Google Update History

Google constantly updates and evolves its algorithms to ensure that they provide their users with the best possible search results. Clearly, this a good thing for consumers, but it can be a bit of a pain for both businesses and marketers. The main issue with Google’s updates is that they rarely advertise them beforehand, and once released, they offer little in the way of an explanation of their intended use.

Although a penguin’s image conjures up a cute and cuddly arctic animal that would not cause you much trouble, when it comes to a Google Penguin, this variety can be a bit more problematic. Whether you are an SEO expert or a relative beginner to the world of rankings, you cannot help but dread the arrival of any Google algorithm update, with the possibility of your hard-earned site visitors simply disappearing overnight.

Back in 2013, another Google update was released, labeled the Hummingbird Algorithm. Google’s previous updates — namely, the Panda and the Penguin — were concerned with the high-quality and authoritativeness of content and their included links. Google’s 2013 Hummingbird update built on this by focusing on the method in which pieces of content are delivered.

Google isn’t averse to introducing an update or two, which will affect a wide variety of search results across the globe: and this is exactly what happened with the Google Panda SEO update. The new algorithm, released in February 2011, was estimated to affect 12% of search results throughout the world. It only took two months for Google Panda to be made available, and a few years later — by January 2016 — this new update had become a vital part of the search engine’s core algorithm.

Keeping on top of the latest updates from Google is imperative for any successful SEO campaign. If you fail in responding to changes to the Google search algorithm, your website could plummet down the search engine results pages (SERP). If you learn about the latest updates and incorporate the best SEO practices, however, there’s a real possibility to land on the first page of Google.