Difference between revisions of "Timeline of search engine optimization"

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! Time period !! Development summary !! More details
 
! Time period !! Development summary !! More details
 
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| 1991–2002 || Prelude period<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years">{{cite web |title=The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years |url=https://searchengineland.com/evolution-seo-trends-25-years-223424 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref> || Early period starting from the launch of the world’s first website by {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}}. As websites start crowding the Internet, the first search engines fill a need for structure and accessibility. in 1993, search platforms like Excite revolutionize how information is cataloged and make finding information easier by sorting results based on keywords found within content and backend optimization. {{w|Webmaster}}s and content providers begin optimizing websites for search engines in the mid-decade. {{w|Yahoo!}} in 1994 and {{w|Google}} in 1997 enter the scene to improve and simplify how data is indexed and delivered. In this primitive stage, marketers would leverage keyword stuffing, excessive tagging, and (often spammy) backlinks to generate high rankings in search. Often, major algorithm updates would take several months to complete, allowing black-hat SEO tactics to remain effective for long stretches of time. In 1994, several new search engines become widely accessible to the public.<ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms"/> In 1996, in which some consider the time when [[w:search engine optimization|SEO]] really took off, {{w|Sergey Brin}} and {{w|Larry Page}} begin building {{w|BackRub}}, the predecessor of {{w|Google}}, which would become the biggest, most recognized search engine.<ref name="bluefrogdm.coms"/> Around 1997, the first algorithm crackers appear. 1997 is the year that several SEO providers decode all 35 parameters of Excite’s algorithm.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of SEO |url=https://medium.com/tripika/a-brief-history-of-seo-3b35d7fa34d3 |website=medium.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>     
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| 1991–2002 || Prelude period<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years">{{cite web |title=The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years |url=https://searchengineland.com/evolution-seo-trends-25-years-223424 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref> || Early period starting from the launch of the world’s first website by {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}}. As websites start crowding the Internet, the first search engines fill a need for structure and accessibility. in 1993, search platforms like Excite revolutionize how information is cataloged and make finding information easier by sorting results based on keywords found within content and backend optimization. {{w|Webmaster}}s and content providers begin optimizing websites for search engines in the mid-decade. {{w|Yahoo!}} in 1994 and {{w|Google}} in 1997 enter the scene to improve and simplify how data is indexed and delivered. In this primitive stage, marketers would leverage keyword stuffing, excessive tagging, and (often spammy) backlinks to generate high rankings in search. Often, major algorithm updates would take several months to complete, allowing black-hat SEO tactics to remain effective for long stretches of time. In 1994, several new search engines become widely accessible to the public.<ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=https://www.tellmeyourgoal.com/the-history-of-search-engine-optimization |website=tellmeyourgoal.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref> In 1996, in which some consider the time when [[w:search engine optimization|SEO]] really took off, {{w|Sergey Brin}} and {{w|Larry Page}} begin building {{w|BackRub}}, the predecessor of {{w|Google}}, which would become the biggest, most recognized search engine.<ref name="bluefrogdm.coms"/> Around 1997, the first algorithm crackers appear. 1997 is the year that several SEO providers decode all 35 parameters of Excite’s algorithm.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of SEO |url=https://medium.com/tripika/a-brief-history-of-seo-3b35d7fa34d3 |website=medium.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>     
 
|-
 
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| 2003–2005 || Early developments<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || {{w|Google}}, {{w|MSN}} and {{w|Yahoo!}}, the three major search engines that are left, start incorporating undisclosed page ranking factors into their algorithms. The era of keyword-spamming SEO is long over. {{w|Webmaster}}s and content providers have to rely on more creative ways to promote content and generate inbound links in order to achieve long term increases in search engine rankings.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>
 
| 2003–2005 || Early developments<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || {{w|Google}}, {{w|MSN}} and {{w|Yahoo!}}, the three major search engines that are left, start incorporating undisclosed page ranking factors into their algorithms. The era of keyword-spamming SEO is long over. {{w|Webmaster}}s and content providers have to rely on more creative ways to promote content and generate inbound links in order to achieve long term increases in search engine rankings.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>
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| 2006–2009 || Middle period || This period introduces highlights like Google's Universal Search to offer additionally more engaging content media in search results such as news, images, and video.<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/>  
 
| 2006–2009 || Middle period || This period introduces highlights like Google's Universal Search to offer additionally more engaging content media in search results such as news, images, and video.<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/>  
 
|-
 
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| 2010–2012 || Consolidation period <ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || Social media becomes a more pivotal piece of SEO strategy.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/> By 2010, {{w|content farm}}s appear, designed to lure search engine algorithms. As a response, Google decides that the quality of the content should matter more for search engine rankings, and in 2011 launches its {{w|Google Panda}} update which effectively kills the practice.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> Toward 2012, Google continues setting restrictions to means of improving users' ranking score and continues penalizing websites using unethical methods of rankings.<ref name="gopbn.comd">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=https://gopbn.com/blog/history-of-seo/ |website=gopbn.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>
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| 2010–2012 || Consolidation period <ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || Social media becomes a more pivotal piece of SEO strategy.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Search & SEO |url=https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/a-brief-history-of-search-seo |website=blog.hubspot.com |accessdate=6 January 2020}}</ref> By 2010, {{w|content farm}}s appear, designed to lure search engine algorithms. As a response, Google decides that the quality of the content should matter more for search engine rankings, and in 2011 launches its {{w|Google Panda}} update which effectively kills the practice.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> Toward 2012, Google continues setting restrictions to means of improving users' ranking score and continues penalizing websites using unethical methods of rankings.<ref name="gopbn.comd">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=https://gopbn.com/blog/history-of-seo/ |website=gopbn.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>
 
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| 2013–present || Modern SEO era<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || Focus moves towards mobile search. In 2014, the app indexing launches, making apps appear alongside websites in search results. In 2015, the so-called ‘Mobilegeddon’ update appears, making website mobile friendliness a ranking signal in searches.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> By 2017, SEO is considered, for the most part, a conversation with {{w|Google Search}}.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/> 2018 starts with the continuation of mobile as a key focus for search engines.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> As of 2019, SEO campaigns are much more laborious and complex than they were a decade ago. Users get better relevant results and webmasters and content providers have to provide actual value in order to rank high on search results.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>
 
| 2013–present || Modern SEO era<ref name="The Evolution Of SEO Trends Over 25 Years"/> || Focus moves towards mobile search. In 2014, the app indexing launches, making apps appear alongside websites in search results. In 2015, the so-called ‘Mobilegeddon’ update appears, making website mobile friendliness a ranking signal in searches.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> By 2017, SEO is considered, for the most part, a conversation with {{w|Google Search}}.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/> 2018 starts with the continuation of mobile as a key focus for search engines.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> As of 2019, SEO campaigns are much more laborious and complex than they were a decade ago. Users get better relevant results and webmasters and content providers have to provide actual value in order to rank high on search results.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>
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| 1991 || || || Early development || The first website is developed for the [[w:SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (work)|Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]].<ref name="William R.">{{cite book |last1=Parkhurst |first1=William R. |title=Routing First-step |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=IzR8ycHGTEkC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%221993%22+%22600+websites%22&source=bl&ots=P7bG2az1m1&sig=ACfU3U3M67pbWKsSJifP7hSGSq3Lw_eiqA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwith_WnuNToAhVzIrkGHWoCCHkQ6AEwCnoECAUQKQ#v=onepage&q=%221993%22%20%22600%20websites%22&f=false}}</ref> It is believed that {{w|SEO}} is born in this year, with the launch of the first website.<ref name="bluefrogdm.coms">{{cite web |title=A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEO |url=https://www.bluefrogdm.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-seo |website=bluefrogdm.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 1991 || || || Early development || The first website is developed for the [[w:SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (work)|Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]].<ref name="William R.">{{cite book |last1=Parkhurst |first1=William R. |title=Routing First-step |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=IzR8ycHGTEkC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%221993%22+%22600+websites%22&source=bl&ots=P7bG2az1m1&sig=ACfU3U3M67pbWKsSJifP7hSGSq3Lw_eiqA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwith_WnuNToAhVzIrkGHWoCCHkQ6AEwCnoECAUQKQ#v=onepage&q=%221993%22%20%22600%20websites%22&f=false}}</ref> It is believed that {{w|SEO}} is born in this year, with the launch of the first website.<ref name="bluefrogdm.coms">{{cite web |title=A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEO |url=https://www.bluefrogdm.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-seo |website=bluefrogdm.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref>  
 
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| 1993 || || || Statistics || There are approximately 600 websites online at the time.<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref name="William R."/> 
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| 1994 || || || || Greg Boser discovers that he could use the Internet to sell protective foam equipment to fight fires. Boser builds a website and starts seeking ways to drive potential customers to his site for sales.<ref name="thehistoryofseo.com">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=http://www.thehistoryofseo.com/The-Industry/The_History_of_Search_Engine_Optimization.aspx|website=thehistoryofseo.com |accessdate=6 January 2020}}</ref>  
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| 1993 || || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The are about 10 million internet users at the time.<ref name="seo.comf"/> 
 
|-
 
| 1994 || || || || Greg Boser discovers that he could use the Internet to sell protective foam equipment to fight fires. Boser builds a website and starts seeking ways to drive potential customers to his site for sales.<ref name="thehistoryofseo.com"/>  
 
|-
 
| 1994 || || || Statistics || The number of websites grows to 10,000, up from 600 websites in 1993.<ref name="William R."/>
 
 
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| 1995 || || || Organization || John Audette forms Multi-Media Marketing Group, which would produce a popular newsletter with tips for influencing search engines.<ref>{{cite book |title=The SAGE Handbook of Web History |edition=Niels Brügger, Ian Milligan |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=PENeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT437&lpg=PT437&dq=%22Multi-Media+Marketing+Group%22+%221995%22&source=bl&ots=dkUwAwaqG4&sig=ACfU3U3qN4RdZPOMmvB-2cBZdyolmNaMiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNlcW0-YvpAhUSA9QKHXKUCL8Q6AEwCnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Multi-Media%20Marketing%20Group%22%20%221995%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name="thehistoryofseo.com"/>   
 
| 1995 || || || Organization || John Audette forms Multi-Media Marketing Group, which would produce a popular newsletter with tips for influencing search engines.<ref>{{cite book |title=The SAGE Handbook of Web History |edition=Niels Brügger, Ian Milligan |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=PENeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT437&lpg=PT437&dq=%22Multi-Media+Marketing+Group%22+%221995%22&source=bl&ots=dkUwAwaqG4&sig=ACfU3U3qN4RdZPOMmvB-2cBZdyolmNaMiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNlcW0-YvpAhUSA9QKHXKUCL8Q6AEwCnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Multi-Media%20Marketing%20Group%22%20%221995%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name="thehistoryofseo.com"/>   
 
|-
 
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| 1995 || || || Statistics || The number of websites grows to 100,000, up from 10,000 websites in 1994.<ref name="William R."/>
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| 1996 || April 1 || || SEO tool launch || Alexa Internet is founded. It offers commercial online traffic data and analytics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexa Internet SuccessStory |url=https://successstory.com/companies/alexa-internet#:~:text=Alexa%20Internet%20SuccessStory-,Profile,owned%20subsidiary%20of%20Amazon.com. |website=successstory.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
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| 1996 || May 22 || || Concept development || The earliest known reference<ref name="wspy">"Word Spy - spamdexing" (definition), March 2003, webpage:[http://www.wordspy.com/words/spamdexing.asp WordSpy-spamdexing].</ref> to the term ''spamdexing'' is by Eric Convey, who says:
 
| 1996 || May 22 || || Concept development || The earliest known reference<ref name="wspy">"Word Spy - spamdexing" (definition), March 2003, webpage:[http://www.wordspy.com/words/spamdexing.asp WordSpy-spamdexing].</ref> to the term ''spamdexing'' is by Eric Convey, who says:
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<blockquote>The problem arises when site operators load their Web pages with hundreds of extraneous terms so search engines will list them among legitimate addresses.
 
<blockquote>The problem arises when site operators load their Web pages with hundreds of extraneous terms so search engines will list them among legitimate addresses.
 
The process is called "spamdexing," a combination of {{w|spamming}} — the Internet term for sending users unsolicited information — and "[[w:Web indexing|indexing]]."<ref name=wspy/></blockquote>
 
The process is called "spamdexing," a combination of {{w|spamming}} — the Internet term for sending users unsolicited information — and "[[w:Web indexing|indexing]]."<ref name=wspy/></blockquote>
|-
 
| 1996 || || || Statistics || The number of websites grows to 650,000, up from 100,000 websites in 1995.<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref name="William R."/> 
 
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| 1996 || || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The are about 74 million internet users at this time.<ref name="seo.comf"/> 
 
 
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| 1996 || || {{w|RankDex}} || || A search engine called "{{w|RankDex}}" from IDD Information Services, designed by {{w|Robin Li}}, develops a strategy for site-scoring and page-ranking.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Li |first= Yanhong |date= August 6, 2002 |title= Toward a qualitative search engine |journal=IEEE Internet Computing |volume= 2 |issue= 4 |pages= 24–29 |doi= 10.1109/4236.707687}}</ref>
 
| 1996 || || {{w|RankDex}} || || A search engine called "{{w|RankDex}}" from IDD Information Services, designed by {{w|Robin Li}}, develops a strategy for site-scoring and page-ranking.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Li |first= Yanhong |date= August 6, 2002 |title= Toward a qualitative search engine |journal=IEEE Internet Computing |volume= 2 |issue= 4 |pages= 24–29 |doi= 10.1109/4236.707687}}</ref>
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| 1997 || September || {{w|Google}} || || <code>google.com</code> is registered as a domain name.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google domain name was registered 20 years ago |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-google-looked-like-the-first-day-it-launched-in-1998-2017-9 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=10 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 1997 || September || {{w|Google}} || || <code>google.com</code> is registered as a domain name.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google domain name was registered 20 years ago |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-google-looked-like-the-first-day-it-launched-in-1998-2017-9 |website=businessinsider.com |accessdate=10 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
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|-
| 1997 || || || Statistics || The number of websites surpasses 1,000,000, up from 650,000 websites in 1996.<ref name="William R."/><ref name="seo.comf"/> 
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| 1999 || November 18 || || Conference || {{w|Search Engine Strategies}} (SES) takes place as the first-ever all search marketing conference.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com">{{cite web |title=THE HISTORY OF SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) |url=https://www.amcodigital.com/history-of-seo/ |website=amcodigital.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="seo.comf"/>   
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| 1998 || || [[w:Yahoo! Gemini|Goto.com]] || Search engine launch || [[w:Yahoo! Gemini|Goto.com]] launches with sponsored links and paid search. Advertisers bid on Goto.com to rank above organic search results, which are powered by {{w|Inktomi}}. Goto.com would be ultimately acquired by {{w|Yahoo!}}.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com"/> 
 
|-
 
| 1999 || November 18 || || Conference || {{w|Search Engine Strategies}} (SES) takes place as the first-ever all search marketing conference.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com"/><ref name="seo.comf"/>   
 
 
|-
 
|-
| 1999 || || || Statistics || The number of websites online reaches 2.2 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/> 
+
| 1999 || || || Black hat SEO || {{w|Link farm}}s are first developed by [[w:search engine optimization|search engine optimizers]] (SEOs) to take advantage of the [[w:Inktomi (company)|Inktomi]] search engine's dependence upon link popularity.<ref>{{cite book |title=Complete Digital Marketing Guide Book for SEO, Social Media & Brand awareness: Definitive & Hidden Secrets of Digital Marketing to grow your business |publisher=Publicancy |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=rkXHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=Link+farms+were+first+developed+by+search+engine+optimizers+(SEOs)+in+1999+to+take+advantage+of+the+Inktomi+search+engine%27s+dependence+upon+link+popularity&source=bl&ots=FNmwxiQUqB&sig=ACfU3U31uGMX92Rr6f0XUYbO2WaZqojgJA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqp9LjqqLqAhVXHrkGHWfSB20Q6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Link%20farms%20were%20first%20developed%20by%20search%20engine%20optimizers%20(SEOs)%20in%201999%20to%20take%20advantage%20of%20the%20Inktomi%20search%20engine's%20dependence%20upon%20link%20popularity&f=false}}</ref>
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| 1999 || || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The number of internet users reaches 279 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/>
 
|-
 
| 1999 || || || || {{w|Link farm}}s are first developed by [[w:search engine optimization|search engine optimizers]] (SEOs) to take advantage of the [[w:Inktomi (company)|Inktomi]] search engine's dependence upon link popularity.<ref>{{cite book |title=Complete Digital Marketing Guide Book for SEO, Social Media & Brand awareness: Definitive & Hidden Secrets of Digital Marketing to grow your business |publisher=Publicancy |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=rkXHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=Link+farms+were+first+developed+by+search+engine+optimizers+(SEOs)+in+1999+to+take+advantage+of+the+Inktomi+search+engine%27s+dependence+upon+link+popularity&source=bl&ots=FNmwxiQUqB&sig=ACfU3U31uGMX92Rr6f0XUYbO2WaZqojgJA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqp9LjqqLqAhVXHrkGHWfSB20Q6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Link%20farms%20were%20first%20developed%20by%20search%20engine%20optimizers%20(SEOs)%20in%201999%20to%20take%20advantage%20of%20the%20Inktomi%20search%20engine's%20dependence%20upon%20link%20popularity&f=false}}</ref>
 
 
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| 1999 || || {{w|Google}} || || [[w:Google bombing|Google bombs]] date back to this year, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" results in the {{w|Microsoft}} homepage as the top result.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.clickz.com/google-bombs-arent-so-scary/61942/|accessdate=27 June 2020|title=Google Bombs Aren't So Scary|first=Danny|last=Sullivan|date=March 18, 2002|work=ClickZ}}</ref><ref name="searchenginepeople.com">{{cite web |title=The 10 Most Incredible Google Bombs |url=https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/incredible-google-bombs.html |website=searchenginepeople.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>
 
| 1999 || || {{w|Google}} || || [[w:Google bombing|Google bombs]] date back to this year, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" results in the {{w|Microsoft}} homepage as the top result.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.clickz.com/google-bombs-arent-so-scary/61942/|accessdate=27 June 2020|title=Google Bombs Aren't So Scary|first=Danny|last=Sullivan|date=March 18, 2002|work=ClickZ}}</ref><ref name="searchenginepeople.com">{{cite web |title=The 10 Most Incredible Google Bombs |url=https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/incredible-google-bombs.html |website=searchenginepeople.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-  
 
|-  
| 2000 || January 18 || {{w|Baidu}} || Search engine launch || {{w|Baidu}} launches. This service provides China’s largest search engine.<ref name="seo.comf"/>
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| 2000 || || {{w|Yahoo!}}, {{w|Google}} || Partnership || In what is considered to be the worst strategic move in search history<ref name="dailytechmonde.blogspot.com">{{cite web |title=Story SEO: Search Engine Optimization |url=https://dailytechmonde.blogspot.com/2019/12/search-engine-optimization-story.html |website=dailytechmonde.blogspot.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref>, {{w|Yahoo!}} partners with {{w|Google}} and lets Google power their organic results instead of {{w|Inktomi}}. At this time Google is a little-known search engine. After this, every Yahoo search result would say “Powered by Google”, with Yahoo! ending up introducing their largest competitor to the world and Google becoming a household name.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
 
|-
 
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| 2000 || || {{w|Yahoo!}}, {{w|Google}} || Partnership || In what is considered to be the worst strategic move in search history<ref name="dailytechmonde.blogspot.com">{{cite web |title=Story SEO: Search Engine Optimization |url=https://dailytechmonde.blogspot.com/2019/12/search-engine-optimization-story.html |website=dailytechmonde.blogspot.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref>, {{w|Yahoo!}} partners with {{w|Google}} and lets Google power their organic results instead of {{w|Inktomi}}. At this time Google is a little-known search engine. After this, every Yahoo search result would say “Powered by Google”, with Yahoo! ending up introducing their largest competitor to the world and Google becoming a household name.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
+
| 2000 || || || Conference || Pubcon launches in {{w|London}} as the first of a large search conference series.<ref>{{cite web |title=10 Things You Might Not Know About Pubcon |url=https://www.pubcon.com/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-pubcon |website=pubcon.com |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=15 Facts About #Pubcon You May Not Know |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/15-facts-pubcon-may-not-know/140298/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref>
 
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| 2000 || December 11 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Toolbar}} becomes available as a web browser toolbar for {{w|Internet Explorer}}, allowing SEO practitioners to see their {{w|PageRank}} score (a number between 0-10).<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Toolbar History |url=http://www.seobythesea.com/2007/07/google-toolbar-history/ |website=seobythesea.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Toolbar & GTPR – Google Algorithm Update December 11, 2000 |url=https://www.seocandyland.com/blog/seo-blog/google-algorithm-updates/google-toolbar-google-algorithm-update-december-2000/ |website=seocandyland.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com"/>  
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| 2000 || || || SEO tool launch || WebCEO is founded.<ref>{{cite web |title=WebCEO |url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/web-ceo/ |website=linkedin.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It offers SEO tool kit for digital agencies.<ref>{{cite web |title=SEO & Digital Marketing Tools |url=https://www.webceo.com/ |website=webceo.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>  
 
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| 2000 || October 23 || {{w|Google}} || Service launch || {{w|Google AdWords}} launches.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/> It is a pay-per-click online advertising platform that allows advertisers to display their ads on Google's search engine results page.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Does Google AdWords Work? The Basics of Google Ads |url=https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/marketing/how-does-google-adwords-work |website=freshbooks.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2000 || October 23 || {{w|Google}} || Service launch || {{w|Google AdWords}} launches.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/> It is a pay-per-click online advertising platform that allows advertisers to display their ads on Google's search engine results page.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Does Google AdWords Work? The Basics of Google Ads |url=https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/marketing/how-does-google-adwords-work |website=freshbooks.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
|-
 
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| 2000 || || || Conference || Pubcon launches in {{w|London}} as the first of a large search conference series.<ref>{{cite web |title=10 Things You Might Not Know About Pubcon |url=https://www.pubcon.com/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-pubcon |website=pubcon.com |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=15 Facts About #Pubcon You May Not Know |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/15-facts-pubcon-may-not-know/140298/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref>
+
| 2000 || December 11 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Toolbar}} becomes available as a web browser toolbar for {{w|Internet Explorer}}, allowing SEO practitioners to see their {{w|PageRank}} score (a number between 0-10).<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Toolbar History |url=http://www.seobythesea.com/2007/07/google-toolbar-history/ |website=seobythesea.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Toolbar & GTPR – Google Algorithm Update December 11, 2000 |url=https://www.seocandyland.com/blog/seo-blog/google-algorithm-updates/google-toolbar-google-algorithm-update-december-2000/ |website=seocandyland.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com"/>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2001 || || || Concept development || Danny Sullivan, a prominent industry writer, unsuccessfully suggests the term "search engine marketing" as a successor to "search engine optimization", with the purpose to cover the spectrum of activities involved in performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines, submitting sites to directories, and developing online marketing strategies for businesses, organizations, and individuals.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="researchgate.nete">{{cite web |title=History Of Search Engines |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265104813_History_Of_Search_Engines |website=researchgate.net |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2001 || || || Concept development || Danny Sullivan, a prominent industry writer, unsuccessfully suggests the term "search engine marketing" as a successor to "search engine optimization", with the purpose to cover the spectrum of activities involved in performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines, submitting sites to directories, and developing online marketing strategies for businesses, organizations, and individuals.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="researchgate.nete">{{cite web |title=History Of Search Engines |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265104813_History_Of_Search_Engines |website=researchgate.net |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>  
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|-
 
|-
 
| 2003 || || || SEO evolution || Blogging becomes popular and is utilized for SEO. {{w|Blogger}} and {{w|WordPress}} become widely used.<ref name="seo.comf"/>  
 
| 2003 || || || SEO evolution || Blogging becomes popular and is utilized for SEO. {{w|Blogger}} and {{w|WordPress}} become widely used.<ref name="seo.comf"/>  
|-
 
| 2003 || || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The number of websites online reaches 38 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/> 
 
|-
 
| 2003 || || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The number of internet users reaches 782 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/>
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2003 || November 16 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google launches its Google Florida update, aimed at combatting {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Florida: The First Major Algorithm Update |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/florida-update/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref>
 
| 2003 || November 16 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google launches its Google Florida update, aimed at combatting {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Florida: The First Major Algorithm Update |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/florida-update/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
| 2003 || April 3 || {{w|Google}} || Concept development || The term ''[[w:Google bombing|Googlewashing]]'' is coined by {{w|Andrew Orlowski}} to describe the use of {{w|media manipulation}} to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from {{w|search engine results page}}s (SERPs).<ref>{{cite news|last=Orlowski|first=Andrew|authorlink=Andrew Orlowski|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/03/antiwar_slogan_coined_repurposed/|title=Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed ... in 42 days.|date=April 3, 2003|work=The Register|accessdate=January 6, 2007}}</ref><ref name="AdamsMcCrindle2008">{{cite book|author1=Andrew A. Adams|author2=Rachel McCrindle|title=Pandora's Box: Social and Professional Issues of the Information Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXmx97UzO6IC&pg=PA122|accessdate=30 September 2012|date=15 February 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-06553-2|pages=122–123}}</ref>
+
| 2003 || April 3 || {{w|Google}} || Concept development || The term ''[[w:Google bombing|Googlewashing]]'' is coined by {{w|Andrew Orlowski}} to describe the use of {{w|media manipulation}} to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from {{w|search engine results page}}s (SERPs).<ref>{{cite news|last=Orlowski|first=Andrew|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/03/antiwar_slogan_coined_repurposed/|title=Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed ... in 42 days.|date=April 3, 2003|work=The Register|accessdate=January 6, 2007}}</ref><ref name="AdamsMcCrindle2008">{{cite book|author1=Andrew A. Adams|author2=Rachel McCrindle|title=Pandora's Box: Social and Professional Issues of the Information Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXmx97UzO6IC&pg=PA122|accessdate=30 September 2012|date=15 February 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-06553-2|pages=122–123}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2004 || March || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Promoweb agency organizes the first French-speaking contest, ''Mangeur de Cigogne'' (eater of stork).<ref name="dsdf">{{cite web |title=SEO contests or web ranking competitions |url=http://www.noname.fr/concours-de-referencement/seo-contest.html |website=noname.fr |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2004 || March || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Promoweb agency organizes the first French-speaking contest, ''Mangeur de Cigogne'' (eater of stork).<ref name="dsdf">{{cite web |title=SEO contests or web ranking competitions |url=http://www.noname.fr/concours-de-referencement/seo-contest.html |website=noname.fr |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
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| 2005 || March 1 || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Loquine Glupe is held. It is hosted by <code>webmaster-forums.co.uk</code>.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>  
 
| 2005 || March 1 || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Loquine Glupe is held. It is hosted by <code>webmaster-forums.co.uk</code>.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>  
 
|-
 
|-
| 2005 || April || || SEO tool launch || {{w|SpyFu}} launches.
+
| 2005 || April || || SEO tool launch || {{w|SpyFu}} launches.<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Free Courses and Tools That You Can Use for Free During the Coronavirus Lockdown. |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/hoho-media-agency/list-of-free-courses-and-tools-that-you-can-use-for-free-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown-12407/ |website=timesofindia.indiatimes.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It is a keyword research and competitive intelligence tool used by digital marketers to improve their performance in online search.<ref>{{cite web |title=SpyFu Review, Pricing & Features: Best SEO Tool for Competitor Keyword Research |url=https://www.softwarepundit.com/seo/spyfu-review-pricing-features |website=softwarepundit.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2005 || May–December || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Hommingberger Gepardenforelle 2005 launches as another German contest. The goal of this SEO contest is to figure out how search engines determine rankings.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>  
 
| 2005 || May–December || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Hommingberger Gepardenforelle 2005 launches as another German contest. The goal of this SEO contest is to figure out how search engines determine rankings.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>  
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|-
 
|-
 
| 2005 || || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google starts personalizing search results, taking into account a user’s search history to come up with customized results pages when that user is logged in.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>  
 
| 2005 || || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google starts personalizing search results, taking into account a user’s search history to come up with customized results pages when that user is logged in.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>  
 +
|-
 +
| 2005 || || || SEO tool launch || [[w:Conductor (company)|Conductor]] is founded.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conductor |url=https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/conductor#section-overview |website=crunchbase.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref> It is a SEO technology firm offering a suite of enterprise SEO tools and performance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Odden |first1=Lee |title=Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=Coku6bhrBcIC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=conductor+offers+seo&source=bl&ots=jJvkD2haZN&sig=ACfU3U3ZjvPmNFGzeE-gUAztYtImcGAXCw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2luSR46XqAhV6IbkGHfjzCVgQ6AEwDHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=conductor%20offers%20seo&f=false}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2005 || September || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google}} releases Jagger, an update that helps to diminish the level of unsolicited link exchanges that fly around.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s Jagger Update Rocks Manipulative Link Building |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/jagger-update/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2005 || September || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google}} releases Jagger, an update that helps to diminish the level of unsolicited link exchanges that fly around.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s Jagger Update Rocks Manipulative Link Building |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/jagger-update/#close |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref>  
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| 2006 || March–December || || SEO contest || Carcasherdotcom seocontest launches.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>   
 
| 2006 || March–December || || SEO contest || Carcasherdotcom seocontest launches.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2006 || May 11 || || SEO tool launch || {{w|Google Trends}} launches.
+
| 2006 || May 11 || || SEO tool launch || {{w|Google Trends}} launches.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jun |first1=Seung-Pyo |last2=Yoo |first2=Hyoung Sun |last3=Choi |first3=San |title=Ten years of research change using Google Trends: From the perspective of big data utilizations and applications |doi=10.1016/j.techfore.2017.11.009 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517315536#:~:text=Google%20Trends%20was%20first%20introduced%20on%20May%2011%2C%202006.&text=Google%20Trends%20merely%20provides%20the,2016%20(Sullivan%2C%202016).}}</ref> It is a tool for SEO research.<ref>{{cite web |title=7 Ways to Use Google Trends for SEO & Content Marketing |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-trends/266721/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
|-
 
| 2006 || October || {{w|Google}} || Acquisition || {{w|Google}} acquires {{w|YouTube}} for US$1.65 billion. Youtube would ultimately become the second most used search property in the world.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2006 || || {{w|Google}} || Product launch || Google launches Google Webmaster Tools, a suite of SEO tools that provides data and configuration control and lets webmasters view crawling errors, see what searches the user's site showed up for, and request reinclusion.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
 
| 2006 || || {{w|Google}} || Product launch || Google launches Google Webmaster Tools, a suite of SEO tools that provides data and configuration control and lets webmasters view crawling errors, see what searches the user's site showed up for, and request reinclusion.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
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| 2006 || || {{w|Google}} || SEO tool launch || {{w|Google Webmaster Central}} is launched. It is a free portal from that notifies the user of major technical issues with his/her website.<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Technical Considerations for Your Local Business Website |url=https://moz.com/learn/seo/local-website-technical-recommendations |website=moz.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2006 || || {{w|Google}} || SEO tool launch || {{w|Google Webmaster Central}} is launched. It is a free portal from that notifies the user of major technical issues with his/her website.<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Technical Considerations for Your Local Business Website |url=https://moz.com/learn/seo/local-website-technical-recommendations |website=moz.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2006 || || || || Since 2006, better methods of accessibility, including {{w|progressive enhancement}}, become available, so {{w|cloaking}} is no longer necessary for regular SEO.<ref>{{cite book |title=Complete Digital Marketing Guide Book for SEO, Social Media & Brand awareness: Definitive & Hidden Secrets of Digital Marketing to grow your busines |edition=Publicancy |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=rkXHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Since+2006,+better+methods+of+accessibility,+including+progressive+enhancement,+have+been+available,+so+cloaking+is+no+longer+necessary+for+regular+SEO&source=bl&ots=FNmvEgVUuF&sig=ACfU3U3kqCoRAnKptRc-ExCnNQSdOzwOHA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio6_C8lZnqAhXXLLkGHTc5BGEQ6AEwAHoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=Since%202006%2C%20better%20methods%20of%20accessibility%2C%20including%20progressive%20enhancement%2C%20have%20been%20available%2C%20so%20cloaking%20is%20no%20longer%20necessary%20for%20regular%20SEO&f=false}}</ref>  
+
| 2006 || || || Evolution || Since 2006, better methods of accessibility, including {{w|progressive enhancement}}, become available, so {{w|cloaking}} is no longer necessary for regular SEO.<ref>{{cite book |title=Complete Digital Marketing Guide Book for SEO, Social Media & Brand awareness: Definitive & Hidden Secrets of Digital Marketing to grow your busines |edition=Publicancy |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=rkXHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Since+2006,+better+methods+of+accessibility,+including+progressive+enhancement,+have+been+available,+so+cloaking+is+no+longer+necessary+for+regular+SEO&source=bl&ots=FNmvEgVUuF&sig=ACfU3U3kqCoRAnKptRc-ExCnNQSdOzwOHA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio6_C8lZnqAhXXLLkGHTc5BGEQ6AEwAHoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=Since%202006%2C%20better%20methods%20of%20accessibility%2C%20including%20progressive%20enhancement%2C%20have%20been%20available%2C%20so%20cloaking%20is%20no%20longer%20necessary%20for%20regular%20SEO&f=false}}</ref>
 +
|-
 +
| 2006 || September 15 || || SEO tool launch || DeepCrawl is founded. It offers a SEO platform aimed at helping brands to accelerate growth and mitigate losses in organic search performance.<ref>{{cite web |title=DeepCrawl Launches Automator to Enable SEO Quality Assurance |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200428005171/en/DeepCrawl-Launches-Automator-Enable-SEO-Quality-Assurance |website=businesswire.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref>
 +
|-
 +
| 2006 || October || {{w|Google}} || Acquisition || {{w|Google}} acquires {{w|YouTube}} for US$1.65 billion. Youtube would ultimately become the second most used search property in the world.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2006 || December 11 || || Website launch || <code>searchengineland.com</code> launches as a new search news blog.<ref>{{cite web |title=Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land Launches December 11 |url=https://searchengineland.com/danny-sullivans-search-engine-land-launches-december-11-9957 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>
 
| 2006 || December 11 || || Website launch || <code>searchengineland.com</code> launches as a new search news blog.<ref>{{cite web |title=Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land Launches December 11 |url=https://searchengineland.com/danny-sullivans-search-engine-land-launches-december-11-9957 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>
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|-
 
|-
 
| 2007 || || {{w|Google}} || Program launch || Google starts a campaign against paid links affecting {{w|PageRank}}.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>   
 
| 2007 || || {{w|Google}} || Program launch || Google starts a campaign against paid links affecting {{w|PageRank}}.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>   
 +
|-
 +
| 2007 || August || || SEO tool launch || SimilarWeb is founded.<ref>{{cite web |title=We are the measure of the digital world |url=https://www.similarweb.com/corp/about/ |website=similarweb.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It gives users the ability to see their competitors' traffic sources.<ref>{{cite web |title=SimilarWeb |url=https://backlinko.com/hub/content/similarweb#:~:text=Even%20though%20SimilarWeb%20isn't,sense%20for%20their%20respective%20sizes. |website=backlinko.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2007 || September || || Concept development || Ralph Tegtmeier and Ed Purkiss coin the term "mosaic cloaking", which consists in only cloaking parts of the website in an effort to be more stealth.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is cloaking in SEO? How to apply cloaking on my affiliate links(Black Hat SEO technique) |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cloaking-seo-how-apply-my-affiliate-linksblack-hat-raman-sharma/ |website=linkedin.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2007 || September || || Concept development || Ralph Tegtmeier and Ed Purkiss coin the term "mosaic cloaking", which consists in only cloaking parts of the website in an effort to be more stealth.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is cloaking in SEO? How to apply cloaking on my affiliate links(Black Hat SEO technique) |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cloaking-seo-how-apply-my-affiliate-linksblack-hat-raman-sharma/ |website=linkedin.com |accessdate=27 June 2020}}</ref>   
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| 2008 || June–August || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Busby SEO Challenge 2008 is held. It is sponsored by Busby Web Solutions based in {{w|Australia}}.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Busby SEO Challenge World Cup |url=http://ryangaraygay.com/busby-seo-challenge-world-cup/ |website=ryangaraygay.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Busby SEO Challenge Contest 2008 |url=http://www.3seo.com/Busby-SEO-Challenge/ |website=3seo.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2008 || June–August || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Busby SEO Challenge 2008 is held. It is sponsored by Busby Web Solutions based in {{w|Australia}}.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Busby SEO Challenge World Cup |url=http://ryangaraygay.com/busby-seo-challenge-world-cup/ |website=ryangaraygay.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Busby SEO Challenge Contest 2008 |url=http://www.3seo.com/Busby-SEO-Challenge/ |website=3seo.com |accessdate=27 April 2020}}</ref>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2008 || August 3 || || SEO tool launch || {{w|SEMrush}} launches.  
+
| 2008 || August 3 || || SEO tool launch || {{w|SEMrush}} launches.<ref>{{cite web |title=SEMrush: Russian SEO firm’s Trevose offices build keyword software |url=https://technical.ly/philly/2014/01/03/semrush/ |website=technical.ly |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It provides an all-in-one tool suite for improving online visibility and discovering marketing insights.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is SEMrush? |url=https://www.semrush.com/kb/995-what-is-semrush#:~:text=SEMrush%20is%20an%20all%2Din,%2C%20Marketing%20Insights%2C%20Campaign%20Management. |website=semrush.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2008 || || || Product launch || {{w|Yoast SEO}} starts operations as a SEO tool.<ref>{{cite web |title=YOAST SEO |url=https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ |website=wordpress.org |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The history of Yoast |url=https://yoast.com/about-us/history/ |website=yoast.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> It is a {{w|WordPress}} {{w|plugin}} that makes it easy for users to do things like control titles and meta descriptions, set their targeted keywords and track how often they're using them, manage sitemaps, and other tasks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Everything You Need to Know About Using Yoast SEO for Wordpress |url=https://moz.com/blog/using-yoast-seo-for-wordpress |website=moz.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2008 || || || Product launch || {{w|Yoast SEO}} starts operations as a SEO tool.<ref>{{cite web |title=YOAST SEO |url=https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ |website=wordpress.org |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The history of Yoast |url=https://yoast.com/about-us/history/ |website=yoast.com |accessdate=8 January 2020}}</ref> It is a {{w|WordPress}} {{w|plugin}} that makes it easy for users to do things like control titles and meta descriptions, set their targeted keywords and track how often they're using them, manage sitemaps, and other tasks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Everything You Need to Know About Using Yoast SEO for Wordpress |url=https://moz.com/blog/using-yoast-seo-for-wordpress |website=moz.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
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| 2009 || March–August || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Net Builders SEO Contest is held. The targeted keyword is "sulumits retsambew" which is webmaster stimulus backwards. Backwards seems to be a common trend in these contests.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>   
 
| 2009 || March–August || || {{w|SEO contest}} || Net Builders SEO Contest is held. The targeted keyword is "sulumits retsambew" which is webmaster stimulus backwards. Backwards seems to be a common trend in these contests.<ref name="Previous SEO Competitions"/>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2009 || June 3 || [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] || Search engine launch || [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] launches, with {{w|Microsoft}} aggressively marketing it as the search engine that would produce noticeably better results than {{w|Google}}.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref name="seo.comf"/>
+
| 2009 || June 3 || [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] || SEO tool launch || {{w|Bing Webmaster Tools}} launches along with [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bing Webmaster Tools vs Google Search Console |url=https://www.fourfront.us/blog/google-search-console-vs-bing-webmaster-tools/ |website=fourfront.us |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
|-
 
| 2009 || June 3 || [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] || SEO tool launch || {{w|Bing Webmaster Tools}} launches along with [[w:Bing (search engine)|Bing]]
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2009 || August 10 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google}} announces [[w:Google Caffeine Update|Caffeine]], which would become one of the most important updates in the search engine’s history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s Caffeine Update: Better Indexing & Fresher Search Results |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/caffeine-update/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2009 || August 10 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google}} announces [[w:Google Caffeine Update|Caffeine]], which would become one of the most important updates in the search engine’s history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google’s Caffeine Update: Better Indexing & Fresher Search Results |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/caffeine-update/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2009 || || || SEO tool launch || AuthorityLabs launches as a SEO rank tracking software.
+
| 2009 || || || SEO tool launch || AuthorityLabs launches as a SEO rank tracking software.<ref>{{cite web |title=Authority Labs Review |url=http://www.seobook.com/authority-labs-review |website=seobook.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Authority Labs Review – Features, Tips, Pricing, and More |url=https://www.digitalexaminer.com/authority-labs-review-features-tips-pricing/ |website=digitalexaminer.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2009 || || {{w|Bing}} || Partnership || After Microsoft Live Search becomes {{w|Bing}}, in an unsuccessful attempt to challenge Google’s nearly 70 percent grip of the U.S. search market, {{w|Yahoo!}} and {{w|Microsoft}} join forces to partner on a 10-year search deal (though it would end up being reworked five years later).<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
 
| 2009 || || {{w|Bing}} || Partnership || After Microsoft Live Search becomes {{w|Bing}}, in an unsuccessful attempt to challenge Google’s nearly 70 percent grip of the U.S. search market, {{w|Yahoo!}} and {{w|Microsoft}} join forces to partner on a 10-year search deal (though it would end up being reworked five years later).<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/>  
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| 2009 || || {{w|Google}} || {{w|Google}} || {{w|Google}} announces attempt to stop the effects of {{w|PageRank}} sculpting that come as a result of nofollow links.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>   
 
| 2009 || || {{w|Google}} || {{w|Google}} || {{w|Google}} announces attempt to stop the effects of {{w|PageRank}} sculpting that come as a result of nofollow links.<ref name="A Brief History of SEOd"/>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2010 || January || SEO tool launch || WooRank launches.
+
| 2010 || January || || SEO tool launch || WooRank launches.<ref>{{cite web |title=So What Is WooRank? |url=https://www.woorank.com/en/p/about |website=woorank.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It is an automated website reviewing tool offering SEO auditing and monitoring.<ref>{{cite web |title=WooRank |url=https://www.capterra.com/p/176630/WooRank/ |website=capterra.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
| 2010 || || || SEO tool launch || Screaming Frog launches.
+
| 2010 || || || SEO tool launch || Screaming Frog launches.<ref>{{cite web |title=3 Ways You Should Be Using Screaming Frog |url=https://www.forwardpmx.com/insights/blog/3-ways-you-should-be-using-screaming-frog/ |website=forwardpmx.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> It offers SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services.<ref>{{cite web |title=We are a UK based search marketing agency and the creators of the famous website crawler and log file analyser tools. |url=https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/ |website=screamingfrog.co.uk |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2010 || || || || A tactic appears where websites are created from large amounts of low-quality textual content, frequently updated and specifically designed to lure search engine algorithms. These sites are linked together forming so-called ‘{{w|content farm}}s’ whose only purpose is to drive search engine traffic and, just like [[doorway page]]s before them, sending the incoming traffic to the final destination.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/>  
 
| 2010 || || || || A tactic appears where websites are created from large amounts of low-quality textual content, frequently updated and specifically designed to lure search engine algorithms. These sites are linked together forming so-called ‘{{w|content farm}}s’ whose only purpose is to drive search engine traffic and, just like [[doorway page]]s before them, sending the incoming traffic to the final destination.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/>  
 +
|-
 +
| 2010 || || || SEO tool launch || SEOPanel is released.<ref>{{cite web |title=Seo Panel |url=https://installatron.com/seopanel |website=installatron.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2010 || December || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Both {{w|Google}} and {{w|Bing}} add "social signals," which first display any written Facebook posts, for example, from the user's own network that matches his/her query.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/>  
 
| 2010 || December || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Both {{w|Google}} and {{w|Bing}} add "social signals," which first display any written Facebook posts, for example, from the user's own network that matches his/her query.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/>  
Line 254: Line 238:
 
| 2011 || February 23 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google launches {{w|Google Panda}}, a algorithm update aimed at combating {{w|content farm}}s by rewarding high-quality websites and diminishing the presence of low-quality websites in Google’s organic search engine results. Google Panda is initially known as "Farmer." The algorithm also combats {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=TED 2011: The 'Panda' That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google's Top Search Engineers |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/ |website=wired.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Panda |url=https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-panda |website=moz.com |accessdate=18 May 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2011 || February 23 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google launches {{w|Google Panda}}, a algorithm update aimed at combating {{w|content farm}}s by rewarding high-quality websites and diminishing the presence of low-quality websites in Google’s organic search engine results. Google Panda is initially known as "Farmer." The algorithm also combats {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=TED 2011: The 'Panda' That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google's Top Search Engineers |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/ |website=wired.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Panda |url=https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-panda |website=moz.com |accessdate=18 May 2020}}</ref>  
 
|-
 
|-
| 2011 || || || SEO tool launch || Ahrefs launches.
+
| 2011 || || || SEO tool launch || Ahrefs launches. It is a toolset for backlinks and SEO analysis.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is Ahrefs.com? |url=https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/78203-what-is-ahrefs-com |website=help.ahrefs.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ahrefs Review: More Than Just an SEO Backlink Analysis Tool |url=https://www.99signals.com/ahrefs-review/ |website=99signals.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2012 || April 24 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Penguin}} launches as a Google algorithm update.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms"/> It is aimed at decreasing [[w:Search engine optimization|search engine rankings]] of websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769#3|title=Webmaster Guidelines - Webmaster Tools Help|publisher=Support.google.com|accessdate=10 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2012 || April 24 || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Penguin}} launches as a Google algorithm update.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms"/> It is aimed at decreasing [[w:Search engine optimization|search engine rankings]] of websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769#3|title=Webmaster Guidelines - Webmaster Tools Help|publisher=Support.google.com|accessdate=10 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2012 || May || {{w|Google}} || Product launch || {{w|Google}} unveils the {{w|Knowledge Graph}}, a new visual interface that provides popular facts about people, places and things alongside Google's traditional results. This constitutes a major shift away from interpreting keywords strings to understanding semantics and intent.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Testing Semantic Search Update |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-semantic-search-update/43443/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref> The {{w|Knowledge Graph}} would become popular in knowledge representation and knowledge management applications widely across search engine, biomedical, media and industrial domains.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wasny |first1=Garrett |title=Advanced Googling: How to Search Smarter, Faster and More Efficiently on Google |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=2W3CAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIQjAD#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pan |first1=Jeff Z. |last2=Calvanese |first2=Diego |last3=Eiter |first3=Thomas |last4=Horrocks |first4=Ian |last5=Kifer |first5=Michael |last6=Lin |first6=Fangzhen |last7=Zhao |first7=Yuting |title=Reasoning Web: Logical Foundation of Knowledge Graph Construction and Query Answering: 12th International Summer School 2016, Aberdeen, UK, September 5-9, 2016, Tutorial Lectures |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=-J47DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Färber |first1=M. |title=Semantic Search for Novel Information |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=wHc2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref>  
 
| 2012 || May || {{w|Google}} || Product launch || {{w|Google}} unveils the {{w|Knowledge Graph}}, a new visual interface that provides popular facts about people, places and things alongside Google's traditional results. This constitutes a major shift away from interpreting keywords strings to understanding semantics and intent.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Testing Semantic Search Update |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-semantic-search-update/43443/ |website=searchenginejournal.com |accessdate=4 January 2020}}</ref> The {{w|Knowledge Graph}} would become popular in knowledge representation and knowledge management applications widely across search engine, biomedical, media and industrial domains.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wasny |first1=Garrett |title=Advanced Googling: How to Search Smarter, Faster and More Efficiently on Google |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=2W3CAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIQjAD#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pan |first1=Jeff Z. |last2=Calvanese |first2=Diego |last3=Eiter |first3=Thomas |last4=Horrocks |first4=Ian |last5=Kifer |first5=Michael |last6=Lin |first6=Fangzhen |last7=Zhao |first7=Yuting |title=Reasoning Web: Logical Foundation of Knowledge Graph Construction and Query Answering: 12th International Summer School 2016, Aberdeen, UK, September 5-9, 2016, Tutorial Lectures |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=-J47DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Färber |first1=M. |title=Semantic Search for Novel Information |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=wHc2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=%22Knowledge+Graph%22+%222012%22+%22google%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9uemPwdToAhU3F7kGHQ8VAl0Q6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Knowledge%20Graph%22%20%222012%22%20%22google%22&f=false}}</ref>  
 +
|-
 +
| 2012 || September 10 || || || {{w|Backlink}} is founded as a SEO firm offering website optimization, search engine optimization and Social media internet marketing solutions.<ref>{{cite web |title=back-link |url=https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/back-link#section-overview |website=crunchbase.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref>
 +
|-
 +
| 2012 || || || SEO tool launch || Kerboo launches as LinkRisk. It offers link audits, SEO, {{w|content marketing}}, and {{w|link building}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=2012: The start of our journey. |url=https://kerboo.com/about-us/ |website=kerboo.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kerboo |url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/kerboo-limited/about/ |website=linkedin.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2013 || August || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Hummingbird}} launches as an update, helping to combat {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ: All About The New Google “Hummingbird” Algorithm |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2013 || August || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || {{w|Google Hummingbird}} launches as an update, helping to combat {{w|keyword stuffing}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ: All About The New Google “Hummingbird” Algorithm |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=23 June 2020}}</ref>  
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2013 || October || {{w|Google}} || System launch || Google App Indexing is launched for a limited set of publishers. It is a system that allows searchers to click on listings in Google's search results, taking them into apps on their [[w:Android (operating system)|Android]] and {{w|iOS}} smartphones and tablets.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> <ref>{{cite web |title=Google: App Indexing |url=https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-app-indexing |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Death of the Desktop: The Future For Mobile SEO |url=https://www.4mation.com.au/blog/death-desktop-future-mobile-seo/ |website=4mation.com.au |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2013 || October || {{w|Google}} || System launch || Google App Indexing is launched for a limited set of publishers. It is a system that allows searchers to click on listings in Google's search results, taking them into apps on their [[w:Android (operating system)|Android]] and {{w|iOS}} smartphones and tablets.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/> <ref>{{cite web |title=Google: App Indexing |url=https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-app-indexing |website=searchengineland.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Death of the Desktop: The Future For Mobile SEO |url=https://www.4mation.com.au/blog/death-desktop-future-mobile-seo/ |website=4mation.com.au |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
 +
|-
 +
| 2013 || || || SEO tool launch || Serpstat is founded.<ref>{{cite web |title=All-in-One SEO platform |url=https://serpstat.com/about/ |website=serpstat.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref> IT offers a tool for keyword research, PPC analysis and competitor research.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serpstat Review: The Ultimate SEO & PPC Tool for Bloggers |url=https://www.99signals.com/serpstat-review/#:~:text=Serpstat%20is%20an%20exceptional%20tool,SEO%20tools%20in%20the%20market. |website=99signals.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2014 || || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google releases "Pigeon", an algorithm update whose goal is to improve local search rankings.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Pigeon – What Is It and What Should I Do? |url=http://www.leapgo.com/google-pigeon/ |website=leapgo.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Pigeon |url=https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/G/google-pigeon.html |website=webopedia.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
 
| 2014 || || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google releases "Pigeon", an algorithm update whose goal is to improve local search rankings.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Pigeon – What Is It and What Should I Do? |url=http://www.leapgo.com/google-pigeon/ |website=leapgo.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google Pigeon |url=https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/G/google-pigeon.html |website=webopedia.com |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>  
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|-
 
|-
 
| 2015 || April || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google introduces mobile update. Since then, non-mobile-friendly websites would start getting lower rankings. This means SEO is no longer about keywords and content, with responsive design as new factor.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/>   
 
| 2015 || April || {{w|Google}} || Notable update || Google introduces mobile update. Since then, non-mobile-friendly websites would start getting lower rankings. This means SEO is no longer about keywords and content, with responsive design as new factor.<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO"/>   
 +
|-
 +
| 2015 || May 1 || || SEO tool launch || Rank Tracker launches. This tool automatically tracks the users' daily keyword positions movements across all major search engines.<ref>{{cite web |title=RankTracker |url=https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ranktracker |website=crunchbase.com |accessdate=28 June 2020}}</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2015 || May || || Search evolution || {{w|Mobile search}} surpasses desktop search.<ref>[https://adwords.blogspot.com/2015/05/building-for-next-moment.html "Inside AdWords: Building for the next moment" ''Google Inside Adwords'' May 15, 2015.]</ref>  
 
| 2015 || May || || Search evolution || {{w|Mobile search}} surpasses desktop search.<ref>[https://adwords.blogspot.com/2015/05/building-for-next-moment.html "Inside AdWords: Building for the next moment" ''Google Inside Adwords'' May 15, 2015.]</ref>  
Line 317: Line 309:
 
| 2020 || || || Search evolution || Comscore predicts that by this year, 50% all searches will be voice.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Stat of the week – Voice Search |url=https://blog.zooma.se/en/blog/stat-of-the-week-voice-search |website=blog.zooma.se |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref>   
 
| 2020 || || || Search evolution || Comscore predicts that by this year, 50% all searches will be voice.<ref name="A brief history of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Stat of the week – Voice Search |url=https://blog.zooma.se/en/blog/stat-of-the-week-voice-search |website=blog.zooma.se |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref>   
 
|-
 
|-
| 2020 || June 23 || || || {{w|Yoast SEO}} launches as a SEO plugin for WordPress.
+
| 2020 || June 23 || || Notable update || {{w|Yoast SEO}} launches as a SEO plugin for WordPress.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yoast SEO Changelog |url=https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/change-log-wordpress-seo/ |website=yoast.com |accessdate=29 June 2020}}</ref>
 
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|}

Revision as of 19:49, 28 June 2020

This is a timeline of search engine optimization, attempting to describe significant events related to this practice. For the sake of context, many events directly related to search engines, their evolution, products and updates, are included.

Sample questions

The following are some interesting questions that can be answered by reading this timeline:

  • What are some historically significant search engines and when were they launched?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Search engine launch".
    • You will see the launch of search engines, notable for their historical importance like WebCrawler, or by their magnitude, like Google and Yahoo!.
  • What are some significant updates involving search engines?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Notable update".
    • You will see some significant updates by prominent search engines, mainly Google; aimed at improving aspects like geographic intent, end-user data, content farm combating, etc.
  • What are some notable SEO tool services?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "SEO tool launch".
  • What are some of the several competitions specialized in SEO?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "SEO contest".
    • You will see a number of notable contests launched in several countries.
  • What are some numbers illustrating the evolution of search engine?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Statistics".
    • For internet userbase evolution, sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Statistics (internet userbase)".
  • What are some significant events illustrating the evolution of internet search?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Search evolution".
    • You will see the evolution of internet search toward mobile search, and the envisage of future mainstream search toward voice.

Big picture

Time period Development summary More details
1991–2002 Prelude period[1] Early period starting from the launch of the world’s first website by Tim Berners-Lee. As websites start crowding the Internet, the first search engines fill a need for structure and accessibility. in 1993, search platforms like Excite revolutionize how information is cataloged and make finding information easier by sorting results based on keywords found within content and backend optimization. Webmasters and content providers begin optimizing websites for search engines in the mid-decade. Yahoo! in 1994 and Google in 1997 enter the scene to improve and simplify how data is indexed and delivered. In this primitive stage, marketers would leverage keyword stuffing, excessive tagging, and (often spammy) backlinks to generate high rankings in search. Often, major algorithm updates would take several months to complete, allowing black-hat SEO tactics to remain effective for long stretches of time. In 1994, several new search engines become widely accessible to the public.[2] In 1996, in which some consider the time when SEO really took off, Sergey Brin and Larry Page begin building BackRub, the predecessor of Google, which would become the biggest, most recognized search engine.[3] Around 1997, the first algorithm crackers appear. 1997 is the year that several SEO providers decode all 35 parameters of Excite’s algorithm.[4]
2003–2005 Early developments[1] Google, MSN and Yahoo!, the three major search engines that are left, start incorporating undisclosed page ranking factors into their algorithms. The era of keyword-spamming SEO is long over. Webmasters and content providers have to rely on more creative ways to promote content and generate inbound links in order to achieve long term increases in search engine rankings.[4]
2006–2009 Middle period This period introduces highlights like Google's Universal Search to offer additionally more engaging content media in search results such as news, images, and video.[1]
2010–2012 Consolidation period [1] Social media becomes a more pivotal piece of SEO strategy.[5] By 2010, content farms appear, designed to lure search engine algorithms. As a response, Google decides that the quality of the content should matter more for search engine rankings, and in 2011 launches its Google Panda update which effectively kills the practice.[6] Toward 2012, Google continues setting restrictions to means of improving users' ranking score and continues penalizing websites using unethical methods of rankings.[7]
2013–present Modern SEO era[1] Focus moves towards mobile search. In 2014, the app indexing launches, making apps appear alongside websites in search results. In 2015, the so-called ‘Mobilegeddon’ update appears, making website mobile friendliness a ranking signal in searches.[6] By 2017, SEO is considered, for the most part, a conversation with Google Search.[4] 2018 starts with the continuation of mobile as a key focus for search engines.[6] As of 2019, SEO campaigns are much more laborious and complex than they were a decade ago. Users get better relevant results and webmasters and content providers have to provide actual value in order to rank high on search results.[4]

Visual data

Google Trends

The image below shows Google Trends data for Search engine optimization (topic) from 2004 (the start of availability of the data) to June 2020.[8]

SEO Google Trends.jpg

Wikipedia Views

The image below shows Wikipedia views for the article Search engine optimization from December 2007 for desktop, and from July 2015 (see red vertical line) for mobile web, mobile app, desktop spider, and mobile web spider; to June 2020, when the screenshot was taken.[9]

SEO Wikipedia Views.jpg

Full timeline

Year Month and date Search engine (when applicable) Event type Details
1991 Early development The first website is developed for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.[10] It is believed that SEO is born in this year, with the launch of the first website.[3]
1994 Greg Boser discovers that he could use the Internet to sell protective foam equipment to fight fires. Boser builds a website and starts seeking ways to drive potential customers to his site for sales.[11]
1995 Organization John Audette forms Multi-Media Marketing Group, which would produce a popular newsletter with tips for influencing search engines.[12][11]
1996 April 1 SEO tool launch Alexa Internet is founded. It offers commercial online traffic data and analytics.[13]
1996 May 22 Concept development The earliest known reference[14] to the term spamdexing is by Eric Convey, who says:
The problem arises when site operators load their Web pages with hundreds of extraneous terms so search engines will list them among legitimate addresses. The process is called "spamdexing," a combination of spamming — the Internet term for sending users unsolicited information — and "indexing."[14]
1996 RankDex A search engine called "RankDex" from IDD Information Services, designed by Robin Li, develops a strategy for site-scoring and page-ranking.[15]
1997 Concept development According to industry analyst Danny Sullivan, the phrase "search engine optimization" probably comes into use around this time. Sullivan credits Bruce Clay as one of the first people to popularize the term.[16] "all signs definitely point to the term SEO originating around 1997."[17] "In 1997, the words “search engine optimization” were first used by John Audette and Bruce Clay, and soon after SEO became a widely used term."[18]
1997 September Google google.com is registered as a domain name.[19]
1999 November 18 Conference Search Engine Strategies (SES) takes place as the first-ever all search marketing conference.[17][20][18]
1999 Black hat SEO Link farms are first developed by search engine optimizers (SEOs) to take advantage of the Inktomi search engine's dependence upon link popularity.[21]
1999 Google Google bombs date back to this year, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" results in the Microsoft homepage as the top result.[22][23]
2000 Yahoo!, Google Partnership In what is considered to be the worst strategic move in search history[24], Yahoo! partners with Google and lets Google power their organic results instead of Inktomi. At this time Google is a little-known search engine. After this, every Yahoo search result would say “Powered by Google”, with Yahoo! ending up introducing their largest competitor to the world and Google becoming a household name.[17]
2000 Conference Pubcon launches in London as the first of a large search conference series.[25][26]
2000 SEO tool launch WebCEO is founded.[27] It offers SEO tool kit for digital agencies.[28]
2000 October 23 Google Service launch Google AdWords launches.[17] It is a pay-per-click online advertising platform that allows advertisers to display their ads on Google's search engine results page.[29]
2000 December 11 Google Notable update Google Toolbar becomes available as a web browser toolbar for Internet Explorer, allowing SEO practitioners to see their PageRank score (a number between 0-10).[30][31][17][20]
2001 Concept development Danny Sullivan, a prominent industry writer, unsuccessfully suggests the term "search engine marketing" as a successor to "search engine optimization", with the purpose to cover the spectrum of activities involved in performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines, submitting sites to directories, and developing online marketing strategies for businesses, organizations, and individuals.[17][32]
2001 Year round Google Userbase Users massively abandon old search engines like Lycos, Excite, AltaVista and Hotbot, and move their interest towards Google.[4][18] Brett Tabke, Founder of WebmasterWorld, comments: “Many SEOs have sleepless nights as we realize it is Google or bust.” [18]
2002 November 15 SEO contest Schnitzelmitkartoffelsalat is launched by German webmasters as the first recorded SEO Contest.[33]
2002 Google Service launch Google announces the launch of Froogle, a free product listing and price comparison service where users can discover various products from across the vendors, sort them and make a purchase.[18][34]
2003 Google Product launch After acquiring Blogger.com, Google launches AdSense, which serves contextually targeted Google AdWords ads on publisher sites.[17]
2003 SEO evolution Blogging becomes popular and is utilized for SEO. Blogger and WordPress become widely used.[18]
2003 November 16 Google Notable update Google launches its Google Florida update, aimed at combatting keyword stuffing.[35]
2003 April 3 Google Concept development The term Googlewashing is coined by Andrew Orlowski to describe the use of media manipulation to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from search engine results pages (SERPs).[36][37]
2004 March SEO contest Promoweb agency organizes the first French-speaking contest, Mangeur de Cigogne (eater of stork).[38]
2004 May SEO contest Nigritude Ultramarine 2004 launches as the first english language SEO competition, created by darkblue.com and run by SearchGuild.[39]
2004 August SEO contest A new contest of SEO is organized in the United Kingdom by a web agency, based this time on keywords seraphim proudleduck.[38]
2004 Google Notable update Google and other top search engines start improving results for queries that have a geographic intent (e.g., a restaurant, plumber, or some other type of business or service provider in the user's location).[17]
2004 Google Notable update Google and other search engines begin making greater use of end-user data, such as search history and interests, to personalize search results. This means that the results the user sees could be different than what another person obtains sitting next to the user in another computer when searching for the same query.[17]
2004 SEO contest Seraphim Proudleduck is held. This SEO Contest is presented by Salmonbones.[39]
2004 SEO tool launch SEO Moz is founded by Rand Fiskin. First a blog, SEOmoz would grow to become one of the largest providers of SEO Tools.[18]
2004 Google, MSN, Yahoo! Notable update The three major search engines that are left, Google, MSN and Yahoo!, start incorporating undisclosed page ranking factors into their algorithms.[4]
2005 January Google, MSN, Yahoo! Partnership Google unites with Yahoo! and MSN for the nofollow attribute, which is created in part to decrease the amount of spammy links and comments on websites, especially blogs.[5]
2005 March 1 SEO contest Loquine Glupe is held. It is hosted by webmaster-forums.co.uk.[39]
2005 April SEO tool launch SpyFu launches.[40] It is a keyword research and competitive intelligence tool used by digital marketers to improve their performance in online search.[41]
2005 May–December SEO contest Hommingberger Gepardenforelle 2005 launches as another German contest. The goal of this SEO contest is to figure out how search engines determine rankings.[39]
2005 June Google Notable update Google debuts personalized search, which makes use of user personal search and browsing history to make results more relevant.[5]
2005 Product launch Nofollow tags are created as a means to combat spam. SEO professionals begin using this tag as a way of PageRank sculpting.[17]
2005 August Concept development The term splog (short for spam blog) is popularized around the time, when it is used publicly by Mark Cuban, who writes: " A splog is any blog whose creator doesn’t add any written value. I’m sure some might argue that packaging data, such as news feeds or the blog posts of others is added value. I dont think it is."[42]
2005 SEO contest Msnbetter Thangoogle launches as a Polish SEO contest intended to promote SEO in Poland and get the attention of search engines.[39]
2005 Google Notable update Google starts personalizing search results, taking into account a user’s search history to come up with customized results pages when that user is logged in.[4]
2005 SEO tool launch Conductor is founded.[43] It is a SEO technology firm offering a suite of enterprise SEO tools and performance.[44]
2005 September Google Notable update Google releases Jagger, an update that helps to diminish the level of unsolicited link exchanges that fly around.[17][45]
2005 September 29 Concept development The term sping (a short for "spam ping") is coined by a French SEO blogger, Sébastien Billiard, in an article titled "Spam 2.0".[46]
2005 November Google SEO tool launch Google launches Google Analytics. This free, web-based tool would become so popular at launch that webmasters would experience downtime and maintenance warnings.[5][18][17]
2005 December Google Notable update Google releases Big Daddy, an update that improves the architecture of Google to allow for improved understanding of the worth and relationship of links between sites.[17][47]
2005 December 20 SEO contest The V7ndotcom Elursrebmem Competition is organized in the United States.[39][38]
2006 February–May SEO contest "The Four Required Words" SEO Contest launches. It is sponsored by milliondollarscreenshot.com and is the first contest to use an expression in quotes and targeted image search, even though no images are shown in the time of the contest.[39]
2006 March–December SEO contest Carcasherdotcom seocontest launches.[39]
2006 May 11 SEO tool launch Google Trends launches.[48] It is a tool for SEO research.[49]
2006 Google Product launch Google launches Google Webmaster Tools, a suite of SEO tools that provides data and configuration control and lets webmasters view crawling errors, see what searches the user's site showed up for, and request reinclusion.[17]
2006 Product launch XML sitemaps are introduced, soon acquiring a great support from the search engines. XML sitemaps allow webmasters to display to the search engines, every URL on their website that is available for crawling. An XML sitemap contains not only a list of URLs but a range of further information, which help search engines to crawl more intelligently.[17][20]
2006 Google Controversy BMW is banned and utterly removed from Google’s search results for using a technique called cloaking, which means showing one type of content for search engines and another one for users.[6]
2006 SEO contest Redscowl Bluesingsky SEO contest takes place. It is sponsored by SEOLogs.[39]
2006 Google SEO tool launch Google Webmaster Central is launched. It is a free portal from that notifies the user of major technical issues with his/her website.[18][50]
2006 Evolution Since 2006, better methods of accessibility, including progressive enhancement, become available, so cloaking is no longer necessary for regular SEO.[51]
2006 September 15 SEO tool launch DeepCrawl is founded. It offers a SEO platform aimed at helping brands to accelerate growth and mitigate losses in organic search performance.[52]
2006 October Google Acquisition Google acquires YouTube for US$1.65 billion. Youtube would ultimately become the second most used search property in the world.[17]
2006 December 11 Website launch searchengineland.com launches as a new search news blog.[53]
2007 January 15 SEO contest SEO World Championship launches. It is sponsored by European Internet Marketing company Eastpoin.[39]
2007 March 20 Google Product launch Google announces Plus Box, a new search feature that lets users see more information about individual search results.[54]
2007 May 2 Jason Gambert attempts to trademark the term SEO by convincing the Trademark Office in Arizona that SEO is a "process" involving manipulation of keywords and not a "marketing service."[55]
2007 May 16 Google Product launch Google undertakes the most radical change to its search results ever, with the introduction of its Universal Search system that blends listings from its news, video, images, local and book search engines among those it gathers from crawling web pages.[56]
2007 Search evolution Search starts to evolve in new ways. Updates are aimed at improving the user experience.[17]
2007 Google Program launch Google starts a campaign against paid links affecting PageRank.[4]
2007 August SEO tool launch SimilarWeb is founded.[57] It gives users the ability to see their competitors' traffic sources.[58]
2007 September Concept development Ralph Tegtmeier and Ed Purkiss coin the term "mosaic cloaking", which consists in only cloaking parts of the website in an effort to be more stealth.[59]
2008 February–April SEO contest seocontest2008 launches. It is sponsored by the UK Webmaster World Community.[39]
2008 June–August SEO contest Busby SEO Challenge 2008 is held. It is sponsored by Busby Web Solutions based in Australia.[39][60][61]
2008 August 3 SEO tool launch SEMrush launches.[62] It provides an all-in-one tool suite for improving online visibility and discovering marketing insights.[63]
2008 Product launch Yoast SEO starts operations as a SEO tool.[64][65] It is a WordPress plugin that makes it easy for users to do things like control titles and meta descriptions, set their targeted keywords and track how often they're using them, manage sitemaps, and other tasks.[66]
2009 January 18 Google Notable update Google Vince Update is released. It favors brand websites when it comes to search results for traffic-rich keywords.[17][67][68]
2009 March–August SEO contest Net Builders SEO Contest is held. The targeted keyword is "sulumits retsambew" which is webmaster stimulus backwards. Backwards seems to be a common trend in these contests.[39]
2009 June 3 Bing SEO tool launch Bing Webmaster Tools launches along with Bing.[69]
2009 August 10 Google Notable update Google announces Caffeine, which would become one of the most important updates in the search engine’s history.[70]
2009 SEO tool launch AuthorityLabs launches as a SEO rank tracking software.[71][72]
2009 Bing Partnership After Microsoft Live Search becomes Bing, in an unsuccessful attempt to challenge Google’s nearly 70 percent grip of the U.S. search market, Yahoo! and Microsoft join forces to partner on a 10-year search deal (though it would end up being reworked five years later).[17]
2009 September–December SEO contest OES Tsetnoc SEO Contest is held.[39]
2009 Year round Google Notable update Google executes between 350 and 550 adjustments to its search algorithm along the year, meaning at least once a day, showing the "rapid advancement required to stay on top if playing the game of SEO at the highest level".[6]
2009 Google Google Google announces attempt to stop the effects of PageRank sculpting that come as a result of nofollow links.[4]
2010 January SEO tool launch WooRank launches.[73] It is an automated website reviewing tool offering SEO auditing and monitoring.[74]
2010 SEO tool launch Screaming Frog launches.[75] It offers SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services.[76]
2010 A tactic appears where websites are created from large amounts of low-quality textual content, frequently updated and specifically designed to lure search engine algorithms. These sites are linked together forming so-called ‘content farms’ whose only purpose is to drive search engine traffic and, just like doorway pages before them, sending the incoming traffic to the final destination.[6]
2010 SEO tool launch SEOPanel is released.[77]
2010 December Google Notable update Both Google and Bing add "social signals," which first display any written Facebook posts, for example, from the user's own network that matches his/her query.[5]
2010 Year round Statistics 52% of the companies are estimated to spend more on SEO, 39% Spending about the same, and 9% Spending less.[18]
2011 February 14 Google Notable update Google launches the Google Chrome extension "Personal Blocklist", as part of countermeasures against content farming.[78]
2011 February 23 Google Notable update Google launches Google Panda, a algorithm update aimed at combating content farms by rewarding high-quality websites and diminishing the presence of low-quality websites in Google’s organic search engine results. Google Panda is initially known as "Farmer." The algorithm also combats keyword stuffing.[79][80]
2011 SEO tool launch Ahrefs launches. It is a toolset for backlinks and SEO analysis.[81][82]
2012 April 24 Google Notable update Google Penguin launches as a Google algorithm update.[5][2] It is aimed at decreasing search engine rankings of websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines.[83]
2012 May Google Product launch Google unveils the Knowledge Graph, a new visual interface that provides popular facts about people, places and things alongside Google's traditional results. This constitutes a major shift away from interpreting keywords strings to understanding semantics and intent.[17][84] The Knowledge Graph would become popular in knowledge representation and knowledge management applications widely across search engine, biomedical, media and industrial domains.[85][86][87]
2012 September 10 Backlink is founded as a SEO firm offering website optimization, search engine optimization and Social media internet marketing solutions.[88]
2012 SEO tool launch Kerboo launches as LinkRisk. It offers link audits, SEO, content marketing, and link building.[89][90]
2013 August Google Notable update Google Hummingbird launches as an update, helping to combat keyword stuffing.[91]
2013 October Google System launch Google App Indexing is launched for a limited set of publishers. It is a system that allows searchers to click on listings in Google's search results, taking them into apps on their Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.[6] [92][93]
2013 SEO tool launch Serpstat is founded.[94] IT offers a tool for keyword research, PPC analysis and competitor research.[95]
2014 Google Notable update Google releases "Pigeon", an algorithm update whose goal is to improve local search rankings.[5][96][97]
2014 September Bing Notable update Bing launches update aimed at combating keyword stuffing.[98]
2014 September Google Policy Google targets private blog networks (also known as link farms) with manual action ranking penalties.[99]
2014 October 5 Google Notable update Google launches Penguin 3.0, a new algorithm update aimed to penalize those sites who use black hat link building tactics to build unnatural links to manipulate search engines. The update affects 0.3% English Language queries all over the world.[100]
2014 November Google Notable update Google adds a "mobile-friendly" label for search results that are optimized for such platforms, where text is readable without zooming or horizontal scrolling, and links are spaced well enough so that there’s a reduced chance of mis-tapping.[5][101]
2015 February Google Notable update Google announces a change, with a mobile-friendly test that allows webmasters to view potential issues and make changes before the rollout.[5]
2015 March 16 Google Notable update Google introduces a new doorway page penalty algorithm to decrease the likelihood of doorway pages ranking in search results.[102][103]
2015 April 21 Google Notable update Google introduces search engine algorithm update so-called ‘Mobilegeddon’, which makes website mobile friendliness a ranking signal in searches.[6][104]
2015 April Google Notable update Google introduces mobile update. Since then, non-mobile-friendly websites would start getting lower rankings. This means SEO is no longer about keywords and content, with responsive design as new factor.[5]
2015 May 1 SEO tool launch Rank Tracker launches. This tool automatically tracks the users' daily keyword positions movements across all major search engines.[105]
2015 May Search evolution Mobile search surpasses desktop search.[106]
2015 Search evolution 2015 is known as the Year of Mobile, the point at which mobile searches overtake desktop search for the first time on Google.[17]
2015 October Google System launch Google RankBrain is announced. It is a machine learning (AI) algorithm initially used to try to interpret the 15 percent of searches that Google has never seen before, based on the words or phrases the user has entered.[17][107]
2015 Google Standard development According to a study, the top-ranking factors for search engines and their algorithms (including Google’s core algorithm) are ranked in order of importance as:
  • Domain-level link features
  • Page-level link features
  • Page-level keyword and content-based features
  • Page-level keyword agnostic features
  • Engagement and traffic/query data
  • Domain-level brand metrics
  • Domain-level keyword usage
  • Domain-level keyword-agnostic features
  • Page-level social metrics[2]
2016 March–June SEO contest Apex Forum SEO Contest is held.[39]
2016 August Google Google announces a crackdown on mobile pop-ups.[5]
2017 January Google Notable update Google introduces an algorithmic change called the “Intrusive Interstitial Penalty” in order to “punish aggressive interstitials and pop-ups that might damage the mobile user experience.”[2]
2017 March Google Notable update Google introduces update informally known as “Fred”, which would have a major impact on the SEO community.[2]
2017 June A click farm is discovered in Thailand, with hundreds of mobile phones and several hundred thousand SIM cards used to build up likes and views on WeChat.[108][109]
2018 June Google Market distribution As of date, Google accounts for over 72.47% of all global desktop search traffic, followed by Baidu at 13.47%, Bing at 7.64%, and Yahoo! at 4.74%.[110]
2018 July Google Notable update Google announces that from then on, page speed would be a ranking factor for mobile searches.[6][111]
2019 January 26 XRumer is released is a piece of software made for spamming online forums and comment sections. "It is marketed as a program for search engine optimization and was created by BotmasterLabs."
2020 Search evolution Comscore predicts that by this year, 50% all searches will be voice.[6][112]
2020 June 23 Notable update Yoast SEO launches as a SEO plugin for WordPress.[113]

Meta information on the timeline

How the timeline was built

The initial version of the timeline was written by User:Sebastian.

Funding information for this timeline is available.

Feedback and comments

Feedback for the timeline can be provided at the following places:

  • FIXME

What the timeline is still missing

Timeline update strategy

See also

External links

References

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