.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/02/search-quality-highlights-40-changes.html|title = Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February|publisher = Inside Search: the Official Google Search blog|date = February 27, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/understand-and-rock-the-google-venice-update|title = Understand and Rock the Google Venice Update|date = March 12, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|last = Ramsey|first = Mike}}</ref> On the same date, Google rolls out Panda 3.3, which it bills as a data refresh rather than an algorithm change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-panda-update-link-evaluation-local-search-rankings-113078|title = Google Confirms Panda 3.3 Update, Plus Changes To How It Evaluates Links, Local Search Rankings & Much More|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = February 27, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || February 27 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Local search || The update, codenamed ''Venice'', is announced as part of Google's end-of-February 40-pack update. Venice seems to give substantially increased weightage to local results (location inferred from the user's IP and other signals) for many search queries, such as those looking for businesses of various types in the vicinity.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/02/search-quality-highlights-40-changes.html|title = Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February|publisher = Inside Search: the Official Google Search blog|date = February 27, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/understand-and-rock-the-google-venice-update|title = Understand and Rock the Google Venice Update|date = March 12, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|last = Ramsey|first = Mike}}</ref> On the same date, Google rolls out Panda 3.3, which it bills as a data refresh rather than an algorithm change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-panda-update-link-evaluation-local-search-rankings-113078|title = Google Confirms Panda 3.3 Update, Plus Changes To How It Evaluates Links, Local Search Rankings & Much More|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = February 27, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || March 23, April 19, April 27 || Search algorithm update || || || March 23: Google rolls out Panda 3.4, which is claimed to affect 1.6% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-says-panda-update-is-rolling-out-now-116444|title = Google Says Panda 3.4 Is ‘Rolling Out Now’|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = March 23, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><br>Google quietly rolls out Panda 3.5 (April 19) and Panda 3.6 (April 27), with minimal impact.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-35-15065.html|title = Google Mocks Me For Missing Panda 3.5|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/panda-update-3-6-on-april-27th-120227|title = Confirmed: Panda Update 3.6 Happened On April 27th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 3, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || March 23, April 19, April 27 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || March 23: Google rolls out Panda 3.4, which is claimed to affect 1.6% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-says-panda-update-is-rolling-out-now-116444|title = Google Says Panda 3.4 Is ‘Rolling Out Now’|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = March 23, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><br>Google quietly rolls out Panda 3.5 (April 19) and Panda 3.6 (April 27), with minimal impact.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-35-15065.html|title = Google Mocks Me For Missing Panda 3.5|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/panda-update-3-6-on-april-27th-120227|title = Confirmed: Panda Update 3.6 Happened On April 27th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 3, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || April 24 || Search algorithm update || || || Google launches its "Webspam update" which would soon become known as [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html|title = Another step to reward high-quality sites|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = April 24, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/the-penguin-update-googles-webspam-algorithm-gets-official-name-119623|title = The Penguin Update: Google’s Webspam Algorithm Gets Official Name|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-update-recovery-tips-advice-119650|title = Google Penguin Update Recovery Tips & Advice|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-talks-penguin-update-recover-negative-seo-120463|title = Two Weeks In, Google Talks Penguin Update, Ways To Recover & Negative SEO|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = May 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || April 24 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google launches its "Webspam update" which would soon become known as [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html|title = Another step to reward high-quality sites|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = April 24, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/the-penguin-update-googles-webspam-algorithm-gets-official-name-119623|title = The Penguin Update: Google’s Webspam Algorithm Gets Official Name|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-update-recovery-tips-advice-119650|title = Google Penguin Update Recovery Tips & Advice|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-talks-penguin-update-recover-negative-seo-120463|title = Two Weeks In, Google Talks Penguin Update, Ways To Recover & Negative SEO|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = May 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || May 16 || Search algorithm update || || || Google starts rolling out [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]], used by Google internally to store semantic relationships between objects. Google now begins displaying supplemental information about objects related to search queries on the side.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html|title = Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings|last = Singhal|first= Amit|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = The Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-launches-knowledge-graph-121585|title = Google Launches Knowledge Graph To Provide Answers, Not Just Links|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/16/google-just-got-a-whole-lot-smarter-launches-its-knowledge-graph/|title = Google Just Got A Whole Lot Smarter, Launches Its Knowledge Graph|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || May 16 || Search algorithm update, user experience || Ranking, information in SERPs || Knowledge Graph || Google starts rolling out [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]], used by Google internally to store semantic relationships between objects. Google now begins displaying supplemental information about objects related to search queries on the side.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html|title = Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings|last = Singhal|first= Amit|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = The Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-launches-knowledge-graph-121585|title = Google Launches Knowledge Graph To Provide Answers, Not Just Links|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/16/google-just-got-a-whole-lot-smarter-launches-its-knowledge-graph/|title = Google Just Got A Whole Lot Smarter, Launches Its Knowledge Graph|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || May 25 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out an update of [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]], variously called Penguin 1.1 and Penguin 2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pushes-first-penguin-algorithm-update-122518|title = Google Releases Penguin Update 2|date = May 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = McGee|first = Matt}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || May 25 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google rolls out an update of [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]], variously called Penguin 1.1 and Penguin 2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pushes-first-penguin-algorithm-update-122518|title = Google Releases Penguin Update 2|date = May 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = McGee|first = Matt}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || June–September || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out updates to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]]: 3.7 (June 8),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-7-15281.html|title = Confirmed: Google Panda 3.7 Update|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/the-bigfoot-update-aka-dr-pete-goes-crazy|title = The Bigfoot Update (AKA Dr. Pete Goes Crazy)|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = June 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref> 3.8 (June 25),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-version-3-8-on-june-25th-125945|title = Official Google Panda Update Version 3.8 On June 25th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 25, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-8-15350.html|title = Google Panda 3.8 Live: June 25th & Refresh Only|date = June 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> 3.9 (July 24),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-39-official-15480.html|title = Official: Google Panda 3.9 Refresh|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 25, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> 3.9.1 (August 20),<ref name=moz/> and 3.9.2 (September 18).<ref name=moz/> | + | | 2012 || June–September || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out updates to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]]: 3.7 (June 8),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-7-15281.html|title = Confirmed: Google Panda 3.7 Update|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/the-bigfoot-update-aka-dr-pete-goes-crazy|title = The Bigfoot Update (AKA Dr. Pete Goes Crazy)|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = June 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref> 3.8 (June 25),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-version-3-8-on-june-25th-125945|title = Official Google Panda Update Version 3.8 On June 25th|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 25, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-8-15350.html|title = Google Panda 3.8 Live: June 25th & Refresh Only|date = June 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> 3.9 (July 24),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-39-official-15480.html|title = Official: Google Panda 3.9 Refresh|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 25, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> 3.9.1 (August 20),<ref name=moz/> and 3.9.2 (September 18).<ref name=moz/> |
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| − | | 2012 || July 26 || Third-party tracking || || || Moz launches MozCast, the "Google weather report". The tool, available online at mozcast.com, tracks the "temperature" of changes to Google's search algorithm and rankings on a day-to-day basis, helping provide better context to search algorithm changes beyond just the biggest ones.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/announcing-mozcast-the-google-weather-report|title = Announcing MozCast - The Google Weather Report|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = July 26, 2012|accessdate = 2 July 2020|publisher = [[wikipedia:Moz|Moz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120715000000*/http://mozcast.com|title = Internet Archive's Wayback Machine results for mozcast.com in 2012|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name=mozcast-v-algoroo>{{cite web|url = http://insideonline.co.uk/mozcast-vs-algoroo/|title = Mozcast Vs. Algoroo – Which Tool Should You Use?|last = Ryan|first = David|date = May 22, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Inside Online}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || July 26 || Third-party tracking || SERP volatility measurement || || Moz launches MozCast, the "Google weather report". The tool, available online at mozcast.com, tracks the "temperature" of changes to Google's search algorithm and rankings on a day-to-day basis, helping provide better context to search algorithm changes beyond just the biggest ones.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/announcing-mozcast-the-google-weather-report|title = Announcing MozCast - The Google Weather Report|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = July 26, 2012|accessdate = 2 July 2020|publisher = [[wikipedia:Moz|Moz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120715000000*/http://mozcast.com|title = Internet Archive's Wayback Machine results for mozcast.com in 2012|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name=mozcast-v-algoroo>{{cite web|url = http://insideonline.co.uk/mozcast-vs-algoroo/|title = Mozcast Vs. Algoroo – Which Tool Should You Use?|last = Ryan|first = David|date = May 22, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Inside Online}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || August 10 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces that it will start penalizing websites with repeat copyright infringements, possibly as measured by [[wikipedia:DMCA|DMCA]] takedown requests.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-update-to-our-search-algorithms.html|title = An update to our search algorithms|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = August 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref> Some SEO commentators call this the ''Pirate'' update.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/dmca-requests-now-used-in-googles-ranking-algorithm-130118|title = The Pirate Update: Google Will Penalize Sites Repeatedly Accused Of Copyright Infringement|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = August 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || August 10 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating policy violations (copyright) || Google announces that it will start penalizing websites with repeat copyright infringements, possibly as measured by [[wikipedia:DMCA|DMCA]] takedown requests.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-update-to-our-search-algorithms.html|title = An update to our search algorithms|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|date = August 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref> Some SEO commentators call this the ''Pirate'' update.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/dmca-requests-now-used-in-googles-ranking-algorithm-130118|title = The Pirate Update: Google Will Penalize Sites Repeatedly Accused Of Copyright Infringement|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = August 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || September 27 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out a major update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]] (the update is to the underlying algorithm, rather than merely being a data refresh), that would be dubbed Panda 4.0, but SEO commentators decide to simply call it Panda #20. The change is estimated to have affected 2.4% of search queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-20-15789.html|title = 20th Google Panda Algorithm Update: Fairly Major|date = October 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|authorlink = Barry Schwartz (technologist)}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || September 27 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out a major update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]] (the update is to the underlying algorithm, rather than merely being a data refresh), that would be dubbed Panda 4.0, but SEO commentators decide to simply call it Panda #20. The change is estimated to have affected 2.4% of search queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-20-15789.html|title = 20th Google Panda Algorithm Update: Fairly Major|date = October 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|authorlink = Barry Schwartz (technologist)}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || September 27 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces changes in the way it handles Exact-Match Domains. The change is estimated to have affected 0.6% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/googles-emd-algo-update-early-data|title = Google's EMD Algo Update - Early Data|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = September 29, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/low-quality-exact-match-domains-are-googles-next-target-134889|title = The EMD Update: Google Issues "Weather Report" Of Crack Down On Low Quality Exact Match Domains|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 28, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || September 27 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || || Google announces changes in the way it handles Exact-Match Domains. The change is estimated to have affected 0.6% of search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/googles-emd-algo-update-early-data|title = Google's EMD Algo Update - Early Data|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = September 29, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/low-quality-exact-match-domains-are-googles-next-target-134889|title = The EMD Update: Google Issues "Weather Report" Of Crack Down On Low Quality Exact Match Domains|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 28, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012 || October 5 || Search algorithm update || || || Google releases minor tweaks to Penguin, affecting about 0.3% of search queries. SEO commentators call it Penguin #3, following the lead of Panda in ditching the use of 1.x notation in favor of labeling updates by number.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-penguin-update-3-135527|title = Google Penguin Update 3 Released, Impacts 0.3% Of English-Language Queries|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = October 5, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-3-15802.html|title = Google Released 3rd Penguin Update: Not Jarring Or Jolting|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = October 8, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || October 5 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google releases minor tweaks to Penguin, affecting about 0.3% of search queries. SEO commentators call it Penguin #3, following the lead of Panda in ditching the use of 1.x notation in favor of labeling updates by number.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-penguin-update-3-135527|title = Google Penguin Update 3 Released, Impacts 0.3% Of English-Language Queries|last = McGee|first = Matt|date = October 5, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-3-15802.html|title = Google Released 3rd Penguin Update: Not Jarring Or Jolting|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = October 8, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2012-13 || November 2012-January 2013 || Search algorithm update || || || Google releases updates to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]]: #21 (November 5, affecting 1.1% of queries), #22 (November 21, data refresh only), #23 (December 21, data refresh only, affecting 1.3% of queries), and #24 (January 22, affecting 1.2% of queries).<ref name=moz/> | + | | 2012-13 || November 2012-January 2013 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google releases updates to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]]: #21 (November 5, affecting 1.1% of queries), #22 (November 21, data refresh only), #23 (December 21, data refresh only, affecting 1.3% of queries), and #24 (January 22, affecting 1.2% of queries).<ref name=moz/> |
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| − | | 2012 || December 4 || Search algorithm update || || || Google adds [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]] to non-English queries, and says that the change goes beyond translation and also adds enhanced Knowledge Graph capabilities.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/12/get-smarter-answers-from-knowledge_4.html|title = Get smarter answers from the Knowledge Graph from Português to 日本語 to русский|last = Brown|first = Aaron|date = December 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/04/googles-knowledge-graph-expands-to-more-languages-including-italian-japanese-and-russian/|title = Google’s Knowledge Graph Expands To More Languages, Including Italian, French, Japanese And Russian|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|date = December 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> | + | | 2012 || December 4 || Search algorithm update || || Knowledge Graph || Google adds [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]] to non-English queries, and says that the change goes beyond translation and also adds enhanced Knowledge Graph capabilities.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/12/get-smarter-answers-from-knowledge_4.html|title = Get smarter answers from the Knowledge Graph from Português to 日本語 to русский|last = Brown|first = Aaron|date = December 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/04/googles-knowledge-graph-expands-to-more-languages-including-italian-japanese-and-russian/|title = Google’s Knowledge Graph Expands To More Languages, Including Italian, French, Japanese And Russian|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|date = December 4, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || March || Third-party tracking || || || Algoroo, a tool to track changes in Google Search rankings and identify algorithm changes, launches, initially in pre-alpha.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130318184550/http://algoroo.com|title = Wayback Machine for algoroo from March 18, 2013|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.icrossing.com/uk/ideas/how-to-attribute-ranking-fluctuations-serps-volatility-to-google-updates|title = Correlating SERP Fluctuations & Volatility to Google Updates|publisher = iCrossing|date = July 17, 2013|accessdate = May 1, 2017|last = Siotos|first = Modestos}}</ref><ref name=mozcast-v-algoroo/> | + | | 2013 || March || Third-party tracking || SERP volatibility measurement || || Algoroo, a tool to track changes in Google Search rankings and identify algorithm changes, launches, initially in pre-alpha.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130318184550/http://algoroo.com|title = Wayback Machine for algoroo from March 18, 2013|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.icrossing.com/uk/ideas/how-to-attribute-ranking-fluctuations-serps-volatility-to-google-updates|title = Correlating SERP Fluctuations & Volatility to Google Updates|publisher = iCrossing|date = July 17, 2013|accessdate = May 1, 2017|last = Siotos|first = Modestos}}</ref><ref name=mozcast-v-algoroo/> |
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| − | | 2013 || March 13–14 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out Panda #25. Remarks by [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] at [[wikipedia:SMX West|SMX West]] give people the impression that this is the last update to Panda as a distinct entity and it will thereafter be integrated into the core algorithm.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-25-16506.html|title = Google's Final Manual Panda Refresh Here? #25 |date = March 15, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-25-seems-to-have-hit-151732|title = Google Panda Update 25 Seems To Have Hit|date = March 15, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> On June 11, 2013, Cutts clarifies that Panda updates roll out over 10-day periods every month and are not continuous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googles-panda-dance-matt-cutts-confirms-panda-rolls-out-monthly-over-10-of-30-days-162950|title = Google’s Panda Dance: Matt Cutts Confirms Panda Rolls Out Monthly Over 10 Of 30 Days|date = June 11, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> | + | | 2013 || March 13–14 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google rolls out Panda #25. Remarks by [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]] at [[wikipedia:SMX West|SMX West]] give people the impression that this is the last update to Panda as a distinct entity and it will thereafter be integrated into the core algorithm.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-25-16506.html|title = Google's Final Manual Panda Refresh Here? #25 |date = March 15, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-25-seems-to-have-hit-151732|title = Google Panda Update 25 Seems To Have Hit|date = March 15, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> On June 11, 2013, Cutts clarifies that Panda updates roll out over 10-day periods every month and are not continuous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googles-panda-dance-matt-cutts-confirms-panda-rolls-out-monthly-over-10-of-30-days-162950|title = Google’s Panda Dance: Matt Cutts Confirms Panda Rolls Out Monthly Over 10 Of 30 Days|date = June 11, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || May 22 || Search algorithm update || || || Google rolls out a new version of [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]] that it calls Penguin 2.0, which SEO commentators call Penguin #4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-4-with-penguin-2-0-generation-spam-fighting-is-now-live-160544|title = Penguin 4, With Penguin 2.0 Generation Spam-Fighting, Is Now Live|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 22, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/penguin-2-were-you-jarred-and-or-jolted|title = Penguin 2.0/4 - Were You Jarred and/or Jolted?|date = May 24, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Meyers|first = Peter|publisher = [[wikipedia:Moz (marketing company)|Moz]]}}</ref> | + | | 2013 || May 22 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google rolls out a new version of [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]] that it calls Penguin 2.0, which SEO commentators call Penguin #4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-4-with-penguin-2-0-generation-spam-fighting-is-now-live-160544|title = Penguin 4, With Penguin 2.0 Generation Spam-Fighting, Is Now Live|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 22, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/penguin-2-were-you-jarred-and-or-jolted|title = Penguin 2.0/4 - Were You Jarred and/or Jolted?|date = May 24, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Meyers|first = Peter|publisher = [[wikipedia:Moz (marketing company)|Moz]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || July (or earlier) || | + | | 2013 || July (or earlier) || User experience || Information in SERPs || || "Answer boxes" (an early name for featured snippets) are spotted and discussed by SEO experts. These build upon Google's knowledge graph capabilities, to show a box containing the key "answer" to the search query, usually right above the search results. These are distinct from the knowledge graph cards (also known as knowledge cards or knowledge panels) that appear on the right.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/101-google-answer-boxes-a-journey-into-the-knowledge-graph|title = 101 Google Answer Boxes: A Journey into the Knowledge Graph|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|publisher = SEOMoz|date = August 8, 2013|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || August 6 || | + | | 2013 || August 6 || Search algorithm update, user experience || Ranking || || Google adds a new feature called "in-depth articles" in its search results to feature long-form content of long-lasting value.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2013/08/in-depth-articles-in-search-results.html|title = In-depth articles in search results|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog|date = August 6, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Nayak|first = Pandu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/inside-indepth-articles|title = Inside In-depth Articles: Dissecting Google's Latest Feature|last = Meyers|first = Peter|date = August 13, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Moz (marketing company)|Moz]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || August 21–22 (approximate date for rollout), September 26 (announcement) || Search algorithm update | + | | 2013 || August 21–22 (approximate date for rollout), September 26 (announcement) || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Core || Google releases [[wikipedia:Google Hummingbird|Google Hummingbird]], a core algorithm update that may enable more semantic search and more effective use of the [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]] in the future.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816|title = FAQ: All About The New Google "Hummingbird" Algorithm|date = September 26, 2013|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-update-17268.html|title = Some Reports Of An August 21/22 Google Update|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = August 23, 2013|last = Schwartz|first = Barry||accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2013 || October 4 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces what it calls Penguin 2.1, its fifth version of Penguin, claiming to affect 1% of searches. The effect seems minor.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-2-1-and-5-live-173632|title = Penguin 5, With The Penguin 2.1 Spam-Filtering Algorithm, Is Now Live|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = October 4, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-21-big-17479.html|title = Google Penguin 2.1 Was A Big Hit|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = October 7, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2013 || October 4 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google announces what it calls Penguin 2.1, its fifth version of Penguin, claiming to affect 1% of searches. The effect seems minor.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-2-1-and-5-live-173632|title = Penguin 5, With The Penguin 2.1 Spam-Filtering Algorithm, Is Now Live|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = October 4, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-21-big-17479.html|title = Google Penguin 2.1 Was A Big Hit|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = October 7, 2013|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || May 16 || Search algorithm update || || || Payday Loans 2.0 algorithm change is purely low quality external link related and over-optimization. This specifically goes after high search, spammy queries such as “Payday Loans”. Google is trying to devalue sites that perform in link buying and other black hat methods to game the algorithm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tideinteractivegroup.com/google-algorithm-timeline.php|title = Payday Loans 2.0|last = Freeman|first = Josh|authorlink = Josh Freeman|publisher = [[wikipedia:Tide Interactive Group|Tide Interactive Group]]}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || May 16 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Payday Loans 2.0 algorithm change is purely low quality external link related and over-optimization. This specifically goes after high search, spammy queries such as “Payday Loans”. Google is trying to devalue sites that perform in link buying and other black hat methods to game the algorithm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tideinteractivegroup.com/google-algorithm-timeline.php|title = Payday Loans 2.0|last = Freeman|first = Josh|authorlink = Josh Freeman|publisher = [[wikipedia:Tide Interactive Group|Tide Interactive Group]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || May 20 || Search algorithm update || || || Panda 4.0 is implemented to devalue sites that contained poor / low quality content. This has been an ongoing battle that Google has been chipping away at for years. Google has claimed that the algorithm change has impacted roughly 7.5% of all search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tideinteractivegroup.com/google-algorithm-timeline.php|title = Panda 4.0|last = Freeman|first = Josh|authorlink = Josh Freeman|publisher = [[wikipedia:Tide Interactive Group|Tide Interactive Group]]}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || May 20 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Panda 4.0 is implemented to devalue sites that contained poor / low quality content. This has been an ongoing battle that Google has been chipping away at for years. Google has claimed that the algorithm change has impacted roughly 7.5% of all search queries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tideinteractivegroup.com/google-algorithm-timeline.php|title = Panda 4.0|last = Freeman|first = Josh|authorlink = Josh Freeman|publisher = [[wikipedia:Tide Interactive Group|Tide Interactive Group]]}}</ref> |
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| 2014 || July 3 || Team || || || [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]], a Distinguished Engineer at Google who has been heading the web spam team since 2004, goes on leave till October.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/matt-cutts-on-leave-195785|title = Head Of Google’s Web Spam Team Matt Cutts Is Going On Leave. After 14 years with Google -- and 10 years heading up the web spam team -- veteran says time for a break|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = July 3, 2014|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> He later extends his leave through 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/will-matt-cutts-return-extends-leave-207159|title = Will He Ever Return? Head Of Google’s Web Spam Team Matt Cutts Extends Leave Into 2015. 14 year veteran of Google says web spam fighting has been running fine since he took leave in July.|date = October 31, 2014|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | | 2014 || July 3 || Team || || || [[wikipedia:Matt Cutts|Matt Cutts]], a Distinguished Engineer at Google who has been heading the web spam team since 2004, goes on leave till October.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/matt-cutts-on-leave-195785|title = Head Of Google’s Web Spam Team Matt Cutts Is Going On Leave. After 14 years with Google -- and 10 years heading up the web spam team -- veteran says time for a break|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = July 3, 2014|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> He later extends his leave through 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/will-matt-cutts-return-extends-leave-207159|title = Will He Ever Return? Head Of Google’s Web Spam Team Matt Cutts Extends Leave Into 2015. 14 year veteran of Google says web spam fighting has been running fine since he took leave in July.|date = October 31, 2014|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2014 || July 24 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces the rollout of [[wikipedia:Google Pigeon|Google Pigeon]], a major update to its search algorithm for "local" searches such as searches related to events or businesses near one. The Pigeon update gives more weight to various search signals to deliver more relevant local results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-makes-significant-changes-local-search-ranking-algorithm-197778|title = Google "Pigeon" Updates Local Search Algorithm With Stronger Ties To Web Search Signal|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 24, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/25/google-updates-local-algo-with-more-web-based-signals-turmoil-in-serps/|title = Google Updates Local Algo with More Web Based Signals – Turmoil in SERPS|last = Blumenthal|first = Mike|date = July 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || July 24 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Local search (Pigeon) || Google announces the rollout of [[wikipedia:Google Pigeon|Google Pigeon]], a major update to its search algorithm for "local" searches such as searches related to events or businesses near one. The Pigeon update gives more weight to various search signals to deliver more relevant local results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-makes-significant-changes-local-search-ranking-algorithm-197778|title = Google "Pigeon" Updates Local Search Algorithm With Stronger Ties To Web Search Signal|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 24, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/25/google-updates-local-algo-with-more-web-based-signals-turmoil-in-serps/|title = Google Updates Local Algo with More Web Based Signals – Turmoil in SERPS|last = Blumenthal|first = Mike|date = July 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || August 6 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces search results will give preference to sites using [[wikipedia:HTTP Secure|HTTP Secure]] and [[wikipedia:Transport Layer Security|SSL]] encryption. This added ranking signal would be a "lightweight" ranking boost.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html |title=HTTPS as a ranking signal |publisher=www.google.com |accessdate=Dec 1, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || August 6 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || HTTPS boost || Google announces search results will give preference to sites using [[wikipedia:HTTP Secure|HTTP Secure]] and [[wikipedia:Transport Layer Security|SSL]] encryption. This added ranking signal would be a "lightweight" ranking boost.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html |title=HTTPS as a ranking signal |publisher=www.google.com |accessdate=Dec 1, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || August 28 || User experience || || || Google Authorship is removed completely from search results, as already on December 2013 it reduced number of images showing in SERP's. Now it's totally gone to extinction due to lower adaptation rate by authors, to reduce mobile bandwidth and to improve user experience.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnMueller/posts/HZf3KDP1Dm8|title = Authorship removal|last = Mueller|first = John|publisher = [[wikipedia:Google Plus|Google Plus]]|date = August 28, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webtechshare.com/google-authorship-ends-author-rank-still-remains/ |title=Google Authorship Ends |publisher=www.webtechshare.com |accessdate=August 31, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/goodbye-google-authorship-201975|title = It’s Over: The Rise & Fall Of Google Authorship For Search Results. Google has completely dropped all authorship functionality from the search results and webmaster tools.|last = Enge|first = Eric|date = August 28, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || August 28 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google Authorship is removed completely from search results, as already on December 2013 it reduced number of images showing in SERP's. Now it's totally gone to extinction due to lower adaptation rate by authors, to reduce mobile bandwidth and to improve user experience.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnMueller/posts/HZf3KDP1Dm8|title = Authorship removal|last = Mueller|first = John|publisher = [[wikipedia:Google Plus|Google Plus]]|date = August 28, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webtechshare.com/google-authorship-ends-author-rank-still-remains/ |title=Google Authorship Ends |publisher=www.webtechshare.com |accessdate=August 31, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/goodbye-google-authorship-201975|title = It’s Over: The Rise & Fall Of Google Authorship For Search Results. Google has completely dropped all authorship functionality from the search results and webmaster tools.|last = Enge|first = Eric|date = August 28, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || September 23 (rollout begins), September 25 (announcement) || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces that a significant update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]] is rolling out over the next few weeks. The update is dubbed Panda 4.1.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/+PierreFar/posts/7CWs3a3yoeY|title = Panda update rolling out|date = September 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Google Plus|Google Plus]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/panda-update-rolling-204313|title = Panda 4.1 — Google’s 27th Panda Update — Is Rolling Out|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan|date = September 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> An analysis reveals that the update was heavy on attacking affiliate marketing, keyword stuffing, security warnings, and deception.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmtweb.com/marketing-blog/panda-4-1-analysis/|title = Panda 4.1 Analysis and Findings – Affiliate Marketing, Keyword Stuffing, Security Warnings, and Deception Prevalent|last = Gabe|first = Glenn|date = September 29, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/panda-41-google-leaked-dos-and-donts-whiteboard-friday|title = Panda 4.1 Google Leaked Dos and Don'ts - Whiteboard Friday|last = Bachynski|first = Josh|date = December 5, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = Moz}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || September 23 (rollout begins), September 25 (announcement) || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google announces that a significant update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]] is rolling out over the next few weeks. The update is dubbed Panda 4.1.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/+PierreFar/posts/7CWs3a3yoeY|title = Panda update rolling out|date = September 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Google Plus|Google Plus]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/panda-update-rolling-204313|title = Panda 4.1 — Google’s 27th Panda Update — Is Rolling Out|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan|date = September 25, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> An analysis reveals that the update was heavy on attacking affiliate marketing, keyword stuffing, security warnings, and deception.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmtweb.com/marketing-blog/panda-4-1-analysis/|title = Panda 4.1 Analysis and Findings – Affiliate Marketing, Keyword Stuffing, Security Warnings, and Deception Prevalent|last = Gabe|first = Glenn|date = September 29, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/panda-41-google-leaked-dos-and-donts-whiteboard-friday|title = Panda 4.1 Google Leaked Dos and Don'ts - Whiteboard Friday|last = Bachynski|first = Josh|date = December 5, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = Moz}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || October 17 || Search algorithm update || || || Penguin 3.0 is implemented as a refresh to re-evaluate sites demoted in the last update due to webspam tactics and demote sites using [[wikipedia:Spamdexing#Link spam|black hat SEO]] tactics. This refresh is rolled out globally over several weeks impacting roughly 1% of English-language queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239162 |title=What You Need to Know About Google's Penguin 3.0|last = Dholakiya|first = Pratik|authorlink = Pratik Dholakiya |publisher=www.entrepreneur.com |accessdate=December 1, 2014}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || October 17 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Penguin 3.0 is implemented as a refresh to re-evaluate sites demoted in the last update due to webspam tactics and demote sites using [[wikipedia:Spamdexing#Link spam|black hat SEO]] tactics. This refresh is rolled out globally over several weeks impacting roughly 1% of English-language queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239162 |title=What You Need to Know About Google's Penguin 3.0|last = Dholakiya|first = Pratik|authorlink = Pratik Dholakiya |publisher=www.entrepreneur.com |accessdate=December 1, 2014}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || October 21 || Search algorithm update || || || ''Pirate'' 2.0 update dubbed by SEO commentators following the similar update in 2012 which penalized sites deemed as violators of copyright laws. This refresh targets a relatively small number of known sites causing dramatic drops in ranking. In tandem with this Google introduces a new Ad Format for queries where people may be searching for copyrighted media, requiring publishers to purchase ads to promote original content over the unauthorized copies.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pirate-update-206124 |title=After More Than Two Years, Google Finally Releasing New "Pirate Update" To Fight Piracy|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|publisher=www.searchengineland.com |accessdate=December 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2014/10/26/google-pirate-update-analysis-and-loser-list/|title = Google Pirate Update Analysis and Loser List|publisher = SearchmMetrics|date = October 26, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/googles-new-downranking-hits-pirate-sites-hard-141023/|title = Google’s New Search Downranking Hits Torrent Sites Hard|author = Ernesto|date = October 23, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || October 21 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating policy violations (copyright) || ''Pirate'' 2.0 update dubbed by SEO commentators following the similar update in 2012 which penalized sites deemed as violators of copyright laws. This refresh targets a relatively small number of known sites causing dramatic drops in ranking. In tandem with this Google introduces a new Ad Format for queries where people may be searching for copyrighted media, requiring publishers to purchase ads to promote original content over the unauthorized copies.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pirate-update-206124 |title=After More Than Two Years, Google Finally Releasing New "Pirate Update" To Fight Piracy|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|publisher=www.searchengineland.com |accessdate=December 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2014/10/26/google-pirate-update-analysis-and-loser-list/|title = Google Pirate Update Analysis and Loser List|publisher = SearchmMetrics|date = October 26, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/googles-new-downranking-hits-pirate-sites-hard-141023/|title = Google’s New Search Downranking Hits Torrent Sites Hard|author = Ernesto|date = October 23, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || December 10 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces that [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]] will switch to continuous updates, also known as "Penguin Everflux".<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-says-penguin-shift-continuous-updates-210580|title = Google Says Penguin To Shift To "Continuous Updates". Google To Continuously "Optimize" The Penguin Algorithm As It Goes|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 10, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || December 10 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google announces that [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]] will switch to continuous updates, also known as "Penguin Everflux".<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-says-penguin-shift-continuous-updates-210580|title = Google Says Penguin To Shift To "Continuous Updates". Google To Continuously "Optimize" The Penguin Algorithm As It Goes|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 10, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2014 || December 22 || Search algorithm update || || || [[wikipedia:Google Pigeon|Google Pigeon]], the local search algorithm update, is rolled out to the [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[wikipedia:Canada|Canada]], and [[wikipedia:Australia|Australia]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pigeon-update-rolls-uk-canada-australia-211576|title = Google Pigeon Update Rolls Out To UK, Canada & Australia. Google's new local ranking algorithm that launched in the US earlier this year has rolled out to the UK, Canada and Australia.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 22, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> | + | | 2014 || December 22 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Local search (Pigeon) || [[wikipedia:Google Pigeon|Google Pigeon]], the local search algorithm update, is rolled out to the [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[wikipedia:Canada|Canada]], and [[wikipedia:Australia|Australia]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-pigeon-update-rolls-uk-canada-australia-211576|title = Google Pigeon Update Rolls Out To UK, Canada & Australia. Google's new local ranking algorithm that launched in the US earlier this year has rolled out to the UK, Canada and Australia.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = December 22, 2014|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2015 || February 4 || | + | | 2015 || February 4 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Direct action links and expanded text in answer boxes are spotted for searches for content beyond Google's own documentation (in November 2014, these had been spotted but only for Google's own documentation).<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-answers-now-showing-blue-icons-linking-publisher-sites-google-answers-214114|title = Google Answers Now Showing Blue Icons Linking To Publisher Sites Or More Google Answers. Google Answers now shows action links directing to publishers sites. This was done previous for easter eggs and Google's own content but now it works for third-party publishers.|date = February 4, 2015|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> This leads to further discussion around optimizing for one's content to show up in the answer box.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/optimizing-google-quick-answers-box-215037|title = Optimizing For The Google Quick Answers Box. Columnist Jim Yu of BrightEdge and Kirill Kronrod of Adobe share tips for getting your content featured in Google's Quick Answer box.|last = Yu|first = Jim|date = February 24, 2015|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> Possibly related: many independent sources report significant fluctuations in Google Search results, but Google does not officially confirm any changes.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seroundtable.com/google-algorithm-update-19820.html|title = Significant Google Search Algorithm Update Yesterday|last = Schwartz|first= Barry|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable|date = February 5, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2015 || April 21 (pre-announced February 26) || | + | | 2015 || April 21 (pre-announced February 26) || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Mobile usability || On January 19, 2015, Google sends emails to webmasters about mobile usability issues on the websites, leading people to speculate that a major mobile usability update for search rankings is underway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-sending-mobile-usability-warnings-huge-number-webmasters-213113|title = Google Sending Mobile Usability Warnings To Huge Number Of Webmasters. Google sending notifications to webmasters with sites that are not mobile friendly. Is this a sign of a new mobile algorithm coming soon?|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = January 19, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> On February 26, 2015, Google announces that demotion of mobile-unfriendly sites for searches on mobile devices will commence on April 21, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html|title = Finding more mobile-friendly search results|date = February 26, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = Google Webmaster Central|last = Makino|first = Takaki|last2 = Jung| first2 = Chaesang | last3 = Phan | first3 = Doantam}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-search-algorithm-adds-mobile-friendly-factors-app-indexing-ranking-215573|title = New Google "Mobile Friendly" Algorithm To Reward Sites Beginning April 21. Google's mobile ranking algorithm will officially include mobile-friendly usability factors and app indexing. Making sure your site is mobile-friendly is now more important than ever.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = February 26, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/googles-mobile-algorithm-update-coming-april-21st-prepared/10042015/|title = Google’s Mobile Algorithm Update is Coming April 21. Are you Prepared?|last = O'Donnell|first = Jody|last2 = Scott|first2 = Laura|date = April 10, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = RKGBlog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/mobile-seo/google-mobile-update-21st-april/|title = Gearing up for Google’s Mobile SEO Update on the 21st April 2015|last = Llewellyn|first = Gavin|date = April 9, 2015|accessdate = April 12, 2015|publisher = Smart Insights}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2015 || May 3 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2015 || May 3 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Core || Google says it has made a core algorithm change impacting "quality signals". Before the official announcement, commentators had dubbed the changes as "Phantom 2". |
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| − | | 2015 || July 17 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces an update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], dubbed as Panda 4.2 by commentators. Google says that the change affects between 2% and 3% of search queries. Search engine commentators do not notice any sharp changes to search traffic, and expect the changes to be rolled in gradually.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.thesempost.com/google-panda-update-everything-we-know-about-panda-4-2/|title = Google Panda Update: Everything We Know About Panda 4.2|publisher = The SEM Post|date = July 17, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|last = Slegg|first = Jennifer}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-4-2-is-here-slowly-rolling-out-after-waiting-almost-10-months-225850|title = Google Panda 4.2 Is Here; Slowly Rolling Out After Waiting Almost 10 Months. Google says a Panda refresh began this weekend but will take months to fully roll out.|date = July 17, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> By September, it appears that many websites that had seen gains due to Panda 4.2 are seeing those gains reversed.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-42-reversed-20837.html|title = Did Google Reverse The Panda 4.2 Update?|date = September 1, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> | + | | 2015 || July 17 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) || Google announces an update to [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], dubbed as Panda 4.2 by commentators. Google says that the change affects between 2% and 3% of search queries. Search engine commentators do not notice any sharp changes to search traffic, and expect the changes to be rolled in gradually.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.thesempost.com/google-panda-update-everything-we-know-about-panda-4-2/|title = Google Panda Update: Everything We Know About Panda 4.2|publisher = The SEM Post|date = July 17, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|last = Slegg|first = Jennifer}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-4-2-is-here-slowly-rolling-out-after-waiting-almost-10-months-225850|title = Google Panda 4.2 Is Here; Slowly Rolling Out After Waiting Almost 10 Months. Google says a Panda refresh began this weekend but will take months to fully roll out.|date = July 17, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> By September, it appears that many websites that had seen gains due to Panda 4.2 are seeing those gains reversed.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-42-reversed-20837.html|title = Did Google Reverse The Panda 4.2 Update?|date = September 1, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2015 || October 26 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces that {{w|RankBrain}}, a {{w|machine learning}}-based engine (using {{w|neural network}}s), has been the third most influential factor in its search rankings for the last few months. The actual rollout date is not confirmed, but commentators pin the launch time to Spring 2015. It is most useful for new search queries, that account for about 15% of search queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-26/google-turning-its-lucrative-web-search-over-to-ai-machines|title = Google Turning Its Lucrative Web Search Over to AI Machines|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Bloomberg News|Bloomberg News]]''|date = October 26, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|last = Clark|first = Jack}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/04/artificial-intelligence-is-changing-seo-faster-than-you-think/|title = Artificial intelligence is changing SEO faster than you think|last = Rampton|first = John|date = June 4, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> Later discussions of Google search quality would mark the introduction of Rankbrain as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness with obscure searches, arguing that Google incorrecty approximates the search query to a related, more mainstream search query rather than trying to literallly address the obscure search query.<ref name=google-memory-loss-hn/> | + | | 2015 || October 26 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || || Google announces that {{w|RankBrain}}, a {{w|machine learning}}-based engine (using {{w|neural network}}s), has been the third most influential factor in its search rankings for the last few months. The actual rollout date is not confirmed, but commentators pin the launch time to Spring 2015. It is most useful for new search queries, that account for about 15% of search queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-26/google-turning-its-lucrative-web-search-over-to-ai-machines|title = Google Turning Its Lucrative Web Search Over to AI Machines|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Bloomberg News|Bloomberg News]]''|date = October 26, 2015|accessdate = September 12, 2016|last = Clark|first = Jack}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/04/artificial-intelligence-is-changing-seo-faster-than-you-think/|title = Artificial intelligence is changing SEO faster than you think|last = Rampton|first = John|date = June 4, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> Later discussions of Google search quality would mark the introduction of Rankbrain as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness with obscure searches, arguing that Google incorrecty approximates the search query to a related, more mainstream search query rather than trying to literallly address the obscure search query.<ref name=google-memory-loss-hn/> |
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| − | | 2015 || November 19 || Quality raters guidelines | + | | 2015 || November 19 || Transparency || Quality raters guidelines || || Google releases the full versions of its search quality raters guidelines (QRG), a 160-page-long handbook that it previously only gave human evaluators to rate websites. The guidelines help websites understand what qualities Google Search would like to see in websites, although ratings made by raters based on these guidelines do not directly change search engine rankings. The release follows a leak in October 2015 of the same guidelines<ref name=qrg-release>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-releases-the-full-version-of-their-search-quality-rating-guidelines-236572|title = Google Releases The Full Version Of Their Search Quality Rating Guidelines. For the first time, Google has released the full version of its Search Quality Raters guidelines and handbook. It is 160 pages of wonderful SEO knowledge.|date = November 19, 2015|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> Two important pieces of jargon that gain currency in the SEO world due to these guidelines are: YMYL (your money or your life), a term for websites that offer information or allow people to take actions that have the potential to negatively impact the end user's health and wealth (examples include sites related to e-commerce, financial advice, medical advice, and legal advice), and E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trust), factors that are important to Google Search for ranking sites, and even more important for YMYL sites.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/google-search-quality-raters-guidelines|title = 30+ Important Takeaways from Google's Search Quality Rater's Guidelines|last = Slegg|first = Jennifer|date = November 25, 2015|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = SEOMoz}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2016 || February 3 || Team || || || | + | | 2016 || February 3 || Team || || || {{w|Amit Singhal}} steps down from his position as Vice President of Search at Google after 15 years in that role. He is replaced by John Giannandrea who works in artificial intelligence at Alphabet, Google's parent company.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/technology/amit-singhal-an-influential-engineer-at-google-will-retire.html|title = Amit Singhal, an Influential Engineer at Google, Will Retire|last = Hardy|first = Quentin|date = February 3, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/amit-singhal-the-head-of-google-search-to-leave-the-company-for-philanthropic-purposes-241707|title = Amit Singhal, The Head Of Google Search, To Leave The Company For Philanthropic Purposes. After 15 years, Google's head of search, Amit Singhal, is leaving the company.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|date = February 3, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref> There is speculation that this will lead to more incorporation of machine learning and AI techniques in Google Search.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://marketingland.com/google-machines-running-the-search-162564|title = What’s Next, As Google’s Head Of Search Leaves & Its Machine Learning Chief Takes Over? After 15 years, Google search chief Amit Singhal is moving on. In his place, machine learning head John Giannandrea is taking over. The rise of the machines?|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = February 3, 2016|accessdate = July 13, 2019|publisher = Marketing Land}}</ref> |
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| 2016 || February 18 and 23 || Advertising || || || Google makes changes to [[wikipedia:Google AdWords|Google AdWords]], removing right-column ads and rolling out 4-ad top blocks on searches with commercial intent. The change has implications on organic search CTRs for such searches, since it pushes the organic search results further down the page, potentially reducing organic search CTRs.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/googles-new-serp-layout-4-biggest-winners-losers-based-data-243292|title = Google’s New SERP Layout: The Biggest Winners & Losers. What has been the impact of Google's new desktop ad layout thus far? Columnist Larry Kim uses data to show who has benefited and who has suffered from the change.|last = Kim|first = Larry|date = February 24, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Up to three additional ads may be shown below the 10 organic search results, and additional ads may be shown on the second page.<ref name=moz/><ref name=moz-4-ads>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/four-ads-on-top-the-wait-is-over|title = Four Ads on Top: The Wait Is Over|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = February 19, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name=wordstream-4-ads>{{cite web|url = http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/22/google-kills-off-right-side-ads|title = Google Kills Off Side Ads: What You Need to Know|last = Kim|first = Larry|date = February 23, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = WordStream}}</ref><ref name=wordstream-4-ads-2>{{Cite web|url = http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/03/10/takeaways-from-serp-change|title = 3 Weeks After Google Killed Side Ads, Here Are 5 More Takeaways|last = Sagin|first = Erin|date = March 10, 2016|accessdate = September 13, 2016|publisher = WordStream}}</ref> | | 2016 || February 18 and 23 || Advertising || || || Google makes changes to [[wikipedia:Google AdWords|Google AdWords]], removing right-column ads and rolling out 4-ad top blocks on searches with commercial intent. The change has implications on organic search CTRs for such searches, since it pushes the organic search results further down the page, potentially reducing organic search CTRs.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/googles-new-serp-layout-4-biggest-winners-losers-based-data-243292|title = Google’s New SERP Layout: The Biggest Winners & Losers. What has been the impact of Google's new desktop ad layout thus far? Columnist Larry Kim uses data to show who has benefited and who has suffered from the change.|last = Kim|first = Larry|date = February 24, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> Up to three additional ads may be shown below the 10 organic search results, and additional ads may be shown on the second page.<ref name=moz/><ref name=moz-4-ads>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/four-ads-on-top-the-wait-is-over|title = Four Ads on Top: The Wait Is Over|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = February 19, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name=wordstream-4-ads>{{cite web|url = http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/22/google-kills-off-right-side-ads|title = Google Kills Off Side Ads: What You Need to Know|last = Kim|first = Larry|date = February 23, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = WordStream}}</ref><ref name=wordstream-4-ads-2>{{Cite web|url = http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/03/10/takeaways-from-serp-change|title = 3 Weeks After Google Killed Side Ads, Here Are 5 More Takeaways|last = Sagin|first = Erin|date = March 10, 2016|accessdate = September 13, 2016|publisher = WordStream}}</ref> | ||
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| − | | 2016 || May 12 (announced March 16) || | + | | 2016 || May 12 (announced March 16) || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Mobile usability || Google rolls out a ranking signal boost to benefit mobile-friendly websites on mobile devices. This is the second update of this sort, with the previous update in April 2015.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/03/continuing-to-make-web-more-mobile.html|title = Continuing to make the web more mobile friendly|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog|date = March 16, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/googles-mobile-friendly-algorithm-boost-rolled-249357|title = Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm boost has rolled out. The new Google mobile-friendly algorithm is supposed to give an additional ranking boost for mobile-friendly websites in the mobile search results.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 12, 2016|accessdate = September 12, 2016|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2016 || September 1 || Search algorithm update || || || SEO commentators note massive changes to the algorithm for local searches, the biggest since Pigeon. The update is labeled ''Possum'', indicating that some business listings have been filtered rather than actually disappearing. This is attributed to an updated, smarter deduplication algorithm, finer geolocation-awareness, and more decoupling of algorithms used for local search results from the main search results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/everything-need-know-googles-possum-algorithm-update-258900|title = Everything you need to know about Google’s ‘Possum’ algorithm update. Wondering what's up with local search rankings lately? Columnist Joy Hawkins has the scoop on a recent local algorithm update that local SEO experts are calling 'Possum.'|last = Hawkins|first = Joy|date = September 21, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> The implications of Possum on local SEO would be discussed for months to come.<ref name=possum-nov-update>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/study-shows-googles-possum-update-changed-64-local-serps-261761|title = Study shows Google’s Possum update changed 64% of local SERPs. How significantly did the Possum update impact local search results in Google? Columnist Joy Hawkins shares data and insights from a study she did with BrightLocal, which compared local results before and after the update.|last = Hawkins|first = Joy|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = November 3, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name=possum-inc>{{cite web|url = https://www.inc.com/john-lincoln/googles-possum-update-how-it-rocked-local-seo-rankings.html|title = Google's Possum Update, How It Rocked Local SEO Rankings. The is one of the biggest Google updates to rock the local SEO rankings in a long time. What you need to know.|last = Lincoln|first = John|date = October 26, 2016|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.quicksprout.com/2017/01/25/how-seo-has-changed-with-the-possum-update/|title = How SEO Has Changed with the Possum Update|last = Patel|first = Neil|date = January 25, 2017|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Quick Sprout}}</ref> | + | | 2016 || September 1 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Local search || SEO commentators note massive changes to the algorithm for local searches, the biggest since Pigeon. The update is labeled ''Possum'', indicating that some business listings have been filtered rather than actually disappearing. This is attributed to an updated, smarter deduplication algorithm, finer geolocation-awareness, and more decoupling of algorithms used for local search results from the main search results.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/everything-need-know-googles-possum-algorithm-update-258900|title = Everything you need to know about Google’s ‘Possum’ algorithm update. Wondering what's up with local search rankings lately? Columnist Joy Hawkins has the scoop on a recent local algorithm update that local SEO experts are calling 'Possum.'|last = Hawkins|first = Joy|date = September 21, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> The implications of Possum on local SEO would be discussed for months to come.<ref name=possum-nov-update>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/study-shows-googles-possum-update-changed-64-local-serps-261761|title = Study shows Google’s Possum update changed 64% of local SERPs. How significantly did the Possum update impact local search results in Google? Columnist Joy Hawkins shares data and insights from a study she did with BrightLocal, which compared local results before and after the update.|last = Hawkins|first = Joy|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = November 3, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name=possum-inc>{{cite web|url = https://www.inc.com/john-lincoln/googles-possum-update-how-it-rocked-local-seo-rankings.html|title = Google's Possum Update, How It Rocked Local SEO Rankings. The is one of the biggest Google updates to rock the local SEO rankings in a long time. What you need to know.|last = Lincoln|first = John|date = October 26, 2016|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.quicksprout.com/2017/01/25/how-seo-has-changed-with-the-possum-update/|title = How SEO Has Changed with the Possum Update|last = Patel|first = Neil|date = January 25, 2017|accessdate = May 1, 2017|publisher = Quick Sprout}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2016 || September 23 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2016 || September 23 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) || Google announces a Penguin update, and says that Penguin is now part of Google's core ranking algorithm. Commentators dub this Penguin 4.0.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/09/penguin-is-now-part-of-our-core.html|title = Penguin is now part of our core algorithm|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog|date = September 23, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://searchengineland.com/google-updates-penguin-says-now-real-time-part-core-algorithm-259302|title = Google updates Penguin, says it now runs in real time within the core search algorithm. The latest announced release, Penguin 4.0, will also be the last, given its new real-time nature.|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 23, 2016|accessdate = May 1, 2017}}</ref> SEOMOz identifies likely dates for phase 1 and phase 2 rollouts as September 27 and October 6.<ref name=moz/> |
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| − | | 2017 || January 10 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2017 || January 10 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) || Google announces that it will crack down on intrusive interstitials on mobile web pages, such as popups that cover the main content, standalone interstitials that the user has to dismiss, and above-the-fold content that looks like an interstitial.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-intrusive-interstitials-mobile-penalty-now-rolling-out-23237.html|title = Official: Google Intrusive Interstitials Mobile Penalty Now Rolling Out|date = January 11, 2017|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable}}</ref> The plan to introduce this penalty was announced in August 2016.<ref name=searchengineland-interstitial>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/interstitialgeddon-google-warns-will-crack-intrusive-interstitials-next-january-257252|title = Google warns it will crack down on “intrusive interstitials” in January. Google will reinforce its emphasis on the mobile search experience with a new penalty affecting "intrusive interstitials" on mobile web pages.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = August 23, 2016|publisher = Search Engine Land|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2017 || February 21 || Customized search || Google announces that it is deprecating Google Site Search, its offering for websites that offers a highly site-customized site search solution. Starting April 1, 2017, it will discontinue sales of Google Site Search. The product will be completely shut down by April 1, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-sunset-google-site-search-product-recommends-ad-supported-custom-search-engine-269834|title = Google to sunset Google Site Search by end of 2017. Google is telling their Site Search customers they have to find a new internal search engine service.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = February 21, 2017|accessdate = July 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://support.google.com/customsearch/answer/72325?hl=en|title = About Google Site Search|accessdate = May 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.algolia.com/google-site-search-alternative/|title = Algolia: Picking up where Google Site Search left off|last = Utard|first = Sylvain|date = March 2, 2017|accessdate = May 28, 2017|publisher = Algolia}}</ref> | + | | 2017 || February 21 || Customized search || || || Google announces that it is deprecating Google Site Search, its offering for websites that offers a highly site-customized site search solution. Starting April 1, 2017, it will discontinue sales of Google Site Search. The product will be completely shut down by April 1, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-sunset-google-site-search-product-recommends-ad-supported-custom-search-engine-269834|title = Google to sunset Google Site Search by end of 2017. Google is telling their Site Search customers they have to find a new internal search engine service.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = February 21, 2017|accessdate = July 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://support.google.com/customsearch/answer/72325?hl=en|title = About Google Site Search|accessdate = May 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.algolia.com/google-site-search-alternative/|title = Algolia: Picking up where Google Site Search left off|last = Utard|first = Sylvain|date = March 2, 2017|accessdate = May 28, 2017|publisher = Algolia}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2017 || April 25 || | + | | 2017 || April 25 || User experience, incorporation of user feedback || || || Google announces quality improvements to search and more direct feedback options for users for search results and Featured Snippets (the new, official name for what the SEO community had previously called "answer boxes").<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/our-latest-quality-improvements-search/|title = Our latest quality improvements for Search|date = April 25, 2017|last = Gomes|first = Ben}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2017 || late October and November || | + | | 2017 || late October and November || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Search engine trackers notice a decrease in the percentage of search queries showing featured snippets from ~16% to ~14%, after a mostly steady increase for two years. This is also accompanied by an increase in the percentage of knowledge panels, mostly for the same queries.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/knowledge-graph-eats-featured-snippets|title = Knowledge Graph Eats Featured Snippets, Jumps +30%|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = November 27, 2017|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/featured-snippet-bubble-busting-286107|title = Is the featured snippet bubble bursting? What's going on with featured snippets? Columnists Brian Patterson and Chris Long share data which suggests that Google may be testing a reduction in SERP answer boxes.|last = Patterson|first = Brian|date = November 20, 2017|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2017 || November || Transparency || || || The Twitter account @searchliaison is created, through which Google's search liaison Danny Sullivan can officially communicate updates related to Google Search algorithm updates. Sullivan would continue to use his own Twitter handle @dannysullivan for updates that are not official communications.<ref>{{cite web|url = https:// | + | | 2017 || November || Transparency || Communication of algorithm updates || || The Twitter account @searchliaison is created, through which Google's search liaison Danny Sullivan can officially communicate updates related to Google Search algorithm updates. Sullivan would continue to use his own Twitter handle @dannysullivan for updates that are not official communications.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison|title = @searchliaison on Twitter|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2017 || December 1 || | + | | 2017 || December 1 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google increases the length of the snippets it includes for each search result.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-officially-increases-length-snippets-search-results-287596|title = Google officially increases length of snippets in search results. Company says change is meant to provide more descriptive snippets.|date = December 1, 2017|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2018 || March || Search algorithm update | + | | 2018 || March || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Core || Google makes a core algorithm update that affects the rankings of a number of websites, some positively, some negatively. The update is labeled the "brackets" update by Glenn Gabe. Google as well as SEO commentators say that websites adversely affected should not be looking to make quick fixes, but rather should continue improving their site over the long term.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/march-7-2018-google-algorithm-update-brackets/|title = The Brackets Update – Analysis and Findings From The March 7, 2018 Google Algorithm Update (and March 14 Tremor)|last = Gabe|first = Glenn|date = March 17, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = G-Squared Interactive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-confirms-core-update-25390.html|title = Google Confirmed Weekend Algorithm Ranking Shift As "Core Update"|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable|date = March 13, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2018 || January 15 || Review || || || A blog post by Tim Bray titled "Google Memory Loss" provides evidence suggesting that Google can no longer reliably be used to find old content even with exact keyword searches. In comparison, in the specific examples he checked, Bray was able to find the pages using both Bing and DuckDuckGo.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2018/01/15/Google-is-losing-its-memory|title = Google Memory Loss|date = January 15, 2018|accessdate = June 17, 2021}}</ref> Bray's post is shared to Hacker News where it gets an unusually large number of view and comments from users who share their frustrations around Google and its alleged decline. The RankBrain update is cited as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness for obscure searches by many commenters.<ref name=google-memory-loss-hn>{{cite web|url = https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16153840|title = Google Memory Loss|date = January 15, 2018|accessdate = June 17, 2021|publisher = Hacker News}}</ref> | | 2018 || January 15 || Review || || || A blog post by Tim Bray titled "Google Memory Loss" provides evidence suggesting that Google can no longer reliably be used to find old content even with exact keyword searches. In comparison, in the specific examples he checked, Bray was able to find the pages using both Bing and DuckDuckGo.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2018/01/15/Google-is-losing-its-memory|title = Google Memory Loss|date = January 15, 2018|accessdate = June 17, 2021}}</ref> Bray's post is shared to Hacker News where it gets an unusually large number of view and comments from users who share their frustrations around Google and its alleged decline. The RankBrain update is cited as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness for obscure searches by many commenters.<ref name=google-memory-loss-hn>{{cite web|url = https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16153840|title = Google Memory Loss|date = January 15, 2018|accessdate = June 17, 2021|publisher = Hacker News}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2018 || March 14 || | + | | 2018 || March 14 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || For one week, Google experiments with defaulting to show no search results for simple queries such as mathematical expressions and date/time lookups, with the search results available through a button that needs to be clicked to show them. Most real-world queries are not affected, but there is discussion of what this experiment means for the future of search.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/zero-result-serps|title = Zero-Result SERPs: Welcome to the Future We Should've Known Was Coming|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = March 15, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = SEOMoz}}</ref> |
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| − | |||
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| − | | | + | | 2018 || March 26 || Search algorithm update || Indexing || || Google announces that it is rolling out its switch to mobile-first indexing at a wider scale; the version of a page that Google will keep in its index and use to make ranking decisions will be the mobile version.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2018/03/rolling-out-mobile-first-indexing.html|title = Rolling out mobile-first indexing|date = March 26, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-begins-rolling-out-mobile-first-indexing-to-more-sites-295095|title = Google begins rolling out mobile-first indexing to more sites. Sites that follow the best practices for mobile-first indexing will be migrating over now, and Google will send notifications via Search Console.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = March 26, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2019 || May || Search algorithm update, user experience || Personalization || || Google announces [[w:Private browsing|Incognito mode]] for {{w|Google Maps}} and {{w|Google search}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google is bringing Incognito mode to Maps and Search |url=https://www.gsmarena.com/google_is_bringing_incognito_mode_to_maps_and_search-news-36944.php |website=gsmarena.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google's privacy push adds Incognito Mode for Maps and Search |url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/07/google-incognito-maps-search-chrome/ |website=engadget.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Incognito mode is coming to Google Maps and Google search |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/incognito-mode-coming-to-google-maps-and-search-2019-5 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search gets new account picker with Incognito mode |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/05/14/google-search-gets-new-account-picker-with-incognito-mode/ |website=androidpolice.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
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| − | | 2018 || | + | | 2018 || May 13 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google reduces the average length of snippets included with each search result from about 300 characters to 150-160 characters, similar to the level prior to the increase in snippet length at the end of November 2017.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-it-shortened-search-results-snippets-after-expanding-them-last-december-298196|title = Google confirms it shortened search results snippets after expanding them last December. Time spent increasing meta descriptions for the longer Google search results snippets may have been wasted.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 14, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2018 || | + | | 2018 || June 14 || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google moves videos in its desktop search results from organic-like results to a dedicated carousel, and the number of search engine results pages with videos increases significantly.<ref name=moz/> This has unexpected impact on some e-commerce retailers, because videos showing up in carousel mean that the site no longer appears in the organic search results.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/trapped-in-google-video-carousels-case-study/|title = Trapped In Google’s New Video Carousels – A Dangerous SERP Feature For Some Ecommerce Retailers|last = Gabe|first = Glenn|date = July 17, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = G-Squared Interactive}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2018 || July 9 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Mobile usability || Google finishes rolling out to all users the incorporation of mobile speed into its ranking of webpages. The update affects only extremely slow webpages, and thus does not affect the majority of webpages.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2018/01/using-page-speed-in-mobile-search.html|title = Using page speed in mobile search ranking|date = January 17, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || | + | | 2019 || May 7 || Search algorithm update, user experience || || || Google announces feature to be integrated into Google search that utilizes {{w|Google Lens}} and {{w|augmented reality}}. Google Lens adds new features like visual language translation of signs, audio reading of text, video demonstrations of recipes seen in magazines and scanning restaurant menus to show the most popular dishes. Also, {{w|Google Assistant}} is upgraded to be 10-times faster in responding to spoken requests. The company also introduces a newly designed Android Auto dashboard to make the in-car platform easier to use without distracting drivers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Brings Augmented Reality to Search Results |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-brings-augmented-reality-to-search-results/306731/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search adds AR and big Lens upgrades |url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/07/google-search-camera-augmented-reality-lenses/ |website=engadget.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search upgrades AR and Lens features |url=https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/google-search-upgrades-ar-and-lens-features/554308/ |website=mobilemarketer.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IO 2019: Google Search gets a dose of augmented reality, Google Assistant becomes chattier |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/io-2019-google-search-gets-a-dose-of-augmented-reality-google-assistant-becomes-chattier-1519762-2019-05-08 |website=indiatoday.in |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2019 || July 26 || Analytics || || || Google announces addition of "{{w|AMP}} On Image Result", a new search area with aim at allowing publishers to view their traffic data from AMP in Google Images in a [[w:Google Search Console|Search Console]]’s performance report for {{w|Google Images}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search Console Adding “AMP On Image Result” To Performance Report |url=https://www.hastyinsights.com/google-search-console-adding-amp-on-image-result-to-performance-report/ |website=hastyinsights.com |accessdate=22 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search Console Adding "AMP On Image Result" To Performance Report |url=https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-amp-on-image-result-27950.html |website=seroundtable.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2018 || August 1 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Core || Google rolls out a core algorithm update dubbed "Medic" by SEO observers.<ref name=moz/> The algorithm largely affects your money or your life (YMYL) sites, in particular health/medical websites, with some sites seeing significant improvements and others seeing significant declines.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/googles-august-1st-core-update-week-1|title = Google's August 1st Core Update: Week 1|date = August 9, 2019|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = SEOMoz|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-medic-update-26177.html|title = Google Medic Update: Google's Core Search Update Had Big Impact On Health/Medical Sites|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = August 8, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.mariehaynes.com/the-august-1-2018-google-update-strongly-affected-ymyl-sites/|title = My thoughts on the August 1, 2018 Google Algorithm Update|last = Haynes|first = Marie|date = August 5, 2018|accessdate = January 20, 2019}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || April 5 and April 7 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2019 || April 5 and April 7 || Search algorithm update || Indexing || Bug fix || Due to a bug, Google seems to drop about 4% of pages from its search index on April 5 and April 7.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/how-bad-was-googles-deindexing-bug|title = How Bad Was Google's Deindexing Bug?|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = April 11, 2019|accessdate = June 8, 2019}}</ref> |
| − | |||
| − | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2019 || August 1 || Search algorithm update || || || "Featured snippets are surely one of the most useful features that Google added to its search engine in recent years. Today, the company announced that it has recently updated the algorithm that powers these snippets to prioritize more recent information."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search gets fresher featured snippets |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/01/google-search-gets-freshers-featured-snippets/ |website=techcrunch.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google's search ranking boss says its recent algorithm change helps get users the freshest results, but only when freshness matters |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-vp-explains-freshness-update-2019-7 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google advice on improving your site’s ranking for future core ranking update |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-advice-on-improving-your-sites-ranking-for-future-core-ranking-update-320184 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || August 1 || Search algorithm update || || || "Featured snippets are surely one of the most useful features that Google added to its search engine in recent years. Today, the company announced that it has recently updated the algorithm that powers these snippets to prioritize more recent information."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search gets fresher featured snippets |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/01/google-search-gets-freshers-featured-snippets/ |website=techcrunch.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google's search ranking boss says its recent algorithm change helps get users the freshest results, but only when freshness matters |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-vp-explains-freshness-update-2019-7 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google advice on improving your site’s ranking for future core ranking update |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-advice-on-improving-your-sites-ranking-for-future-core-ranking-update-320184 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
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| 2019 || September 9 || Analytics || || || Google announces shut down of its old Search Console.<ref>{{cite web |title=The old Google Search Console is no longer available |url=https://searchengineland.com/the-old-google-search-console-is-no-longer-available-321650 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Saying goodbye to the old Search Console |url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/09/goodbye-old-search-console.html |website=webmasters.googleblog.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || September 9 || Analytics || || || Google announces shut down of its old Search Console.<ref>{{cite web |title=The old Google Search Console is no longer available |url=https://searchengineland.com/the-old-google-search-console-is-no-longer-available-321650 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Saying goodbye to the old Search Console |url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/09/goodbye-old-search-console.html |website=webmasters.googleblog.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || September 10 || | + | | 2019 || September 10 || Webmaster tools || Indexing || || Google announces two new link attributes, sponsored and ugc, that are treated by Google as hints and may be used to replace nofollow in some cases.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-nofollow-link-attributes/325255/|title = Google Makes Big Change to Nofollow, Introduces 2 New Link Attributes|last = Southern|first = Matt|date = September 10, 2019|accessdate = June 17, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Journal}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2019 || September 20 || Analytics || || || {{w|Google}} adds new structured data report, allowing site owners to quickly check whether breadcrumb markup has been implemented correctly.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Southern |first1=Matt |title=Google Search Console Adds a New Structured Data Report for Breadcrumbs |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-console-adds-a-new-structured-data-report-for-breadcrumbs/326781/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || September 20 || Analytics || || || {{w|Google}} adds new structured data report, allowing site owners to quickly check whether breadcrumb markup has been implemented correctly.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Southern |first1=Matt |title=Google Search Console Adds a New Structured Data Report for Breadcrumbs |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-console-adds-a-new-structured-data-report-for-breadcrumbs/326781/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || September 23 || | + | | 2019 || September 23 || Analytics || || || Google announces update in its Search Console, giving it the ability to return fresher data in the Search Performance report. "The Performance report helps webmasters and site owners better understand how their site performs on Google search".<ref>{{cite web |title=Fresher data in your site’s Search Performance report |url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/09/search-performance-fresh-data.html |website=webmasters.googleblog.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search Console speeds up data in performance reports |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-speeds-up-data-in-performance-reports-322446 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search Console Can Now Report on Same-Day Data |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-console-can-now-report-on-same-day-data/327387/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || | + | | 2019 || October || Search algorithm update || Understanding query intent || BERT || Google introduces the BERT search algorithm. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is an open-sourced technique for natural language understanding aimed at improving the search engine’s understanding of queries — particularly longer spoken or written ones.<ref name="The big list of 2019 Google search algorithm updates">{{cite web |title=The big list of 2019 Google search algorithm updates |url=https://searchengineland.com/the-big-list-of-2019-google-search-algorithm-updates-326540 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome BERT: Google’s latest search algorithm to better understand natural language |url=https://searchengineland.com/welcome-bert-google-artificial-intelligence-for-understanding-search-queries-323976 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=22 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Introduces BERT, Algorithm Update |url=https://www.ninahale.com/google-introduces-bert-algorithm-update/ |website=ninahale.com |accessdate=22 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google brings in BERT to improve its search results |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/25/google-brings-in-bert-to-improve-its-search-results/ |website=techcrunch.com |accessdate=22 January 2020}}</ref> The algorithm is expected to change results rankings for up to one in 10 queries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome BERT: Google’s latest search algorithm to better understand natural language |url=https://searchengineland.com/welcome-bert-google-artificial-intelligence-for-understanding-search-queries-323976 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Just Announced a Major Search Algorithm Change That Users Will Probably Love, and Some Businesses May Absolutely Hate |url=https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/google-just-announced-a-major-search-algorithm-change-that-users-will-probably-love-and-some-businesses-may-absolutely-hate.html |website=inc.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search Now Reads at a Higher Level |url=https://www.wired.com/story/google-search-advancing-grade-reading/ |website=wired.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search will soon understand normal questions, not just keywords |url=https://thenextweb.com/google/2019/10/25/googles-search-bert-questions-language/ |website=thenextweb.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
| − | |||
| − | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2019 || October || Userbase || || || As of date, Google search controls 88.3% of the search market in the {{w|United States}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=If You Invested $10,000 in Google's IPO, This Is How Much Money You've Have Now |url=https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/11/25/if-you-invested-10000-in-googles-ipo-this-is-how-m.aspx |website=fool.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || October || Userbase || || || As of date, Google search controls 88.3% of the search market in the {{w|United States}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=If You Invested $10,000 in Google's IPO, This Is How Much Money You've Have Now |url=https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/11/25/if-you-invested-10000-in-googles-ipo-this-is-how-m.aspx |website=fool.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || October 28 || Search algorithm update | + | | 2019 || October 28 || Search algorithm update || Indexing || || {{w|Google}} announces that Search would stop supporting {{w|Adobe Flash}} by the end of the year. In web pages with Flash content, Google would ignore the Flash content. Search would also stop indexing standalone {{w|SWF}} files.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search to stop supporting Flash content |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-search-to-stop-supporting-flash-content/ |website=zdnet.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Goodbye, Flash |url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/10/goodbye-flash.html |website=webmasters.googleblog.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2019 || November 14 || || || || {{w|Google Search}} launches a new feature that lets users check their pronunciation of unfamiliar words with the help of {{w|machine learning}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google search will now give you feedback on your pronunciation |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/14/20964401/google-search-pronunciation-guide-feedback-machine-learning-ai |website=theverge.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search now helps you pronounce ‘quokka’ |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/14/google-search-now-helps-you-pronounce-quokka/ |website=techcrunch.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google's search results can now help you pronounce tricky words |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-word-pronounciation-tool-how-to-use-2019-11 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || November 14 || || || || {{w|Google Search}} launches a new feature that lets users check their pronunciation of unfamiliar words with the help of {{w|machine learning}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google search will now give you feedback on your pronunciation |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/14/20964401/google-search-pronunciation-guide-feedback-machine-learning-ai |website=theverge.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search now helps you pronounce ‘quokka’ |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/14/google-search-now-helps-you-pronounce-quokka/ |website=techcrunch.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google's search results can now help you pronounce tricky words |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-word-pronounciation-tool-how-to-use-2019-11 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
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| 2019 || December 5 || || || || "Google Search to Integrate Package Tracking" "A good example of this is the track package feature, a feature that incorporates a lot of different companies that you can check out and make sure that you are able to track the package that is shipping the product that you have purchased from said company." "This feature is going to be integrated into Google search, which means that now there will be a card below the search bar that can be used to find specific tracking details. All you would have to do is enter the company name followed by “package tracking”. For example, if the product you have purchased is from Amazon then your search query is going to be “Amazon package tracking”."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search to Integrate Package Tracking |url=https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/12/google-search-to-integrate-package-tracking.html |website=digitalinformationworld.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google is Working on Adding Package Tracking to Search Results |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-is-working-on-adding-package-tracking-to-search-results/338967/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search prepares for better package tracking integration |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/05/google-search-prepares-for-better-package-tracking-integration/ |website=androidpolice.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Package tracking is coming to Google Search |url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/12/05/package-tracking-is-coming-to-google-search/ |website=venturebeat.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || December 5 || || || || "Google Search to Integrate Package Tracking" "A good example of this is the track package feature, a feature that incorporates a lot of different companies that you can check out and make sure that you are able to track the package that is shipping the product that you have purchased from said company." "This feature is going to be integrated into Google search, which means that now there will be a card below the search bar that can be used to find specific tracking details. All you would have to do is enter the company name followed by “package tracking”. For example, if the product you have purchased is from Amazon then your search query is going to be “Amazon package tracking”."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search to Integrate Package Tracking |url=https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/12/google-search-to-integrate-package-tracking.html |website=digitalinformationworld.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google is Working on Adding Package Tracking to Search Results |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-is-working-on-adding-package-tracking-to-search-results/338967/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search prepares for better package tracking integration |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/05/google-search-prepares-for-better-package-tracking-integration/ |website=androidpolice.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Package tracking is coming to Google Search |url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/12/05/package-tracking-is-coming-to-google-search/ |website=venturebeat.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || December 5 || Quality raters guidelines | + | | 2019 || December 5 || Transparency || Quality raters guidelines || || Google updates its search quality evaluator guidelines. The revisions emphasized diversity, impartiality and pertained to language referring to users."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google search quality guidelines update emphasizes users of diverse backgrounds |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-quality-raters-guidelines-update-december-2019-326048 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2019 || December 9 || Search algorithm update || || || Google announces that its natural language processing algorithm BERT would be released in over 70 languages globally. Until then, the algorithm was only applied to featured snippets in languages other than English.<ref>{{cite web |title=BERT is rolling out to Google search in over 70 languages |url=https://searchengineland.com/bert-is-rolling-out-to-google-search-in-over-70-languages-326146 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BERT Is Rolling Out To Google Search In Over 70 Languages |url=https://thrivesearch.com/bert-is-rolling-out-to-google-search-in-over-70-languages/ |website=thrivesearch.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google: BERT is now rolling out to over 70 languages worldwide |url=https://blog.seoprofiler.com/google-bert-is-now-rolling-out-to-over-70-languages-worldwide/ |website=blog.seoprofiler.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s BERT Rolls Out Worldwide |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bert-rolls-out-worldwide/339359/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | + | | 2019 || December 9 || Search algorithm update || Understanding query intent || BERT || Google announces that its natural language processing algorithm BERT would be released in over 70 languages globally. Until then, the algorithm was only applied to featured snippets in languages other than English.<ref>{{cite web |title=BERT is rolling out to Google search in over 70 languages |url=https://searchengineland.com/bert-is-rolling-out-to-google-search-in-over-70-languages-326146 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BERT Is Rolling Out To Google Search In Over 70 Languages |url=https://thrivesearch.com/bert-is-rolling-out-to-google-search-in-over-70-languages/ |website=thrivesearch.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google: BERT is now rolling out to over 70 languages worldwide |url=https://blog.seoprofiler.com/google-bert-is-now-rolling-out-to-over-70-languages-worldwide/ |website=blog.seoprofiler.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s BERT Rolls Out Worldwide |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bert-rolls-out-worldwide/339359/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> |
|- | |- | ||
| 2019 || December 10 || Analytics || || || "Google has this week launched a new listing of the top 100 product trends in a range of categories based on Google search volume increases over the past year. Called the Google Shopping 100, the data collection has its own mini-site and provides some interesting, and potentially valuable insight into what the key product and consumer trends were over the course of 2019."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Launches 'Google Shopping 100' to Highlight Trending Products Based on Search Data |url=https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/google-launches-google-shopping-100-to-highlight-trending-products-based/568848/ |website=socialmediatoday.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Shopping 100: This season’s top trending gifts |url=https://www.blog.google/products/shopping/100-top-trending-gifts/ |website=blog.google |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Launches Google Shopping 100 to Show Most Popular Items Online |url=https://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/google-launches-google-shopping-100-to-show-most-popular-items-online.html |website=inc.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Shopping 100 showcases season's top trending gifts |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-shopping-100-showcases-seasons-top-trending-gifts/ |website=cnet.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || December 10 || Analytics || || || "Google has this week launched a new listing of the top 100 product trends in a range of categories based on Google search volume increases over the past year. Called the Google Shopping 100, the data collection has its own mini-site and provides some interesting, and potentially valuable insight into what the key product and consumer trends were over the course of 2019."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Launches 'Google Shopping 100' to Highlight Trending Products Based on Search Data |url=https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/google-launches-google-shopping-100-to-highlight-trending-products-based/568848/ |website=socialmediatoday.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Shopping 100: This season’s top trending gifts |url=https://www.blog.google/products/shopping/100-top-trending-gifts/ |website=blog.google |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Launches Google Shopping 100 to Show Most Popular Items Online |url=https://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/google-launches-google-shopping-100-to-show-most-popular-items-online.html |website=inc.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Shopping 100 showcases season's top trending gifts |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-shopping-100-showcases-seasons-top-trending-gifts/ |website=cnet.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
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| 2019 || Year round || || || || Google announces {{w|Disney Plus}} as its top trending search term of 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Plus was Google's top trending search term of 2019 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/disney-plus-was-googles-top-trending-search-term-of-2019/ |website=cnet.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Plus, ‘Baby Yoda’ Top Google’s 2019 Trending U.S. Searches |url=https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/disney-plus-baby-yoda-google-2019-top-trending-searches-1203432650/ |website=variety.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | | 2019 || Year round || || || || Google announces {{w|Disney Plus}} as its top trending search term of 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Plus was Google's top trending search term of 2019 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/disney-plus-was-googles-top-trending-search-term-of-2019/ |website=cnet.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Plus, ‘Baby Yoda’ Top Google’s 2019 Trending U.S. Searches |url=https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/disney-plus-baby-yoda-google-2019-top-trending-searches-1203432650/ |website=variety.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2020 || {{dts|April 23}} || Search algorithm update (presentation) || || || Google announces that it is starting the rollout of a feature that will tell the user if there aren't great matches for the search, potentially with suggestions for how to improve the search query.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.blog.google/products/search/getting-great-matches-google-search/|title = Getting to great matches in Google Search|last = Tucker|first = Elizabeth|date = April 23, 2020|accessdate = June 26, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-launches-search-tips-for-when-the-query-doesnt-return-great-matches-333447|title = Google launches search tips for when the query doesn’t return great matches. You may see a new message in Google search that reads "it looks like there aren't any great matches for your search."|date = April 23, 2020|accessdate = June 26, 2021|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | | 2020 || {{dts|April 23}} || Search algorithm update (presentation) || || || Google announces that it is starting the rollout of a feature that will tell the user if there aren't great matches for the search, potentially with suggestions for how to improve the search query.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.blog.google/products/search/getting-great-matches-google-search/|title = Getting to great matches in Google Search|last = Tucker|first = Elizabeth|date = April 23, 2020|accessdate = June 26, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-launches-search-tips-for-when-the-query-doesnt-return-great-matches-333447|title = Google launches search tips for when the query doesn’t return great matches. You may see a new message in Google search that reads "it looks like there aren't any great matches for your search."|date = April 23, 2020|accessdate = June 26, 2021|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2020 || {{dts| | + | | 2020 || {{dts|October 20}} || Review || || || An article in the ''Washington Post'' talks about how Google Search has been getting worse. Three points are made: (1) increasing proliferation of ads, pushing organic results farther down the page (and a continued blending of ads into content making them visually harder to distinguish), (2) inaccurate featured snippets that might push a political agenda, and (3) promotion of Google's own products (such as Google Maps, YouTube, Google Flights) even when inferior to other products.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/19/google-search-results-monopoly/|title = How does Google’s monopoly hurt you? Try these searches. Right under our noses, the Internet’s most-used website has been getting worse|date = October 20, 2020|accessdate = June 17, 2021|last = Fowler|first = Geoffrey}}</ref> |
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|February 1}} || Insight || || || Google announces the launch of an "About this result" available for individual search results that provides more information about the source, including entity information on the source (similar to a knowledge panel), and whether the result is a search result or an ad.<ref name=atr-google>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/about-search-results|title = A quick way to learn more about your search results|last = Kearns|first = JK|date = February 1, 2021|accessdate = July 24, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref name=atr-sel>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-search-launches-about-this-result-feature-345649|title = Google Search launches about this result feature. Google launches a feature to help searchers learn more about the search result listing before they click on it.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = February 1, 2021|accessdate = July 24, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> "About this result" would evolve in the coming months to include more information.<ref name=why-google>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/learn-more-and-get-more-from-search/|title = Learn more – and get more – from Search|last = Tucker|first = Elizabeth|date = July 22, 2021|accessdate = July 24, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref name=why-sel>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-now-shows-why-it-ranked-a-specific-search-result-350659|title = Google now shows why it ranked a specific search result. Google now list several of the factors it used to rank a result in the about this result section.|date = July 22, 2021|accessdate = July 24, 2021|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|May 18}} || Search algorithm update || Understanding query intent || MUM || Google announces its Multitask Unified Model (MUM) tool, that uses transformers / neural nets to understand human language and other information such as audio and video. MUM's understanding of text uses the T5 text-to-text framework.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/introducing-mum/|title = MUM: A new AI milestone for understanding information|last = Nayak|first = Pandu|date = May 18, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-previews-mum-its-new-tech-thats-1000x-more-powerful-than-bert-348707|title = Google previews MUM, its new tech that’s 1,000x more powerful than BERT.Multitasking is the key differentiator, enabling MUM to acquire knowledge, understand and generate language and interpret text, images and video all at the same time.|last = Nguyen|first = George|date = May 18, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> The first real-world application of MUM, to COVID vaccine names, would be announced on June 29 as having been released.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/how-mum-improved-google-searches-vaccine-information/|title = How MUM improved Google Searches for vaccine information|last = Nayak|first = Pandu|date = June 29, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/in-its-first-application-googles-mum-identified-800-variations-of-vaccine-names-across-50-languages-in-seconds-349984|title = In its first application, Google’s MUM identified 800 variations of vaccine names across 50 languages in seconds. The technology is providing Google with an efficiency advantage over competitors and helping it surface more relevant results.|last = Nguyen|first = George|date = June 29, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|June 8}} || Competition || || || Google removes the participation fee for search engines to be shown in its Android Choice Screen program in Europe, and increases the number of search engines listed from three to a higher number, with five on screen at a given time.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/changes-android-choice-screen-europe/|title = Changes to the Android Choice Screen in Europe|last = Bethell|first = Oliver|date = June 8, 2021|accessdate = June 12, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-drops-the-auction-from-its-search-choice-screen-349398|title = Google drops the auction from its search choice screen. Giving in to pressure from regulators and competitors, Google’s updated screen will roll out in September and search engines will appear based on market share instead of bidding per user.|date = June 8, 2021|accessdate = June 12, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|June 15}} || Analytics || || || Google announces the release of Search Console Insights, a tool that surfaces insights by joining data from Search Console and Google Analytics.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/06/search-console-insights|title = Learn how to improve your content with Search Console Insights|date = June 15, 2021|accessdate = June 18, 2021|publisher = Google Search Central Blog}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|June 15}} {{snd}} end of August || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) (page experience) || The rollout of Google's "page experience on mobile" update happens during this period. The update is limited to mobile searches, and gives weight to a "page experience" factor that includes performance on core web vitals, mobile usability, security issues, whether the site is HTTPS, and ads experience.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/1404886100087246848|title = The page experience update is now slowly rolling out (Top Stories will begin using this new signal by Thursday). It will be complete by the end of August 2021.|date = June 15, 2021|accessdate = June 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-page-experience-update-now-slowly-rolling-out-349649|title = Google page experience update now slowly rolling out. Top stories will stop using AMP as an eligibility factor starting Thursday.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 15, 2021|accessdate = June 18, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|June}} (around middle of the month) || User experience || Information in SERPs || || Google starts testing a new feature that notifies searchers if the search results for the search query are changing rapidly; the idea is to warn users about stories that are actively evolving.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/new-notice-search-rapidly-evolving-results/|title = A new notice in Search for rapidly evolving results|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = June 25, 2021|accessdate = June 26, 2021|publisher = Google}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/24/22549157/google-unreliable-search-results-changing-quickly-misinformation-conspiracy-theories|title = Google is starting to warn users when it doesn’t have a reliable answer. The company is notifying people when they search for rapidly evolving topics.|date = June 24, 2021|accessdate = June 26, 2021|last = Ghaffary|first = Shirin|publisher = Vox}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|June 23}}, June 28 || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google releases a two-part update to deal with spam; the first part is released on June 23 and the second part on June 28.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1407745802798178305|title = As part of our regular work to improve results, we've released a spam update to our systems.|date = June 23, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|publisher = Google Search Liaison}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/part-two-of-google-search-spam-update-on-june-28-349949|title = Part two of Google Search spam update on June 28 rolling out. This update impacts both web and image results and is a global update.|date = June 28, 2021|accessdate = June 30, 2021|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2021 || {{dts|July 22}} || Transparency || Explanation of search results || || Google announces that its "About this result" panel will now include reasons a particular search result was shown. Types of reasons spotted include: search terms that appear in the result, search terms related to your search, other websites with your search terms link to this result, this result has images related to your search, this result is in your language, this result is relevant for searches in your region.<ref name=why-google/><ref name=atr-google/> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2022 || {{dts|February 22}} {{snd}} {{dts|March 3}} || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) (page experience) || As previously announced on November 4, 2021, Google executes on the rollout of using page experience as a ranking factor on desktop during this period. Page experience on desktop includes all the core web vitals as well as all the other page experience signals on mobile except mobile-friendliness.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/1499440494060916745|title = The page experience rollout is now complete for desktop.|date = March 3, 2022|accessdate = March 3, 2022|publisher = Google Search Console}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/11/bringing-page-experience-to-desktop|title = Timeline for bringing page experience ranking to desktop|date = November 4, 2021|accessdate = November 8, 2021|publisher = Google Search Central}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-to-add-page-experience-ranking-signals-to-desktop-search-in-february-2022-375807|title = Google to add page experience ranking signals to desktop search in February 2022. The rollout will be complete by the end of March 2022.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 4, 2021|accessdate = November 8, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2022 || {{dts|August 25}} {{snd}} {{dts|September 9}} || Search algorithm update || Ranking || Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics || Google releases a "helpful content" update that is intended to demote content that is written primarily for search engines, and promote content that it deems to be helpful to humans. The determination of whether content is helpful is done through machine learning, and validated via quality raters.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-helpful-content-update-is-now-done-rolling-out-387832|title = Google helpful content update is now done rolling out. The update started on August 25th and completed 15 days later on September 9th.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 9, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2023 || {{dts|May 25}} || Search algorithm update || Presentation || AI overviews (Search Generative Experience) || Google officially launches (in beta, to only select users) the Search Generative Experience (SGE) that integrates text from a generative model into search results (in the form of AI overviews at the top of search results; thes would later be named "AI Overviews"). This launch comes about six months after the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI had raised the profile of generative models, apparently inducing Google to accelerate its plans to add generative experience to search results. The feature had been annouced by Google at the Google I/O event on May 10.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-opens-access-to-search-generative-experience-today-427572|title = Google opens access to Search Generative Experience today. Some of you who signed up for the waitlist will get an email notifying you that you have access to try out the new labs search experience.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = May 25, 2023|accessdate = November 15, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-search-generative-experience-test-drive-427683|title = Test driving Google’s Search Generative Experience. Here are some early findings from a 30-query mini-study designed to push the limits of Google's generative AI search experience.|last = Enge|first = Eric|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = May 31, 2023|accessdate = November 15, 2024}}</ref> | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | == List of search updates made in later years == | ||
| + | |||
| + | Some of these search updates would clutter the full timeline, and many of them have specialized pieces of information that are brought out more effectively in a more customized table structure. We cover these search updates in this section. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Core updates starting 2019 === | ||
| + | |||
| + | Google uses the shorthand "core updates" for what it describes as broad updates to its search algorithms, that are not targeted at a specific use case but change the core systems used within search. For such updates, Google says that websites have nothing in particular to "fix" and should just work on general best practices and creating great content.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1050447185177800704|title = Sometimes, we make broad changes to our core algorithm. We inform about those because the actionable advice is that there is nothing in particular to “fix,” and we don’t want content owners to mistakenly try to change things that aren’t issues….|date = October 11, 2018|accessdate = November 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates|title = What site owners should know about Google's August 2019 core update|date = August 1, 2019|accessdate = November 24, 2024|publisher = Google Search Central}}</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | A few notes: | ||
| + | |||
| + | * Starting 2019, Google has pushed the naming convention where an update is named based on the month and year it started rolling out. For instance, the update that rolled out from June 3, 2019 to June 8, 2019 is the June 2019 core update. The update that rolled out from May 25, 2022 to June 9, 2022 is termed the May 2022 core update based on the month when it started rolling out. The SEO community has adopted this convention. This convention also makes sense in light of the fact (discussed in a later bullet point) that Google doesn't reveal any other details of the core update, so it's hard to give a more semantically meaningful name. | ||
| + | * Google has been getting better over time in terms of communicating core updates. | ||
| + | ** Historically, Google would often either fail to confirm core updates or confirm then only after the fact. | ||
| + | ** Starting in 2019, Google has been more proactive about announcing core updates, initially via the Search Liaison Twitter handle (@searcliaison) once the update starts (and sometimes even prior to it). The account used for later announcements was the Google Search Central Twitter handle (@googlesearchc). By 2022, the announcement of core updates was now happening on the Google Search Central blog, with an update to the blog post indicating the completion of the rollout. | ||
| + | ** By 2021, Google was also usually announcing the end of rollout of each core update, generally through a reply message to the Twitter (now X) message where it had announced the original rollout. | ||
| + | ** By September 2022, Google had made available a search status history page that covers all officially announced Google algorithm updates, including all core updates, going back to January 2020. This includes the start date and duration of each update.<ref name=google-search-status-history>{{cite web|url = https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history|title = Google Search Status Dashboard > Incidents > Ranking|accessdate = November 24, 2024}}</ref> | ||
| + | ** Starting 2023, Google has been providing the duration of updates at a granularity of hours, for instance "13 days, 7 hours" reflecting the fact that the Google Search Status dashboard is now updated close to real-time to reflect the status of search updates. | ||
| + | * Google rarely reveals details of the kinds of changes made in its core updates, which is consistent with Google's view that websites have nothing to "fix" in response to these updates. Google does not even provide insight into how big an update is, how it relates to previous updates, and what parts of the rollout period are expected to see the most flux. | ||
| + | ** However, Google has confirmed one important tidbit: that it has multiple core systems, and that different core updates may touch on different core systems. For instance, Google revealed that its October 2023 and November 2023 core updates were for different core systems.<ref name=google-core-updates-q-and-a>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/11/q-and-a-on-search-updates|title = A Q&A on Google Search updates|date = November 2, 2023|accessdate = November 24, 2024|publisher = Google Search Central Blog}}</ref> | ||
| + | * A note on the duration calculation and its relationship to start and end dates: generally, based on the timing of announcement, it seems that Google starts and ends its updates during US daytime hours (generally working hours or close). Therefore, the difference between the end and start date is a rough estimate of the duration in days. Had the updates started early in the morning and ended late at night, the duration could be rounded to one more than the difference of dates, and if it were the other way around, the duration could be rounded to one less. Fortunately, the narrow time-of-day range means that the duration is relatively easy to interpret. | ||
| + | * In the absence of clear guidance from Google, SEO commentators and data providers collect and publish their own data. For each core update, Search Engine Land generally does a roundup post collating what different data providers are expected. Data providers often draw different conclusions as the use different methologies and have different sets of search queries and domains that they monitor. However, aggregating the information from data providers as well as SEO chatter generally provides a decent picture of (a) when in the rollout period the flux in results was greatest, (b) roughly how this update compares in magnitude to other updates. In some cases, there are also insights into what categories are most affected, or what kinds of domains have gained or lost traction. For instance, some updates tend to help reference websites, while others tend to hurt reference websites. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
| + | ! Start date !! End date !! Duration in days !! Duration in days plus hours (only available 2023 onward) !! SEO consensus on when the peak effect was seen (if there is consensus) (absolute date) !! SEO consensus on when the peak effect was seen (day index, starting with 1 for the start date of the update) !! Strength and characteristics of the update (based on commentary by data providers and SEOs) !! Overlapping updates !! Other notes | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2019-03-12}}<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1105842166788587520|title = This week, we released a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see these tweets for more about that:|date = March 13, 2019|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-has-released-a-broad-core-search-algorithm-update-this-week-313905|title = Google released a broad core search algorithm on March 12. A rare Google confirmation came related to a Google search algorithm update this week. Google restated previous advice that there is no fix if your site was negatively impacted.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = March 13, 2019|accessdate = June 8, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || {{dts|2019-03-12}} || 1 || || {{dts|2019-03-12}} || 1 || SEO chatter suggests the update is targeted at YMYL sites. || N/A || Google confirms the update on Twitter via the official @searchliaison handle, claims that the algorithm is a broad core algorithm update and not targeted at any category, and argues for calling the update a core update rather than giving it another name, given that it targets the core search algorithm and is not tied to a specific facet (such as speed or spam).<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-march-2019-core-update-27259.html|title = Google Names The 3/12 Update The "March 2019 Core Update"|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = March 15, 2019|accessdate = June 8, 2019|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2019-06-03}}<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1135275028834947073|title = Tomorrow, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2019 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this tweet for more about that:|date = June 2, 2019|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref> || {{dts|2019-06-08}}<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-june-2019-core-update-finished-rolling-out-on-june-8-318028|title = Google June 2019 core update finished rolling out on June 8. It took five days for Google to roll out the June 2019 core update and about three-days for the diversity update.|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 11, 2019|accessdate = November 17, 2024}}</ref> || 5 || || || || SEO chatter suggests that a wider range of domains is affected than with previous core updates; some suggest a revert of March changes, with some health domains seeing a comeback.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/early-data-around-the-google-june-2019-core-update-shows-some-winners-losers-317861|title = Early data around the Google June 2019 core update shows some winners, losers. This Google update that began rolling out on Monday seems like it was pretty big and the scary part, it isn't done rolling out yet.|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 5, 2019|accessdate = November 17, 2024}}</ref> || Diversity update (2019-06-04 to 2019-06-06) || The update is pre-announced by Google on June 2 by the @searchliaison Twitter account via a tweet, a day before it started;<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-pre-announces-june-2019-core-search-algorithm-update-317698|title = Google pre-announces June 2019 core search algorithm update. Google says the June 3 update is not a major one, but keep an eye out for how your results will be impacted.|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 2, 2019|accessdate = November 17, 2024}}</ref> both the start and end are announced via tweets; in fact, the update is announced one day prior to its start. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2019-09-24}}<ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1176473923833225221|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the September 2019 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog for more about that:|date = September 24, 2019|accessdate = November 24, 2024}}</ref> || {{dts|2019-09-27}} || 3 || || || || SEO chatter and data provider analysis suggests a strong effect within the YMYL category, with potential reversal of some changes with the last two 2019 core updates, but not as much overall volatility as the previous updates.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-sept-2019-core-update-weaker-than-june-core-update-322737|title = Google Sept. 2019 Core Update ‘weaker’ than June core update. A detailed look at the early impact from the latest Google core update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 24, 2019|accessdate = June 12, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || N/A || The end date is approximate as Google doesn't officially clarify the end time.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-september-2019-core-update-to-roll-out-later-today-322523|title = Google September 2019 core update to roll-out later today. Google has pre-announced that a new core update is rolling out sometime later today, are you ready?|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 24, 2019|accessdate = November 17, 2024}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2020-01-13}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1216752087515586560|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the January 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that:|date = January 13, 2020|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref> || {{dts|2020-01-16}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1217813393689673728|title = For those who have asked, the update is mostly done, though as with any core update, it may take to two weeks to fully complete.|date = January 16, 2020|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref> || 3 || || || || SEO chatter suggests that this is a huge update, with a big impact on YMYL sites.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/the-latest-data-on-the-january-2020-google-core-update-327683|title = The latest data on the January 2020 Google core update. We asked several data providers for some more insights into the latest Google update.|date = January 20, 2020|accessdate = June 12, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> || N/A || At the time, the end date is framed as "approximate"; it is the date that Google reports being "mostly done" with the update, while saying that the full rollout may take up to two weeks. However, the Google Search Status dashboard does end up going with this end date and duration as part of the official record. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2020-05-04}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1257376879172038656|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the May 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that:|date = May 4, 2020|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref> || {{dts|2020-05-18}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1262422181515980801|title = The May 2020 Core Update rollout is complete.|date = May 18, 2020|accessdate = November 23, 2024}}</ref> || 14 || || || || SEO chatter suggests that this is a "monster" of an update, even bigger than the January 2020 update.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-may-2020-core-update-was-big-and-broad-search-data-tools-show-334393|title = Google’s May 2020 core update was big and broad, search data tools show. This update was an "absolute monster" said Mordy Oberstein from RankRanger.|date = May 7, 2020|accessdate = June 12, 2020|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref> || N/A || This is one of the first times that the end of a core update is officially announced via the @searchliaison Twitter account; the past few times, the end date was only provided approximately or in terms of when the update is "mostly done". The rollout duration for this update (at 14 days) is much higher than the duration for the previous updates based on the more approximate methods. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2020-12-03}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1334521448074006530|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the December 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that.|date = December 3, 2020|accessdate = June 12, 2021}}</ref> || {{dts|2020-12-16}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 13 || || {{dts|2020-12-04}} || 2 || SEO commentators consider this update to be big, even bigger than the previous (May 2020) update, which was already bigger than preceding updates.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-december-2020-core-update-was-big-even-bigger-than-may-2020-says-data-providers-344429|title = Google’s December 2020 core update was big, even bigger than May 2020, say data providers. The update rolled out on Dec 3, but the impact was mostly felt on Dec. 4.|date = December 7, 2020|accessdate = June 12, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land|last = Schwartz|first = Barry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://moz.com/blog/googles-december-2020-core-update|title = Google's December 2020 Core Update: By the Numbers|last = Meyers|first = Peter J.|date = December 16, 2020|accessdate = November 23, 2024|publisher = SEOMoz}}</ref> || N/A || No official end date seems to be provided at the time, but the Goole Search Status history shows a duration of 13 days. | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2021-06-02}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1400135428909371398|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2021 Core Update.|date = June 2, 2021|accessdate = June 12, 2021}}</ref> || {{dts|2021-06-12}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1404828388141928451|title = The June 2021 Core Update rollout is complete as of June 12, 2021.|date = June 15, 2021|accessdate = June 18, 2021}}</ref> || 10 || || {{dts|2021-06-04}} to {{dts|2021-06-06}} || 3 to 5 || This is the first of a series of two core updates, with the second one in July 2021. SEO commentators find the effects of this update spread out over time, with the bulk of the effect from June 4 to June 6. The majority view among SEOs is that this is a smaller update than the December 2020 update, but some data providers and SEO analysts consider it a bigger update.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-june-2021-core-update-was-slow-to-roll-out-here-is-what-the-data-providers-saw-349349|title = Google’s June 2021 core update was slow to roll out; here is what the data providers saw. This update took longer to roll out than previous core updates; we are expecting more from the July 2021 core update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = June 8, 2021|accessdate = June 12, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.seroundtable.com/google-june-2021-core-update-impact-here-31545.html|title = Google June 2021 Core Update Impact Now Being Felt|date = June 7, 2021|accessdate = November 23, 2024|publisher = Search Engine Roundtable}}</ref> || N/A, but quickly followed by spam updates and the page experience update || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2021-07-01}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1410629484911349761|title = The July 2021 Core Update, previously announced, is now rolling out|date = July 1, 2021|accessdate = July 7, 2021|publisher = Google Search Liaison}}</ref> || {{dts|2021-07-12}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-july-2021-core-update-is-finished-rolling-out-350380|title = Google July 2021 core update is finished rolling out. After 12-days, Google said the July 2021 core update is done. It rolled out between July 1st and July 12th.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = July 12, 2021|accessdate = July 13, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || 11 || || {{dts|2021-07-02}} || 2 || This is the second of a series of two core updates, with the first update being in June 2021. SEO commentators note that the update propagated quickly with the effects beginning to be seen shortly after Google's announcement of the rollout, in contrast with the June update that started a little later and had a longer period of increased volatility. Overall, SEO commentators and data providers consider the July 2021 core update to be smaller than the June 2021 core update.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-july-2021-core-update-rolled-out-quickly-here-is-what-the-data-providers-saw-350243|title = Google’s July 2021 core update rolled out quickly; here is what the data providers saw. While the June core update took a while to start rolling out, the July core update hit hard and fast.|date = July 7, 2021|accessdate = July 7, 2021|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || page experience update rolling out from mid-June to late August || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2021-11-17}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/1460970568128385031|title = Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several times per year. It is called the November 2021 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates is here:|date = November 17, 2021|accessdate = December 6, 2021|author = Google Search Console|publisher = Twitter}}</ref> || {{dts|2021-11-30}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/1465725102117593091|title = The November 2021 Core Update rollout is now complete.|date = November 30, 2021|accessdate = November 24, 2024}}</ref> || 13 || || {{dts|2021-11-18}} || 2 || SEO companies generally find that the bulk of the impact of the update is within its first 24 hours, unlike some past core algorithm updates for which the high rankings flux continued for a few days.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-november-2021-core-update-hit-fast-and-hard-here-is-what-the-data-providers-saw-376312|title = Google’s November 2021 core update hit fast and hard; here is what the data providers saw. The results from this data showed that this rollout hit hard within the first 24 hours of the announcement and then slowed fast.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = November 23, 2021|accessdate = December 6, 2021|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || N/A, but immediately followed by the product reviews update || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2022-05-25}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref name=may-2022-core-update-rollout-official-announcement>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/05/may-2022-core-update|title = May 2022 core update releasing for Google Search|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = May 25, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023|publisher = Google Search Central Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://support.google.com/webmasters/thread/164906639|title = May 2022 core update|last = Mueller|first = John|date = May 25, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023}}</ref> || {{dts|2022-06-09}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref name=may-2022-core-update-rollout-official-announcement/> || 15 || || {{dts|2022-05-26}} || 2 || According to Search Engine Land, the update "was significant and hit fast" based on volatility-tracking tools.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-may-2022-core-update-impact-was-mixed-but-it-touched-down-fast-and-seemed-very-large-385479|title = Google’s May 2022 core update was significant and hit fast. The data is in early from the tracking tools and here is what these tools are showing with the latest Google algorithm update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = May 31, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-may-2022-core-update/|title = The May 2022 Core Update: The Initial Impact|last = Oberstein|first = Mordy|date = June 1, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023}}</ref> According to an article in Search Engine Journal, the winners include big e-commerce brands (such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy) and video sites (such as YouTube, TikTok, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Twitch) while the losers include news and media publishers and reference websites. New SERP features related to visual SERPs are also spotted.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-may-core-update-impact/456886/|title = Google’s May 2022 Core Update: What’s the Impact So Far? We analyzed the impact of Google's May 2022 core update to determine what you can learn from spikes and drops in search rankings across industries.|last = Larkin|first = Kayle|date = July 11, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref> || N/A || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2022-09-12}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/1569346698769571841|title = Today we released the September 2022 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://developers.google.com/search/updates/ranking|date = September 12, 2022|accessdate = November 24, 2024</ref> || {{dts|2022-09-26}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 14 || || {{dts|2022-09-13}} || 2 || According to Search Engine Land, the update "hit fast but was less significant than previous updates" based on volatility-tracking tools; Semrush has a similar assessment.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/googles-september-2022-core-update-hit-fast-but-was-less-significant-than-previous-updates-388088|title = Google’s September 2022 core update hit fast but was less significant than previous updates. The data is in from the tracking tools and here is what these tools are showing with the latest Google algorithm update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 21, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023|publisher = Search Engine Land}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.semrush.com/blog/september-2022-core-update-impact/|title = September 2022 Core Update Impact|last = Oberstein|first = Mordy|date = September 26, 2022|accessdate = June 2, 2023|publisher = Semrush Blog}}</ref> || product reviews update on 2022-09-20 while this core update was still rolling out (though after the bulk of its impact) || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2023-03-15}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-03-28}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 13 || 13 days, 7 hours<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-03-16}} || 2 || SEO data providers have varying takes on the volatility of the update, with Semrush finding it to be more volatile and impactful than the September 2022 update, and RankRanger finding it to be comparably volatile.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/how-the-march-2023-google-core-update-compared-to-previous-core-updates-394995|title = How the March 2023 Google core update compared to previous core updates. We asked some of the Google tracking data providers for data on the latest Google algorithm update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = March 29, 2023|accessdate = November 15, 2024}}</ref> || N/A || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2023-08-22}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-09-07}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 16 || 16 days, 3 hours<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-08-25}} || 4 || Both Semrush and RankRanger consider this a high-volatility update, whereas Sistrix calls it a "quiet" update. August 25 is singled out as a high-volatility day by multiple data providers as well as SEO commentators, but unlike some other core updates, this core update also seems to have had high volatility in the middle and end parts according to some of the data providers.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/how-the-august-2023-google-core-update-compared-to-march-2023-core-updates-431851|title = How the August 2023 Google core update compared to March 2023 core updates. We asked some of the Google tracking data providers for data on the latest Google algorithm update.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|date = September 12, 2023|accessdate = November 15, 2024}}</ref> || N/A || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2023-10-05}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-10-19}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 14 || 13 days, 23 hours<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-10-10}} || 6 || Confusingly, a spam update is released around the same time, from October 4 to October 10. The overall volatility appears to peak on October 10 according to multiple data providers (but the contributions of the core update versus the spam update are unclear). This update has a few high-volatility days but is otherwise calm, unlike the August 2023 update that was high-volatility throughout. Sistrix notes that one category of established sites that was hit harder was reference sites.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/data-providers-on-the-google-october-2023-core-and-spam-update-433697|title = Data providers on the Google October 2023 core and spam update. This was a very big set of Google updates, here is an analysis.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = October 25, 2023|accessdate = November 15, 2024}}</ref> || spam update (2023-10-04 to 2023-10-10) || | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2023-11-02}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2023-11-28}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 26 || 25 days, 21 hours<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || || || Data providers suggest that this update had higher overall volatility than the October 2023, and more days of increased volatility (i.e., a more spread-out update than the October 2023 update, and similar to the August 2023 update in that respect).<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/data-providers-google-november-2023-core-update-was-more-volatile-than-the-october-2023-core-update-435494|title = Data providers: Google November 2023 core update was more volatile than the October 2023 core update. Keep in mind, the November 2023 Reviews update overlapped with this core update and is still rolling out.|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = December 6, 2023|accessdate = November 24, 2024}}</ref> || product reviews update (2023-11-08 to 2023-12-07) || In Q&A published along with the start of the update, Google says: "We have different systems that are considered core to our ranking process; this month's core update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month."<ref name=google-core-updates-q-and-a/> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2024-03-05}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2024-04-26}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 45 || || || || The long rollout duration of the update, as well as its overlap with Google's spam update (starting on the same day and rolling out over two weeks) makes this update much harder for SEOs and data providers to study. Overall, SEOs and data providers agree that the combined effect of the core update and the spam update is massive, particularly in terms of eliminating a bunch of sites completely (specifically, sites Google deems as spam, AI-generated, error-prone, and overly focused on search engines rather than humans), and massively switching around the rankings in the bottom half of the SERPs.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://searchengineland.com/google-march-2024-core-update-key-observations-440148|title = 3 key observations about the Google March 2024 core update. Uncover the unique characteristics of the March 2024 core update, from its prolonged rollout to its heavy-handed impact on certain sites.|last = Oberstein|first = Mordy|publisher = Search Engine Land|date = May 3, 2024|accessdate = November 25, 2024}}</ref> || spam update (2024-03-05 to 2024-03-19) || In a very uncharacteristic move, Google has two blog posts describing its goals with this core update (and the concurrent spam update), namely: "This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people. This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries." Starting with this core update, helpful content updates become part of core updates.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/|title = New ways we’re tackling spammy, low-quality content on Search. We’re enhancing Search so you see more useful information, and fewer results that feel made for search engines.|last = Tucker|first = Elizabeth|publisher = The Keyword (blog.google)|date = March 5, 2024|accessdate = November 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/03/core-update-spam-policies|title = What web creators should know about our March 2024 core update and new spam policies|last = Nelson|first = Chris|publisher = Google Search Central Blog|date = March 5, 2024|accessdate = November 25, 2024}}</ref> | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | {{dts|2024-08-15}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || {{dts|2024-09-03}}<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || 19 || 19 days, 4 hours<ref name=google-search-status-history/> || || || Data providers consider this update to be more volatile on a per-day basis than the March 2024 update, but given the shorter duration, the overall change is lower than (but still comparable to) the March 2024 update. || ranking issue from 2024-08-15 to 2024-08-20, overlapping with the initial rollout of the core update || Uncharacteristically, Google provides some context on its goals with the core update: "This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search. This latest update takes into account the feedback we've heard from some creators and others over the past few months. As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users' searches. This is an area we'll continue to address in future updates. This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to show the best of the web."<ref>{{cite web|url = https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/08/august-2024-core-update|title = What to know about our August 2024 core update|last = Mueller|first = John|publisher = Google Search Central Blog|date = August 15, 2024|accessdate = November 25, 2024}}</ref> | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Numerical and visual data == | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Mentions on Google Scholar === | ||
| + | |||
| + | The following table summarizes per-year mentions on Google Scholar as of May 31, 2021. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {| class="sortable wikitable" | ||
| + | ! Year | ||
| + | ! Google Search | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 1997 || 261,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 1998 || 342,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 1999 || 383,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2000 || 467,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2001 || 490,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2002 || 546,000 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2003 || 567,000 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2004 || 595,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2005 || 643,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2006 || 664,000 |
| + | |- | ||
| + | | 2007 || 697,000 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2008 || 679,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2009 || 720,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2010 || 730,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2011 || 728,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2012 || 674,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2013 || 726,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2014 || 690,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2015 || 665,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2016 || 602,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2017 || 505,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2018 || 366,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2019 || 238,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | | + | | 2020 || 120,000 |
|- | |- | ||
| − | |||
|} | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Google Search tb.png|thumb|center|700px]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Google Trends === | ||
| + | The image below shows {{w|Google Trends}} data for Google Search (Topic) from January 2004 to February 2021, when the screenshot was taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search |url=https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0387r |website=trends.google.com |access-date=23 February 2021}}</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Google Search gt.jpg|thumb|center|800px]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Google Ngram Viewer === | ||
| + | The chart below shows {{w|Google Ngram Viewer}} data for Google Search from 1997 to 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Google+Search&year_start=1997&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=true |website=books.google.com |access-date=23 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Google Search ngram.jpg|thumb|center|800px]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Wikipedia Views === | ||
| + | The chart below shows pageviews of the English Wikipedia article {{w|Google Search}} on desktop from December 2007, and on mobile-web, desktop-spider,mobile-web-spider and mobile app, from July 2015; to January 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Search |url=https://wikipediaviews.org/displayviewsformultiplemonths.php?page=Google+Search&allmonths=allmonths&language=en&drilldown=all |website=wikipediaviews.org |access-date=24 February 2021}}</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Google Search wv.jpg|thumb|center|600px]] | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Latest revision as of 01:08, 25 November 2024
The content on this page is forked from the English Wikipedia page entitled "Timeline of Google Search". The original page still exists at Timeline of Google Search. The original content was released under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License (CC-BY-SA), so this page inherits this license. This page has been edited significantly on the Timelines Wiki after forking and may differ significantly from the current version on Wikipedia.
Google Search, offered by Google, is the most widely used search engine on the World Wide Web as of 2024, with over three billion searches a day. This page covers key events in the history of Google's search service.
For a history of Google the company, including all of Google's products, acquisitions, and corporate changes, see the history of Google page.
Contents
Big picture
| Time period | Development |
|---|---|
| 1996–1997 | Development of basic technology, launch of search engine |
| 2000 | Internationalization: search is launched in 13 new languages. |
| 2001–2004 | Google launches many new search categories, such as Google News, Google Books, and Google Scholar. |
| 2002 onward | The beginning of explicitly announced search algorithm updates. |
| 2008–2010 | Faster search experience for user: Google Suggest (experimental launch 2004, integrated into main search engine 2008), Google Instant (2010), and Google Instant Previews. |
| 2005, 2009, 2012 | Google starts using web histories to help in searches (2005), experimentally launches social search (2009), and launches Search Plus Your World (2012). |
| 2009–2010 | Caffeine update for faster indexing of the web and fresher and on-topic search results. |
| 2011–2014 | Google Panda (an update to some parts of Google's search algorithm) is released in 2011, with announced updates continuing till September 2014 (Panda 4.1). Stated goals include cracking down on spam, content farms, scrapers, and websites with a high ad-to-content ratio. |
| 2012–2014 | Google Penguin (an update to some parts of Google's search algorithm) is released in 2012, with the goal of concentrating on webspam. The last named update is in October 2014. Starting December 2014, Penguin moves to continuous updates (Penguin Everflux). |
| 2012 onward | Google integrates the Knowledge Graph into its search results. |
| 2013 | Google releases Google Hummingbird, an update that may enable semantic search in the future and integrate better with the Knowledge Graph. |
| 2014 onward | Google makes a major update to its algorithm for local search. The update gets the name Google Pigeon. |
| 2015 onward | Google alerts webmasters to mobile usability issues in January, and announces a major update to its search algorithm, to be rolled out starting April 21, 2015, that will heavily demote mobile-unfriendly sites for web searches on mobile devices. |
Full timeline
NOTE: Some search updates in recent years (including core updates starting 2019) are covered in the later section #List of search updates made in later years.
| Year | Month and date (if available) | Event type | Subtype / affected aspect | Affected algorithm | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | January–March | Prelude | Larry Page and Sergey Brin, graduate students in computer science at Stanford University, begin working on BackRub, the precursor to Google Search. Page begins work alone initially, supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, and Brin joins him shortly thereafter. The project is an outgrowth of their work on the Stanford Digital Library Project.[1][2][3][4] Web crawling begins in March. | ||
| 1997 | September 15 | Domain | The domain Google.com is registered.[5] | ||
| 1999 | Gaming of search results (Google bomb) | The first known instance of a Google bomb is reported around this time, with a search for "more evil than Satan itself" bringing up the Microsoft website. The perpetrators of the Google bomb are not known.[6] | |||
| 2000 | May 9 | Internationalization | Google adds ten new languages: French, German, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian and Danish.[5] | ||
| 2000 | September 12 | Internationalization | Google launches search services in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.[7] | ||
| 2000 | September | Gaming of search results (Google bomb) | A Google bomb is created around this time by Hugedisk Men's Magazine, an online humor magazine, with the search term "dumb motherfucker" linked to a website selling George W. Bush merchandise. A similar attempt for an Al Gore website is not successful.[8][9] | ||
| 2000 | October | Advertising | Google AdWords launches with 350 customers.[5] | ||
| 2000 | December | User experience | Google Toolbar is released, allowing people to search without visiting the Google homepage, and also offering them more information about the webpages they visit.[5] Some commentators have argued that this marks the beginning of search engine optimization and the Google Dance.[10] | ||
| 2001 | April 6 | Gaming of search results (Google bomb) | Adam Mathes coins the term talentless hack. He creates a Google bomb for the term "talentless hack" to the website of his friend Andy Pressman by recruiting fellow webloggers to link to his friend's page with the desired term.[11] | ||
| 2001 | July | Search category | Google launches Google Image Search with over 250 million images in its search database.[5] | ||
| 2001 | December | Review | Google releases its first annual Google Zeitgeist.[5] | ||
| 2002 | The Googlefight website (unaffiliated with Google), that allows people to compare results of two search queries on Google, likely launches in this year. It is given permission by Google to use the name sometime during the year.[12] | ||||
| 2002 | January 8 | The term Googlewhack is introduced by Gary Stock for a search query that has exactly two words, without quotes, and returns exactly one result.[13] | |||
| 2002 | September | Search category | Google launches Google News.[5] | ||
| 2002 | September | Search algorithm update | Google makes the first publicly announced update to its search algorithm.[10] A number of Internet commentators view this as the death of PageRank (the name for Google's system for ranking pages) and a significant decline in the quality of Google's search results.[14][15][16] | ||
| 2003 | February | Search algorithm update | Google announces the Boston update at SES Boston.[10] | ||
| 2003 | April | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google announces the Cassandra update. The update claims to crack down on link spam, including mutual links between co-owned websites, as well as hidden text and hidden links.[10][17] |
| 2003 | May | Search algorithm update | Indexing, ranking | Google announces the Dominic update. Commentators believed that the update affected the way backlinks were counted, and many webmasters reported new bots from Google that bounced.[10][18] | |
| 2003 | June | Search algorithm update | Google announces what will later turn out to have been the last of its regular monthly updates. This update is called the Esmeralda update.[10][19] | ||
| 2003 | July | Search algorithm update | Google announces the Fritz update, and also a change to its update policy, as it moves towards continuous rather than batch processing of updates.[10][20][21] | ||
| 2003 | September | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Google announces a "supplemental index" in order to be able to index some parts of the web more rapidly.[22] The supplemental index would eventually be scrapped. | |
| 2003 | November | Search algorithm update | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google announces the Florida update, which commentators consider game-changing in that it completely destroyed the value of 1990s SEO tactics and ushered in a new era of search engine optimization.[23] | |
| 2003 | December | Search category | Google launches Google Print, that would later become Google Books.[5] | ||
| 2004 | January | Search algorithm update | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google announces the Austin update, to continue with the work of combating SEO tactics that Florida had made good progress on.[10][24][25] | |
| 2004 | February 17–20 | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Google announces the Brandy update, a massive index expansion, Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), increased attention to anchor text relevance, and the concept of link "neighborhoods."[10][26][27] | |
| 2004 | October | Search category | Google launches Google Scholar, its search service for academic publications.[5] | ||
| 2004 | December | User experience | Search suggestions | Google Suggest is introduced as a Google Labs feature.[28][29] | |
| 2005 | January | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | To combat link spam, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft collectively introduce the nofollow attribute.[10][30] |
| 2005 | February 2 | Search algorithm update | Google announces the Allegra update, whose effects are unclear.[10][31][32] | ||
| 2005 | May | Search algorithm update | Google announces the Bourbon update.[10][33][34][35] | ||
| 2005 | June | Webmaster tools | Google allows webmasters to submit XML sitemaps via Webmaster Tools, bypassing the need for HTML sitemaps.[10][36] | ||
| 2005 | June | User experience | Personalization | Google launches personalized search that automatically taps into users' web histories.[37][38] | |
| 2005 | June | User experience | Mobile search | Google launches Google Mobile Web Search.[5] | |
| 2005 | September | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Although Google denies running an update, Matt Cutts clarifies that PageRank was refreshed for some pages recently (with a three-month refresh cycle) causing changes to many site ranks. Observers call this the Gilligan update.[10][39][40] | |
| 2005 | September–November | Search algorithm update | Google announces and rolls out the Jagger update in three stages, one in September, one in October, one in November.[10][41][42] | ||
| 2005 | December (rollout continues till March 2006) | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Google begins rolling out the Big Daddy update, continuing for the next few months until March 2006. The update changes URL canonization, site redirects, and related items.[10][43] | |
| 2006 | May | Analytics | Public information on search trends | Google releases Google Trends to make it easy to visualize the popularity of searches over time.[5] | |
| 2006 | August 23 | Customized search | Google publicly launches Google Custom Search. The main part of this is Custom Search Engine, a functionality that allows users to build search engines with their own custom modifications of Google Search, specifically, restriction of the search queries to a subset of the web (e.g., a specific set of domains).[44] | ||
| 2007 | May 16 | Search algorithm update | Ranking, presentation | Google launches Universal Search, integrating traditional search results with results from Google News, Google Image Search, Google Video Search, and other verticals. This is believed to be a major milestone in the user experience.[5][10][45][46] | |
| 2007 | June | Search algorithm update | The Buffy update happens. It is not considered a deliberate update, but rather an accumulation of many smaller changes.[10][47][48] | ||
| 2008 | March 14 | Transparency | Quality raters guidelines | For the first time on record, Google's quality raters guidelines are leaked.[49] Updated versions of the guidelines would continue to be leaked for several years until Google finally decides to make the guidelines publicly available in November 2015.[50] | |
| 2008 | March 24 | User experience | Iterative search | The New York Times reports that Google now offers "search within search": when people search for names of websites, the top search result, which links to the website, may include a search box to further search within the website.[51] | |
| 2008 | March/April | Search algorithm update | Ranking | The Dewey update seems to lead to a large-scale shuffling of results. Some observers believe that Google is pushing its own properties, such as Google Books, but evidence of this is limited.[10][52] | |
| 2008 | August 25 | User experience | Search suggestions | Google Suggest (later called Autocomplete), originally launched as a Labs feature in December 2004, now becomes part of Google's main site.[5][28][29] | |
| 2009 | February | Search algorithm update | The Vince update happens. Matt Cutts calls it a minor change, but some SEO commentators consider it major.[10][53] | ||
| 2009 | February | Webmaster tools | Indexing | Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! announce joint support for tags that help bots identify canonical versions of webpages without affecting human visitors.[54][55] | |
| 2009 | August 10 (announced), rollout completed and made live June 8, 2010 | Search algorithm update | Indexing, ranking | Faster updates to search results | Named Caffeine, this update is announced on August 10, 2009. It promises faster crawling, expansion of the index, and a near-real-time integration of indexing and ranking.[10][56][57][58][59] The rollout is made live on June 8, 2010.[60][61][62] |
| 2009 | October 26 | Search category | Social search | Google introduces Social Search as a Google Labs feature.[63] The feature is expanded further in late January 2010.[64] | |
| 2009 | December 7 | Search category | Real-time search | Google launches real-time search for real-time Twitter feeds, Google News, and other freshly indexed content.[10][65][66] | |
| 2010 | Late April, early May | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | The update, named May Day, is an algorithm change affecting the long tail. Foreshadowing Google Panda, the update penalizes sites with large amounts of thin content.[10][67][68] |
| 2010 | September 8 | User experience | Search suggestions | Google launches Google Instant, described as a search-before-you-type feature: as users are typing, Google predicts the user's whole search query (using the same technology as in Google Suggest, later called the autocomplete feature) and instantaneously shows results for the top prediction.[69][70][71] Google claims that this is estimated to save 2–5 seconds per search query.[72] SEO commentators initially believe that this will have a major effect on search engine optimization, but soon revise downward their estimate of the impact.[10][73] | |
| 2010 | November 9 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google launches Instant Previews, a feature where users can view previews of the ranked pages by hovering over the links in the search engine results page.[10][74][75][76] | |
| 2010 | December 1 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google updates its algorithm to penalize websites that provide a bad experience to users. The update is prompted by a November 26 New York Times story about a fraudulent company called DecorMyEyes that used the publicity generated by negative customer reviews to rise in the search engine rankings.[10][77][78] |
| 2010 | December | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Social signals | Both Google and Microsoft's Bing indicate that they use social signals, including signals from Twitter and Facebook, to rank search results.[10][79][80] |
| 2011 | January–February | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Foreshadowing Google Panda, Google penalizes Overstock.com and JCPenney for the use of SEO tactics.[10][81][82] |
| 2011 | January 28 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google launches its Attribution algorithm change to better sieve out websites that scrape content. Matt Cutts claims that slightly over 2% of search queries are affected, but less than 0.5% of results change noticeably.[10][83][84] |
| 2011 | February 23–24 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google launches Google Panda, a major update affecting 12% of search queries. The update continues with the earlier work of cracking down on spam, content farms, scrapers, and websites with a high ad-to-content ratio.[10][85][86][87] The rollout is gradual over several months, and Panda will see many further updates. |
| 2011 | March 30 | User experience, incorporation of user feedback | Google launches the +1 button so that users can offer feedback on search results.[88] Commentators liken this to the like button seen on Facebook.[89][90] | ||
| 2011 | April 11 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda to all English queries worldwide (not limited to English-speaking countries) and integrates new signals into its ranking algorithm.[10][91][92] |
| 2011 | May 9 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out further minor updates to Panda but does not discuss them in detail, saying they are more like Panda 2.1 than Panda 3.0.[10][93][94] |
| 2011 | June 2 | Webmaster tools | Indexing | Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft announce Schema.org, a joint initiative that supports a richer range of tags that websites can use to convey better information.[10][95][96][97] | |
| 2011 | June 21 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda 2.2.[10][98][99][100] |
| 2011 | July 23 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda 2.3.[10][101] |
| 2011 | August 12 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda 2.4, making Panda available in all languages around the world, except Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.[10][102][103] |
| 2011 | August 16 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google rolls out expanded sitelinks, starting with 12-pack links (but later reducing to 6-pack).[10][104][105] | |
| 2011 | September 15 | Webmaster tools | Indexing | Google rolls out pagination elements for websites to communicate to Google that various webpages are different pages of the same article.[10][106][107] | |
| 2011 | September 21 | Bias concerns in search results | Ranking | In hearings before the United States Senate, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Jeffrey Katz of Nextag claim that Google search results are biased against competing offering s such as the reviews on Yelp, while Google still benefits from the information in these reviews. Eric Schmidt of Google claims that Google search results are not biased, and Google aims to offer search results that best meet the needs of users.[108] | |
| 2011 | September 30 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda 2.5.[10][109] Although the specifics of the update are unclear, a few sites gain significantly and a few others lose significantly.[110] Other minor flux updates occur on October 3, October 5 and October 13, and some commentators call these Panda 3.0 and 3.1.[10][111] |
| 2011 | October 18 | User experience | Privacy of search queries | Google announces that they will start encrypting all search queries for security purposes.[112] This disrupts organic keyword referral data for many websites, making search engine optimization harder.[113] | |
| 2011 | November 3 | Search algorithm update | Indexing, ranking | Faster updates to search results | Google announces a Freshness update that would give priority to fresher, more recent search results, and claims this could affect 35% of search queries.[114][115][116] The algorithm largely affects time-sensitive queries. A number of sites gain and many others lose as a result of the update.[117] |
| 2011 | November 14 | Search algorithm update | Google announces a 10-pack of updates, and says that this begins a series of monthly announcements of packs of updates.[10][118] | ||
| 2011 | November 18 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google releases an allegedly minor Panda update, which SEO commentators label as Panda 3.1, despite the lack of a generally agreed upon update named Panda 3.0.[10][119][120] |
| 2012 | December 2011-January 2012 (announced January 5) | Search algorithm update, user experience | A 30-change pack of updates, including landing-page quality detection, more relevant site-links, more rich snippets, and related-query improvements.[121] | ||
| 2012 | January 10 | Search algorithm update, user experience | Google launches Search Plus Your World, a deep integration of one's social data into search.[122][123] SEO commentators are critical of how the search results favor Google+ and push it to users, compared to more widely used social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.[124][125][126][127] | ||
| 2012 | January 19 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) | Google updates its algorithm to introduce a penalty for websites with too many ads "above the fold". The update has no name, but some SEOs use "Top Heavy" to describe the update.[10][128] |
| 2012 | February 27 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Local search | The update, codenamed Venice, is announced as part of Google's end-of-February 40-pack update. Venice seems to give substantially increased weightage to local results (location inferred from the user's IP and other signals) for many search queries, such as those looking for businesses of various types in the vicinity.[10][129][130] On the same date, Google rolls out Panda 3.3, which it bills as a data refresh rather than an algorithm change.[131] |
| 2012 | March 23, April 19, April 27 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | March 23: Google rolls out Panda 3.4, which is claimed to affect 1.6% of search queries.[132] Google quietly rolls out Panda 3.5 (April 19) and Panda 3.6 (April 27), with minimal impact.[133][134] |
| 2012 | April 24 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google launches its "Webspam update" which would soon become known as Google Penguin.[10][135][136][137][138] |
| 2012 | May 16 | Search algorithm update, user experience | Ranking, information in SERPs | Knowledge Graph | Google starts rolling out Knowledge Graph, used by Google internally to store semantic relationships between objects. Google now begins displaying supplemental information about objects related to search queries on the side.[10][139][140][141] |
| 2012 | May 25 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google rolls out an update of Google Penguin, variously called Penguin 1.1 and Penguin 2.[142] |
| 2012 | June–September | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out updates to Google Panda: 3.7 (June 8),[143][144] 3.8 (June 25),[145][146] 3.9 (July 24),[147] 3.9.1 (August 20),[10] and 3.9.2 (September 18).[10] |
| 2012 | July 26 | Third-party tracking | SERP volatility measurement | Moz launches MozCast, the "Google weather report". The tool, available online at mozcast.com, tracks the "temperature" of changes to Google's search algorithm and rankings on a day-to-day basis, helping provide better context to search algorithm changes beyond just the biggest ones.[148][149][150] | |
| 2012 | August 10 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating policy violations (copyright) | Google announces that it will start penalizing websites with repeat copyright infringements, possibly as measured by DMCA takedown requests.[151] Some SEO commentators call this the Pirate update.[152] |
| 2012 | September 27 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out a major update to Google Panda (the update is to the underlying algorithm, rather than merely being a data refresh), that would be dubbed Panda 4.0, but SEO commentators decide to simply call it Panda #20. The change is estimated to have affected 2.4% of search queries.[10][153] |
| 2012 | September 27 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Google announces changes in the way it handles Exact-Match Domains. The change is estimated to have affected 0.6% of search queries.[154][155] | |
| 2012 | October 5 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google releases minor tweaks to Penguin, affecting about 0.3% of search queries. SEO commentators call it Penguin #3, following the lead of Panda in ditching the use of 1.x notation in favor of labeling updates by number.[10][156][157] |
| 2012-13 | November 2012-January 2013 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google releases updates to Google Panda: #21 (November 5, affecting 1.1% of queries), #22 (November 21, data refresh only), #23 (December 21, data refresh only, affecting 1.3% of queries), and #24 (January 22, affecting 1.2% of queries).[10] |
| 2012 | December 4 | Search algorithm update | Knowledge Graph | Google adds Knowledge Graph to non-English queries, and says that the change goes beyond translation and also adds enhanced Knowledge Graph capabilities.[10][158][159] | |
| 2013 | March | Third-party tracking | SERP volatibility measurement | Algoroo, a tool to track changes in Google Search rankings and identify algorithm changes, launches, initially in pre-alpha.[160][161][150] | |
| 2013 | March 13–14 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google rolls out Panda #25. Remarks by Matt Cutts at SMX West give people the impression that this is the last update to Panda as a distinct entity and it will thereafter be integrated into the core algorithm.[10][162][163] On June 11, 2013, Cutts clarifies that Panda updates roll out over 10-day periods every month and are not continuous.[164] |
| 2013 | May 22 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google rolls out a new version of Google Penguin that it calls Penguin 2.0, which SEO commentators call Penguin #4.[165][166] |
| 2013 | July (or earlier) | User experience | Information in SERPs | "Answer boxes" (an early name for featured snippets) are spotted and discussed by SEO experts. These build upon Google's knowledge graph capabilities, to show a box containing the key "answer" to the search query, usually right above the search results. These are distinct from the knowledge graph cards (also known as knowledge cards or knowledge panels) that appear on the right.[167] | |
| 2013 | August 6 | Search algorithm update, user experience | Ranking | Google adds a new feature called "in-depth articles" in its search results to feature long-form content of long-lasting value.[10][168][169] | |
| 2013 | August 21–22 (approximate date for rollout), September 26 (announcement) | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Core | Google releases Google Hummingbird, a core algorithm update that may enable more semantic search and more effective use of the Knowledge Graph in the future.[10][170][171] |
| 2013 | October 4 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google announces what it calls Penguin 2.1, its fifth version of Penguin, claiming to affect 1% of searches. The effect seems minor.[10][172][173] |
| 2014 | May 16 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Payday Loans 2.0 algorithm change is purely low quality external link related and over-optimization. This specifically goes after high search, spammy queries such as “Payday Loans”. Google is trying to devalue sites that perform in link buying and other black hat methods to game the algorithm.[174] |
| 2014 | May 20 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Panda 4.0 is implemented to devalue sites that contained poor / low quality content. This has been an ongoing battle that Google has been chipping away at for years. Google has claimed that the algorithm change has impacted roughly 7.5% of all search queries.[175] |
| 2014 | July 3 | Team | Matt Cutts, a Distinguished Engineer at Google who has been heading the web spam team since 2004, goes on leave till October.[176] He later extends his leave through 2015.[177] | ||
| 2014 | July 24 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Local search (Pigeon) | Google announces the rollout of Google Pigeon, a major update to its search algorithm for "local" searches such as searches related to events or businesses near one. The Pigeon update gives more weight to various search signals to deliver more relevant local results.[10][178][179] |
| 2014 | August 6 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | HTTPS boost | Google announces search results will give preference to sites using HTTP Secure and SSL encryption. This added ranking signal would be a "lightweight" ranking boost.[180] |
| 2014 | August 28 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google Authorship is removed completely from search results, as already on December 2013 it reduced number of images showing in SERP's. Now it's totally gone to extinction due to lower adaptation rate by authors, to reduce mobile bandwidth and to improve user experience.[10][181][182][183] | |
| 2014 | September 23 (rollout begins), September 25 (announcement) | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google announces that a significant update to Google Panda is rolling out over the next few weeks. The update is dubbed Panda 4.1.[10][184][185] An analysis reveals that the update was heavy on attacking affiliate marketing, keyword stuffing, security warnings, and deception.[186][187] |
| 2014 | October 17 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Penguin 3.0 is implemented as a refresh to re-evaluate sites demoted in the last update due to webspam tactics and demote sites using black hat SEO tactics. This refresh is rolled out globally over several weeks impacting roughly 1% of English-language queries.[10][188] |
| 2014 | October 21 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating policy violations (copyright) | Pirate 2.0 update dubbed by SEO commentators following the similar update in 2012 which penalized sites deemed as violators of copyright laws. This refresh targets a relatively small number of known sites causing dramatic drops in ranking. In tandem with this Google introduces a new Ad Format for queries where people may be searching for copyrighted media, requiring publishers to purchase ads to promote original content over the unauthorized copies.[10][189][190][191] |
| 2014 | December 10 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google announces that Google Penguin will switch to continuous updates, also known as "Penguin Everflux".[10][192] |
| 2014 | December 22 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Local search (Pigeon) | Google Pigeon, the local search algorithm update, is rolled out to the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.[10][193] |
| 2015 | February 4 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Direct action links and expanded text in answer boxes are spotted for searches for content beyond Google's own documentation (in November 2014, these had been spotted but only for Google's own documentation).[194] This leads to further discussion around optimizing for one's content to show up in the answer box.[195] Possibly related: many independent sources report significant fluctuations in Google Search results, but Google does not officially confirm any changes.[10][196] | |
| 2015 | April 21 (pre-announced February 26) | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Mobile usability | On January 19, 2015, Google sends emails to webmasters about mobile usability issues on the websites, leading people to speculate that a major mobile usability update for search rankings is underway.[197] On February 26, 2015, Google announces that demotion of mobile-unfriendly sites for searches on mobile devices will commence on April 21, 2015.[198][199][200][201] |
| 2015 | May 3 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Core | Google says it has made a core algorithm change impacting "quality signals". Before the official announcement, commentators had dubbed the changes as "Phantom 2". |
| 2015 | July 17 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Panda) | Google announces an update to Google Panda, dubbed as Panda 4.2 by commentators. Google says that the change affects between 2% and 3% of search queries. Search engine commentators do not notice any sharp changes to search traffic, and expect the changes to be rolled in gradually.[202][203] By September, it appears that many websites that had seen gains due to Panda 4.2 are seeing those gains reversed.[204] |
| 2015 | October 26 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Google announces that RankBrain, a machine learning-based engine (using neural networks), has been the third most influential factor in its search rankings for the last few months. The actual rollout date is not confirmed, but commentators pin the launch time to Spring 2015. It is most useful for new search queries, that account for about 15% of search queries.[10][205][206] Later discussions of Google search quality would mark the introduction of Rankbrain as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness with obscure searches, arguing that Google incorrecty approximates the search query to a related, more mainstream search query rather than trying to literallly address the obscure search query.[207] | |
| 2015 | November 19 | Transparency | Quality raters guidelines | Google releases the full versions of its search quality raters guidelines (QRG), a 160-page-long handbook that it previously only gave human evaluators to rate websites. The guidelines help websites understand what qualities Google Search would like to see in websites, although ratings made by raters based on these guidelines do not directly change search engine rankings. The release follows a leak in October 2015 of the same guidelines[50] Two important pieces of jargon that gain currency in the SEO world due to these guidelines are: YMYL (your money or your life), a term for websites that offer information or allow people to take actions that have the potential to negatively impact the end user's health and wealth (examples include sites related to e-commerce, financial advice, medical advice, and legal advice), and E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trust), factors that are important to Google Search for ranking sites, and even more important for YMYL sites.[208] | |
| 2016 | February 3 | Team | Amit Singhal steps down from his position as Vice President of Search at Google after 15 years in that role. He is replaced by John Giannandrea who works in artificial intelligence at Alphabet, Google's parent company.[209][210] There is speculation that this will lead to more incorporation of machine learning and AI techniques in Google Search.[211] | ||
| 2016 | February 18 and 23 | Advertising | Google makes changes to Google AdWords, removing right-column ads and rolling out 4-ad top blocks on searches with commercial intent. The change has implications on organic search CTRs for such searches, since it pushes the organic search results further down the page, potentially reducing organic search CTRs.[212] Up to three additional ads may be shown below the 10 organic search results, and additional ads may be shown on the second page.[10][213][214][215] | ||
| 2016 | May 12 (announced March 16) | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Mobile usability | Google rolls out a ranking signal boost to benefit mobile-friendly websites on mobile devices. This is the second update of this sort, with the previous update in April 2015.[10][216][217] |
| 2016 | September 1 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Local search | SEO commentators note massive changes to the algorithm for local searches, the biggest since Pigeon. The update is labeled Possum, indicating that some business listings have been filtered rather than actually disappearing. This is attributed to an updated, smarter deduplication algorithm, finer geolocation-awareness, and more decoupling of algorithms used for local search results from the main search results.[10][218] The implications of Possum on local SEO would be discussed for months to come.[219][220][221] |
| 2016 | September 23 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics (Penguin) | Google announces a Penguin update, and says that Penguin is now part of Google's core ranking algorithm. Commentators dub this Penguin 4.0.[10][222][223] SEOMOz identifies likely dates for phase 1 and phase 2 rollouts as September 27 and October 6.[10] |
| 2017 | January 10 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) | Google announces that it will crack down on intrusive interstitials on mobile web pages, such as popups that cover the main content, standalone interstitials that the user has to dismiss, and above-the-fold content that looks like an interstitial.[10][224] The plan to introduce this penalty was announced in August 2016.[225] |
| 2017 | February 21 | Customized search | Google announces that it is deprecating Google Site Search, its offering for websites that offers a highly site-customized site search solution. Starting April 1, 2017, it will discontinue sales of Google Site Search. The product will be completely shut down by April 1, 2018.[226][227][228] | ||
| 2017 | April 25 | User experience, incorporation of user feedback | Google announces quality improvements to search and more direct feedback options for users for search results and Featured Snippets (the new, official name for what the SEO community had previously called "answer boxes").[229] | ||
| 2017 | late October and November | User experience | Information in SERPs | Search engine trackers notice a decrease in the percentage of search queries showing featured snippets from ~16% to ~14%, after a mostly steady increase for two years. This is also accompanied by an increase in the percentage of knowledge panels, mostly for the same queries.[10][230][231] | |
| 2017 | November | Transparency | Communication of algorithm updates | The Twitter account @searchliaison is created, through which Google's search liaison Danny Sullivan can officially communicate updates related to Google Search algorithm updates. Sullivan would continue to use his own Twitter handle @dannysullivan for updates that are not official communications.[232] | |
| 2017 | December 1 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google increases the length of the snippets it includes for each search result.[10][233] | |
| 2018 | March | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Core | Google makes a core algorithm update that affects the rankings of a number of websites, some positively, some negatively. The update is labeled the "brackets" update by Glenn Gabe. Google as well as SEO commentators say that websites adversely affected should not be looking to make quick fixes, but rather should continue improving their site over the long term.[10][234][235] |
| 2018 | January 15 | Review | A blog post by Tim Bray titled "Google Memory Loss" provides evidence suggesting that Google can no longer reliably be used to find old content even with exact keyword searches. In comparison, in the specific examples he checked, Bray was able to find the pages using both Bing and DuckDuckGo.[236] Bray's post is shared to Hacker News where it gets an unusually large number of view and comments from users who share their frustrations around Google and its alleged decline. The RankBrain update is cited as a turning point (for the worse) in Google's helpfulness for obscure searches by many commenters.[207] | ||
| 2018 | March 14 | User experience | Information in SERPs | For one week, Google experiments with defaulting to show no search results for simple queries such as mathematical expressions and date/time lookups, with the search results available through a button that needs to be clicked to show them. Most real-world queries are not affected, but there is discussion of what this experiment means for the future of search.[237] | |
| 2018 | March 26 | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Google announces that it is rolling out its switch to mobile-first indexing at a wider scale; the version of a page that Google will keep in its index and use to make ranking decisions will be the mobile version.[10][238][239] | |
| 2019 | May | Search algorithm update, user experience | Personalization | Google announces Incognito mode for Google Maps and Google search.[240][241][242][243] | |
| 2018 | May 13 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google reduces the average length of snippets included with each search result from about 300 characters to 150-160 characters, similar to the level prior to the increase in snippet length at the end of November 2017.[10][244] | |
| 2018 | June 14 | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google moves videos in its desktop search results from organic-like results to a dedicated carousel, and the number of search engine results pages with videos increases significantly.[10] This has unexpected impact on some e-commerce retailers, because videos showing up in carousel mean that the site no longer appears in the organic search results.[245] | |
| 2018 | July 9 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Mobile usability | Google finishes rolling out to all users the incorporation of mobile speed into its ranking of webpages. The update affects only extremely slow webpages, and thus does not affect the majority of webpages.[10][246] |
| 2019 | May 7 | Search algorithm update, user experience | Google announces feature to be integrated into Google search that utilizes Google Lens and augmented reality. Google Lens adds new features like visual language translation of signs, audio reading of text, video demonstrations of recipes seen in magazines and scanning restaurant menus to show the most popular dishes. Also, Google Assistant is upgraded to be 10-times faster in responding to spoken requests. The company also introduces a newly designed Android Auto dashboard to make the in-car platform easier to use without distracting drivers.[247][248][249][250] | ||
| 2019 | July 26 | Analytics | Google announces addition of "AMP On Image Result", a new search area with aim at allowing publishers to view their traffic data from AMP in Google Images in a Search Console’s performance report for Google Images.[251][252] | ||
| 2018 | August 1 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Core | Google rolls out a core algorithm update dubbed "Medic" by SEO observers.[10] The algorithm largely affects your money or your life (YMYL) sites, in particular health/medical websites, with some sites seeing significant improvements and others seeing significant declines.[253][254][255] |
| 2019 | April 5 and April 7 | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Bug fix | Due to a bug, Google seems to drop about 4% of pages from its search index on April 5 and April 7.[10][256] |
| 2019 | August 1 | Search algorithm update | "Featured snippets are surely one of the most useful features that Google added to its search engine in recent years. Today, the company announced that it has recently updated the algorithm that powers these snippets to prioritize more recent information."[257][258][259] | ||
| 2019 | August 2 | Competition | Google announces that, some time in 2020, it will make available a Choice Screen on Android devices that will allow users to select a search provider from among Google and three others. The three options shown are to be selected based on a per-country auction conducted periodically.[260] | ||
| 2019 | September 5 | "Google has added TV and movie recommendations to its search app in an attempt to solve the increasingly tricky problem of knowing what to watch."[261] "Google on Thursday said it wants to make it easier for people to find shows and movies on its search engine. If you type in a phrase like "good show to watch," the Google app will let you open up a new feature to swipe left or right on show recommendations (yes, like a dating app)."[262][263] | |||
| 2019 | September 9 | Analytics | Google announces shut down of its old Search Console.[264][265] | ||
| 2019 | September 10 | Webmaster tools | Indexing | Google announces two new link attributes, sponsored and ugc, that are treated by Google as hints and may be used to replace nofollow in some cases.[266] | |
| 2019 | September 20 | Analytics | Google adds new structured data report, allowing site owners to quickly check whether breadcrumb markup has been implemented correctly.[267] | ||
| 2019 | September 23 | Analytics | Google announces update in its Search Console, giving it the ability to return fresher data in the Search Performance report. "The Performance report helps webmasters and site owners better understand how their site performs on Google search".[268][269][270] | ||
| 2019 | October | Search algorithm update | Understanding query intent | BERT | Google introduces the BERT search algorithm. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is an open-sourced technique for natural language understanding aimed at improving the search engine’s understanding of queries — particularly longer spoken or written ones.[271][272][273][274] The algorithm is expected to change results rankings for up to one in 10 queries.[275][276][277][278] |
| 2019 | October | Userbase | As of date, Google search controls 88.3% of the search market in the United States.[279] | ||
| 2019 | October 28 | Search algorithm update | Indexing | Google announces that Search would stop supporting Adobe Flash by the end of the year. In web pages with Flash content, Google would ignore the Flash content. Search would also stop indexing standalone SWF files.[280][281] | |
| 2019 | November 14 | Google Search launches a new feature that lets users check their pronunciation of unfamiliar words with the help of machine learning.[282][283][284] | |||
| 2019 | November 26 | Google Search introduces new features: automatic updations of listings on Google My Business and local language support on the shopping experience.[285][286] | |||
| 2019 | December 5 | "Google Search to Integrate Package Tracking" "A good example of this is the track package feature, a feature that incorporates a lot of different companies that you can check out and make sure that you are able to track the package that is shipping the product that you have purchased from said company." "This feature is going to be integrated into Google search, which means that now there will be a card below the search bar that can be used to find specific tracking details. All you would have to do is enter the company name followed by “package tracking”. For example, if the product you have purchased is from Amazon then your search query is going to be “Amazon package tracking”."[287][288][289][290] | |||
| 2019 | December 5 | Transparency | Quality raters guidelines | Google updates its search quality evaluator guidelines. The revisions emphasized diversity, impartiality and pertained to language referring to users."[291] | |
| 2019 | December 9 | Search algorithm update | Understanding query intent | BERT | Google announces that its natural language processing algorithm BERT would be released in over 70 languages globally. Until then, the algorithm was only applied to featured snippets in languages other than English.[292][293][294][295] |
| 2019 | December 10 | Analytics | "Google has this week launched a new listing of the top 100 product trends in a range of categories based on Google search volume increases over the past year. Called the Google Shopping 100, the data collection has its own mini-site and provides some interesting, and potentially valuable insight into what the key product and consumer trends were over the course of 2019."[296][297][298][299] | ||
| 2019 | December 16 | Google Search and Google Maps introduce the ability to order food in Australia. Customers can order from fast food chains including Domino's Pizza, Boost Juice, Chatime, Guzman y Gomez, Pizza Hut and Grill’d, as well as local restaurants and cafes via HeyYou.[300][301][302] | |||
| 2019 | December 17 | Analytics | Google announces that fresher Discover data is now available within Google Search Console Performance reports. This allows site owners view data as recent as less than a day old.[303][304] | ||
| 2019 | December 27 | Google search launches a 'Watchlist' service that lets users track shows and movies across platforms. The feature is only available on the Google app for Android and iOS.[305][306][307][308][309] | |||
| 2019 | Year round | Google announces Disney Plus as its top trending search term of 2019.[310][311] | |||
| 2020 | April 23 | Search algorithm update (presentation) | Google announces that it is starting the rollout of a feature that will tell the user if there aren't great matches for the search, potentially with suggestions for how to improve the search query.[312][313] | ||
| 2020 | October 20 | Review | An article in the Washington Post talks about how Google Search has been getting worse. Three points are made: (1) increasing proliferation of ads, pushing organic results farther down the page (and a continued blending of ads into content making them visually harder to distinguish), (2) inaccurate featured snippets that might push a political agenda, and (3) promotion of Google's own products (such as Google Maps, YouTube, Google Flights) even when inferior to other products.[314] | ||
| 2021 | February 1 | Insight | Google announces the launch of an "About this result" available for individual search results that provides more information about the source, including entity information on the source (similar to a knowledge panel), and whether the result is a search result or an ad.[315][316] "About this result" would evolve in the coming months to include more information.[317][318] | ||
| 2021 | May 18 | Search algorithm update | Understanding query intent | MUM | Google announces its Multitask Unified Model (MUM) tool, that uses transformers / neural nets to understand human language and other information such as audio and video. MUM's understanding of text uses the T5 text-to-text framework.[319][320] The first real-world application of MUM, to COVID vaccine names, would be announced on June 29 as having been released.[321][322] |
| 2021 | June 8 | Competition | Google removes the participation fee for search engines to be shown in its Android Choice Screen program in Europe, and increases the number of search engines listed from three to a higher number, with five on screen at a given time.[323][324] | ||
| 2021 | June 15 | Analytics | Google announces the release of Search Console Insights, a tool that surfaces insights by joining data from Search Console and Google Analytics.[325] | ||
| 2021 | June 15 – end of August | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) (page experience) | The rollout of Google's "page experience on mobile" update happens during this period. The update is limited to mobile searches, and gives weight to a "page experience" factor that includes performance on core web vitals, mobile usability, security issues, whether the site is HTTPS, and ads experience.[326][327] |
| 2021 | June (around middle of the month) | User experience | Information in SERPs | Google starts testing a new feature that notifies searchers if the search results for the search query are changing rapidly; the idea is to warn users about stories that are actively evolving.[328][329] | |
| 2021 | June 23, June 28 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google releases a two-part update to deal with spam; the first part is released on June 23 and the second part on June 28.[330][331] |
| 2021 | July 22 | Transparency | Explanation of search results | Google announces that its "About this result" panel will now include reasons a particular search result was shown. Types of reasons spotted include: search terms that appear in the result, search terms related to your search, other websites with your search terms link to this result, this result has images related to your search, this result is in your language, this result is relevant for searches in your region.[317][315] | |
| 2022 | February 22 – March 3 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating bad user experiences (heavy content, slow content, bad user experience) (page experience) | As previously announced on November 4, 2021, Google executes on the rollout of using page experience as a ranking factor on desktop during this period. Page experience on desktop includes all the core web vitals as well as all the other page experience signals on mobile except mobile-friendliness.[332][333][334] |
| 2022 | August 25 – September 9 | Search algorithm update | Ranking | Combating low-quality content and bad SEO tactics | Google releases a "helpful content" update that is intended to demote content that is written primarily for search engines, and promote content that it deems to be helpful to humans. The determination of whether content is helpful is done through machine learning, and validated via quality raters.[335] |
| 2023 | May 25 | Search algorithm update | Presentation | AI overviews (Search Generative Experience) | Google officially launches (in beta, to only select users) the Search Generative Experience (SGE) that integrates text from a generative model into search results (in the form of AI overviews at the top of search results; thes would later be named "AI Overviews"). This launch comes about six months after the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI had raised the profile of generative models, apparently inducing Google to accelerate its plans to add generative experience to search results. The feature had been annouced by Google at the Google I/O event on May 10.[336][337] |
List of search updates made in later years
Some of these search updates would clutter the full timeline, and many of them have specialized pieces of information that are brought out more effectively in a more customized table structure. We cover these search updates in this section.
Core updates starting 2019
Google uses the shorthand "core updates" for what it describes as broad updates to its search algorithms, that are not targeted at a specific use case but change the core systems used within search. For such updates, Google says that websites have nothing in particular to "fix" and should just work on general best practices and creating great content.[338][339]
A few notes:
- Starting 2019, Google has pushed the naming convention where an update is named based on the month and year it started rolling out. For instance, the update that rolled out from June 3, 2019 to June 8, 2019 is the June 2019 core update. The update that rolled out from May 25, 2022 to June 9, 2022 is termed the May 2022 core update based on the month when it started rolling out. The SEO community has adopted this convention. This convention also makes sense in light of the fact (discussed in a later bullet point) that Google doesn't reveal any other details of the core update, so it's hard to give a more semantically meaningful name.
- Google has been getting better over time in terms of communicating core updates.
- Historically, Google would often either fail to confirm core updates or confirm then only after the fact.
- Starting in 2019, Google has been more proactive about announcing core updates, initially via the Search Liaison Twitter handle (@searcliaison) once the update starts (and sometimes even prior to it). The account used for later announcements was the Google Search Central Twitter handle (@googlesearchc). By 2022, the announcement of core updates was now happening on the Google Search Central blog, with an update to the blog post indicating the completion of the rollout.
- By 2021, Google was also usually announcing the end of rollout of each core update, generally through a reply message to the Twitter (now X) message where it had announced the original rollout.
- By September 2022, Google had made available a search status history page that covers all officially announced Google algorithm updates, including all core updates, going back to January 2020. This includes the start date and duration of each update.[340]
- Starting 2023, Google has been providing the duration of updates at a granularity of hours, for instance "13 days, 7 hours" reflecting the fact that the Google Search Status dashboard is now updated close to real-time to reflect the status of search updates.
- Google rarely reveals details of the kinds of changes made in its core updates, which is consistent with Google's view that websites have nothing to "fix" in response to these updates. Google does not even provide insight into how big an update is, how it relates to previous updates, and what parts of the rollout period are expected to see the most flux.
- However, Google has confirmed one important tidbit: that it has multiple core systems, and that different core updates may touch on different core systems. For instance, Google revealed that its October 2023 and November 2023 core updates were for different core systems.[341]
- A note on the duration calculation and its relationship to start and end dates: generally, based on the timing of announcement, it seems that Google starts and ends its updates during US daytime hours (generally working hours or close). Therefore, the difference between the end and start date is a rough estimate of the duration in days. Had the updates started early in the morning and ended late at night, the duration could be rounded to one more than the difference of dates, and if it were the other way around, the duration could be rounded to one less. Fortunately, the narrow time-of-day range means that the duration is relatively easy to interpret.
- In the absence of clear guidance from Google, SEO commentators and data providers collect and publish their own data. For each core update, Search Engine Land generally does a roundup post collating what different data providers are expected. Data providers often draw different conclusions as the use different methologies and have different sets of search queries and domains that they monitor. However, aggregating the information from data providers as well as SEO chatter generally provides a decent picture of (a) when in the rollout period the flux in results was greatest, (b) roughly how this update compares in magnitude to other updates. In some cases, there are also insights into what categories are most affected, or what kinds of domains have gained or lost traction. For instance, some updates tend to help reference websites, while others tend to hurt reference websites.
| Start date | End date | Duration in days | Duration in days plus hours (only available 2023 onward) | SEO consensus on when the peak effect was seen (if there is consensus) (absolute date) | SEO consensus on when the peak effect was seen (day index, starting with 1 for the start date of the update) | Strength and characteristics of the update (based on commentary by data providers and SEOs) | Overlapping updates | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 12, 2019[342][343] | March 12, 2019 | 1 | March 12, 2019 | 1 | SEO chatter suggests the update is targeted at YMYL sites. | N/A | Google confirms the update on Twitter via the official @searchliaison handle, claims that the algorithm is a broad core algorithm update and not targeted at any category, and argues for calling the update a core update rather than giving it another name, given that it targets the core search algorithm and is not tied to a specific facet (such as speed or spam).[10][344] | |
| June 3, 2019[345] | June 8, 2019[346] | 5 | SEO chatter suggests that a wider range of domains is affected than with previous core updates; some suggest a revert of March changes, with some health domains seeing a comeback.[347] | Diversity update (2019-06-04 to 2019-06-06) | The update is pre-announced by Google on June 2 by the @searchliaison Twitter account via a tweet, a day before it started;[348] both the start and end are announced via tweets; in fact, the update is announced one day prior to its start. | |||
| September 24, 2019[349] | September 27, 2019 | 3 | SEO chatter and data provider analysis suggests a strong effect within the YMYL category, with potential reversal of some changes with the last two 2019 core updates, but not as much overall volatility as the previous updates.[350] | N/A | The end date is approximate as Google doesn't officially clarify the end time.[351] | |||
| January 13, 2020[340][352] | January 16, 2020[340][353] | 3 | SEO chatter suggests that this is a huge update, with a big impact on YMYL sites.[354] | N/A | At the time, the end date is framed as "approximate"; it is the date that Google reports being "mostly done" with the update, while saying that the full rollout may take up to two weeks. However, the Google Search Status dashboard does end up going with this end date and duration as part of the official record. | |||
| May 4, 2020[340][355] | May 18, 2020[340][356] | 14 | SEO chatter suggests that this is a "monster" of an update, even bigger than the January 2020 update.[357] | N/A | This is one of the first times that the end of a core update is officially announced via the @searchliaison Twitter account; the past few times, the end date was only provided approximately or in terms of when the update is "mostly done". The rollout duration for this update (at 14 days) is much higher than the duration for the previous updates based on the more approximate methods. | |||
| December 3, 2020[340][358] | December 16, 2020[340] | 13 | December 4, 2020 | 2 | SEO commentators consider this update to be big, even bigger than the previous (May 2020) update, which was already bigger than preceding updates.[10][359][360] | N/A | No official end date seems to be provided at the time, but the Goole Search Status history shows a duration of 13 days. | |
| June 2, 2021[340][361] | June 12, 2021[340][362] | 10 | June 4, 2021 to June 6, 2021 | 3 to 5 | This is the first of a series of two core updates, with the second one in July 2021. SEO commentators find the effects of this update spread out over time, with the bulk of the effect from June 4 to June 6. The majority view among SEOs is that this is a smaller update than the December 2020 update, but some data providers and SEO analysts consider it a bigger update.[363][364] | N/A, but quickly followed by spam updates and the page experience update | ||
| July 1, 2021[340][365] | July 12, 2021[340][366] | 11 | July 2, 2021 | 2 | This is the second of a series of two core updates, with the first update being in June 2021. SEO commentators note that the update propagated quickly with the effects beginning to be seen shortly after Google's announcement of the rollout, in contrast with the June update that started a little later and had a longer period of increased volatility. Overall, SEO commentators and data providers consider the July 2021 core update to be smaller than the June 2021 core update.[367] | page experience update rolling out from mid-June to late August | ||
| November 17, 2021[340][368] | November 30, 2021[340][369] | 13 | November 18, 2021 | 2 | SEO companies generally find that the bulk of the impact of the update is within its first 24 hours, unlike some past core algorithm updates for which the high rankings flux continued for a few days.[370] | N/A, but immediately followed by the product reviews update | ||
| May 25, 2022[340][371][372] | June 9, 2022[340][371] | 15 | May 26, 2022 | 2 | According to Search Engine Land, the update "was significant and hit fast" based on volatility-tracking tools.[373][374] According to an article in Search Engine Journal, the winners include big e-commerce brands (such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy) and video sites (such as YouTube, TikTok, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Twitch) while the losers include news and media publishers and reference websites. New SERP features related to visual SERPs are also spotted.[375] | N/A | ||
| September 12, 2022[340][376] | September 26, 2022[340] | 14 | September 13, 2022 | 2 | According to Search Engine Land, the update "hit fast but was less significant than previous updates" based on volatility-tracking tools; Semrush has a similar assessment.[377][378] | product reviews update on 2022-09-20 while this core update was still rolling out (though after the bulk of its impact) | ||
| March 15, 2023[340] | March 28, 2023[340] | 13 | 13 days, 7 hours[340] | March 16, 2023 | 2 | SEO data providers have varying takes on the volatility of the update, with Semrush finding it to be more volatile and impactful than the September 2022 update, and RankRanger finding it to be comparably volatile.[379] | N/A | |
| August 22, 2023[340] | September 7, 2023[340] | 16 | 16 days, 3 hours[340] | August 25, 2023 | 4 | Both Semrush and RankRanger consider this a high-volatility update, whereas Sistrix calls it a "quiet" update. August 25 is singled out as a high-volatility day by multiple data providers as well as SEO commentators, but unlike some other core updates, this core update also seems to have had high volatility in the middle and end parts according to some of the data providers.[380] | N/A | |
| October 5, 2023[340] | October 19, 2023[340] | 14 | 13 days, 23 hours[340] | October 10, 2023 | 6 | Confusingly, a spam update is released around the same time, from October 4 to October 10. The overall volatility appears to peak on October 10 according to multiple data providers (but the contributions of the core update versus the spam update are unclear). This update has a few high-volatility days but is otherwise calm, unlike the August 2023 update that was high-volatility throughout. Sistrix notes that one category of established sites that was hit harder was reference sites.[381] | spam update (2023-10-04 to 2023-10-10) | |
| November 2, 2023[340] | November 28, 2023[340] | 26 | 25 days, 21 hours[340] | Data providers suggest that this update had higher overall volatility than the October 2023, and more days of increased volatility (i.e., a more spread-out update than the October 2023 update, and similar to the August 2023 update in that respect).[382] | product reviews update (2023-11-08 to 2023-12-07) | In Q&A published along with the start of the update, Google says: "We have different systems that are considered core to our ranking process; this month's core update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month."[341] | ||
| March 5, 2024[340] | April 26, 2024[340] | 45 | The long rollout duration of the update, as well as its overlap with Google's spam update (starting on the same day and rolling out over two weeks) makes this update much harder for SEOs and data providers to study. Overall, SEOs and data providers agree that the combined effect of the core update and the spam update is massive, particularly in terms of eliminating a bunch of sites completely (specifically, sites Google deems as spam, AI-generated, error-prone, and overly focused on search engines rather than humans), and massively switching around the rankings in the bottom half of the SERPs.[383] | spam update (2024-03-05 to 2024-03-19) | In a very uncharacteristic move, Google has two blog posts describing its goals with this core update (and the concurrent spam update), namely: "This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people. This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries." Starting with this core update, helpful content updates become part of core updates.[384][385] | |||
| August 15, 2024[340] | September 3, 2024[340] | 19 | 19 days, 4 hours[340] | Data providers consider this update to be more volatile on a per-day basis than the March 2024 update, but given the shorter duration, the overall change is lower than (but still comparable to) the March 2024 update. | ranking issue from 2024-08-15 to 2024-08-20, overlapping with the initial rollout of the core update | Uncharacteristically, Google provides some context on its goals with the core update: "This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search. This latest update takes into account the feedback we've heard from some creators and others over the past few months. As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users' searches. This is an area we'll continue to address in future updates. This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to show the best of the web."[386] |
Numerical and visual data
Mentions on Google Scholar
The following table summarizes per-year mentions on Google Scholar as of May 31, 2021.
| Year | Google Search |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 261,000 |
| 1998 | 342,000 |
| 1999 | 383,000 |
| 2000 | 467,000 |
| 2001 | 490,000 |
| 2002 | 546,000 |
| 2003 | 567,000 |
| 2004 | 595,000 |
| 2005 | 643,000 |
| 2006 | 664,000 |
| 2007 | 697,000 |
| 2008 | 679,000 |
| 2009 | 720,000 |
| 2010 | 730,000 |
| 2011 | 728,000 |
| 2012 | 674,000 |
| 2013 | 726,000 |
| 2014 | 690,000 |
| 2015 | 665,000 |
| 2016 | 602,000 |
| 2017 | 505,000 |
| 2018 | 366,000 |
| 2019 | 238,000 |
| 2020 | 120,000 |
Google Trends
The image below shows Google Trends data for Google Search (Topic) from January 2004 to February 2021, when the screenshot was taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.[387]
Google Ngram Viewer
The chart below shows Google Ngram Viewer data for Google Search from 1997 to 2019.[388]
Wikipedia Views
The chart below shows pageviews of the English Wikipedia article Google Search on desktop from December 2007, and on mobile-web, desktop-spider,mobile-web-spider and mobile app, from July 2015; to January 2021.[389]
See also
References
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- ↑ Schwartz, Barry (November 3, 2011). "Google Search Algorithm Change For Freshness To Impact 35% Of Searches; Twitter Firehose Remains Off". Search Engine Land. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah (November 3, 2011). "Google's New Algorithm Update Impacts 35% Of Searches". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah (November 7, 2011). "The Winners & Losers Of Google's Freshness Update Revealed". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Cutts, Matt (November 14, 2011). "Ten recent algorithm changes". Inside Search: the Official Google Search blog. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Schwartz, Barry (November 21, 2011). "Google Panda Update 3.1: "Minor" One Made Live On November 18th". Retrieved February 2, 2014.
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- ↑ Nayak, Pandu (January 5, 2012). "30 search quality highlights (with codenames!): December". Inside Search: The official Google Search blog. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ↑ Singhal, Amit (January 10, 2012). "Search, plus Your World". Official Google Blog. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
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