This was a means to prevent sites that were “top-heavy” with ads from ranking well in Google’s search results. Top Heavy is periodically updated. When a fresh Top Heavy Update happens, sites that have removed excessive ads may regain lost rankings. New sites deemed too “top-heavy” may get caught.
Google algorithm updates
Google has a long history of famous algorithm updates, search index changes and refreshes. Below is a history of the major Google search algorithm updates.
Want to read our latest coverage of algorithm updates and changes? Jump to the latest algorithm update news and guides.
How many times does Google update its search algorithms?
Google search is changing all the time. In 2020, Google made 4,500 changes to search. This number includes changes to its ranking system, user interface and more. Plus, Google ran more than 600,000 experiments. That means Google search is changing, on average, 12 times per day.
The history of Google algorithm updates: 2003-today
Here is a complete history of Google algorithm updates that you need to know about, in reverse chronological order.
2022 Google Algorithm Updates
December 2022 link spam update
Dec. 14
This global update targeted spammy links and was meant to neutralize any credit passed by unnatural links. This rollout overlapped with the helpful content system updated of Dec. 6. Google said the link spam update would take about two weeks to fully roll out.
Google helpful content system update
Dec. 6
This update added new signals to its classifier and also brought the helpful content update globally for all languages. Google said the rollout would take up to two weeks.
October 2022 spam update
Oct. 19
Google rolled out the latest improvements to its systems that detect search spam. Google did not specifically say whether this update was focused on links, content or other forms of spam. This update was global, affecting all languages. The October 2022 spam update took less than 48 hours to fully roll out.
September 2022 Product Reviews Update
Sept. 20
This was the second Product Reviews Update of the year and fifth overall. While Google typically doesn’t like to overlap algorithm updates, this update was launched before the September 2022 Core Update was complete. It was meant to reward English-language product reviews that are helpful and useful to searchers. Rollout completed Sept. 26.
September 2022 Core Update
Sept. 12
This was the second core update of the year and launched three days after the helpful content update finished rolling out. Overall, it seemed less significant than previous core updates, including the May 2022 core update. Rollout of completed Sept. 26.
Learn more about Core updates in our guide, Google Broad Core Algorithm Updates: Everything you need to know.
Helpful content update
Aug. 25
On Aug. 18, Google revealed details about its new helpful content update, a sitewide signal that is meant to reward content that helps or informs people, rather than content that is created primarily to rank well in search results. It began rolling out Aug. 25 and completed 15 days later on Sept. 9.
Google provided a list of 15 questions to ask about your content reviews to ensure you are building human-first content. It also said that the types of content that could be most impacted would be online education materials, arts and entertainment, shopping and tech-related. However, the impact was mostly felt in a few website categories (e.g., ringtones, coding, lyrics). Its overall impact was relatively small.
July 2022 Product Reviews Update
July 27
Google said the fourth release of the product reviews update would take 2-3 weeks to roll out but later announced it had fully rolled out after six days. This was more of a refresh than anything new, and is meant to reward high-quality product reviews. As a whole, this update was not as widespread and had little ranking volatility compared to prior product review updates.
May 2022 Core Update
May 25
This was the first broad core algorithm update of 2022 and the first in more than 6 months. Google said it would take up to two weeks to fully roll out. As with all other past core updates, Google has made broad changes to how its ranking systems assess content.
March 2022 Product Reviews Update
March 23
Google said the third release of the product reviews update, which will take a “few weeks” to fully roll out, builds on the work of the two prior product review updates. Like those, this update is meant to help Google to identify high-quality product reviews and reward them with better rankings.
There were three new bits of advice from Google around ranked lists, recommendations of “best” products and creating reviews for multiple vs. individual products.
Page Experience Update (desktop)
Feb. 22
This update included all the signals from the mobile version of the page experience update, except for the page needing to be mobile-friendly. It took 9 days to fully roll out.
2021 Google Algorithm Updates
December 2021 Product Reviews Update
Dec. 1
The goal of the Google product reviews update, like the April Product Reviews Update, was to reward outstanding product reviews in search results. Google wanted to show users content with insightful analysis and original search, written by topical experts or enthusiasts. It took about three weeks for this update to fully roll out.
Google’s new advice for this update: provide more multimedia “evidence” around your product reviews and include links to multiple sellers.
November 2021 Local Search Update
Nov. 30
Google said this global update was a “rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results.” It ran between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8, overlapping with the December 2021 Core Update and December 2021 Product Reviews Update. However, Google didn’t confirm this update happened until Dec. 16.
November 2021 Core Update
Nov. 17
This was the third and final Core Update of 2022. Like all of Google’s core updates, the November 2021 core update was wide-reaching, impacting websites and SEO across all languages and took about two weeks to fully roll out.
November 2021 spam update
Nov. 3
Google announced an update to its search spam detection systems. Google’s guidance: follow Google’s best practices for search (a.k.a., Google’s Webmaster Guidelines).
Link Spam Update
July 26
Google said the purpose of this update was to “nullify” spammy links across the web and multiple languages. Websites with spammy links were more likely to see an impact on their rankings. Google’s advice: follow best practices for all incoming and outgoing links.
July 2021 Core Update
July 1
This was the second of two back-to-back Core Updates that Google rolled out. As is typical of Core updates, the July 2021 core update was a comprehensive update that changed the whole algorithm slightly, but not any single function specifically. This update rolled out over 12 days, from July 1 to 12.
Spam Update (Part 2)
June 28
The promised sequel of its Spam Update. We learned that both parts of the Spam Update were “global” updates that targeted both web results and image results
Spam Update (Part 1)
June 23
Google announced the release of a Spam Update to their systems and said a second was coming the following week. There was no additional guidance or details. As part of the Twitter announcement, Google referred to its Webmaster Guidelines.
Page Experience Update
June 15
Google began using a new set of metrics – Core Web Vitals – to understand how users perceive the experience of a specific web page. The three Core Web Vitals metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) (measures loading performance); First Input Delay (FID) (measures interactivity); Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): (measures visual stability).
Part of the Page Experience Update includes existing ranking signals, such as page load speed, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS and lack of intrusive ads. This new ranking algorithm was announced in May 2020. The rollout began slowly, finishing at the end of August.
Multitask Unified Model (MUM) Update
June
Previewed at Google I/O in May 2021, Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) is built on a transformer architecture, like BERT, but 1,000 times more powerful and capable of multitasking to connect information for users in new ways. In our first glimpse of MUM, it helped the search engine identify more than 800 variations of vaccine names in over 50 languages in a matter of seconds. In September, Google announced additional applications of MUM technology.
June 2021 Core Update
June 2
This was the first of two back-to-back Core Updates that Google rolled out. Google decided to release these updates separately because some of the core updates they planned to roll out weren’t ready in June.
Like other Google core updates, the June 2021 update was comprehensive and wide-reaching. It’s likely many sites felt the impact of this update.
April 2021 Product Reviews Update
April 8
The Product Reviews Update is meant to better reward product reviews that go above and beyond (e.g., by including in-depth and original research, insightful analysis). Google said it will promote these types of product reviews in its search results rankings.
Google provided a list of nine questions to ask about your product reviews to make sure they are insightful, include original research and are written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.
Passage Ranking
Feb. 10
Google began rolling out a change to how it ranks specific passages from a web page in search results. This update was meant to help searchers find specific “needle-in-a-haystack” information. Google said this update would impact 7% of search queries across all languages.
Because this update was more about how Google understands your content, there was no specific advice on things to address or change, according to Google.
2020 Google Algorithm Updates
December 2020 Core Update
Dec. 3
The 2020 Core Update was the last major update of 2020 and the first major update since May of that year. Like all of Google’s core updates, the December 2020 core update was wide-reaching, impacting websites and SEO across all languages.
BERT Expands
Oct. 15
Google announced that BERT was powering nearly all English-based search queries, a big leap from 10% it powered the year prior. You cannot optimize for BERT per se, as BERT is designed to improve the relevancy of search results by better understanding the content on webpages.
May 2020 Core Update
May 4
Google rolled out its relatively strong May 2020 broad core algorithm update over a few weeks in early May of 2020.
This update was broad and comprehensive. Like other core updates, it was not targeted at any specific aspect of the algorithm.
January 2020 Core Update
Jan. 13
A relatively weak core update, the January 2020 Core Update wasn’t felt strongly by SEO experts. It was followed up just four months later by the much more robust May 2020 core update.
2019 Google Algorithm Updates
BERT Natural Language Processing Update
Oct. 25
Google announced its Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) update, which impacted 10% of searches. In short, BERT was created to help Google understand queries and webpage content more like how humans do.
September 2019 Core Update
Sept. 24
The September 2019 Core Update was another broad core algorithm update of the kind that Google rolls out every few months.
June 2019 Core Update
June 3
The June 2019 core update covered broad aspects of Google’s algorithm and was intended to improve user experience in multiple areas.
March 2019 Core Update
March 15
The March 2019 Core Update was somewhat confusing, briefly disrupting the usual equilibrium of the SEO world. The March 2019 Core Update was released without a name, giving users all across Twitter to speculate about the update and why it wasn’t named.
Google, catching wind of the confusion, quickly jumped on social media to right the wrong. On Twitter, they wrote, “Our name of this update is March 2019 Core Update.”
2018 Google Algorithm Updates
August 2018 Core Update (aka Medic Update)
Aug. 1
The August 2018 broad core algorithm update was a core update that shook up the SEO world. In this update, Google made major fixes to their algorithm that rewarded previously under-rewarded pages on the web.
Google said there was “no fix” to any observed drop in the rankings. The ranking drops were simply due to other under-rewarded sites finally making gains.
Google’s advice to webmasters with a ranking drop? Keep making excellent content, and you may very well see your site rise back in the rankings.
April 2018 Core Update
April 20
The April 2018 core update, like other updates, was aimed at improving the end-user experience by delivering the most relevant content for search queries.
Google didn’t announce this update and only came out with its announcement after speculation that there may have been a core update.
March 2018 Core Update
March 12
The March 2018 Core Update, quickly followed by 2018’s April Core Update, was a broad and far-reaching core update meant to improve Google’s query results.
The March 2018 Core Update had a significant impact on some sites, and webmasters who witnessed a drop in rankings were advised to continue to develop excellent content and not to try to game the system. As always, only through excellent content are durable ratings attained.
January 2018 Core Update
Jan. 18
The January 2018 Update was a comprehensive core update aimed at all aspects of the site’s SERPs. It was followed by the March and April core updates of that year.
2017 Google Algorithm Updates
Mid-December Updates
~Dec. 14-19
Google confirmed releasing several minor changes that were meant to improve relevancy. It seemed to negatively affect sites that were targeting huge numbers of keyword variants.
Local Update
Aug. 22
This update made corrections to the Possum update, which had inadvertently unfairly impacted local rankings.
The Possum Update of 2016, which we’ll get into a little more detail further down, was intended to improve SERP relevancy by eliminating redundant search results from the SERPs. To summarize, some local business owners were being eliminated by Google’s filters because their businesses were too close to other similar businesses that already ranked on Google’s SERPs.
The Hawk Update slightly corrected the Possum update, making local businesses that competed with others that already ranked on the SERPs more likely to be seen in a relevant search query.
Fred Update
March 9
An unconfirmed Google ranking update seemed to target more of the link quality aspects of the overall algorithm. This SEO community dubbed this update “Fred” based on a joke by Google’s Gary Illyes, who suggested that all future Google updates be called “Fred.”
2016 Google Algorithm Updates
Penguin Update 4.0
Sept. 23
After nearly two years, Google updated its Penguin algorithm – and it was for the last time. Google announced Penguin became part of its core search algorithm, which meant data was refreshed in real-time. It also became more granular, which essentially meant Penguin might impact ranking for individual pages on a site, parts of a site, or the entire site.
Possum Update (Sept. 1)
This update affected local listings. In brief, the Possum Update was a change to the way Google’s filters work.
What are filters? Filters for local results on Google eliminate websites that seem to be redundant. For local businesses, this can mean, for example, that if you have two websites for your service, only one of them will appear for a given local search term.
The Possum update was intended to improve the user experience of Google, but it may have gone too far. Certain businesses that were nearby to other businesses that already ranked on Google’s SERPs saw their website drop off significantly.
Mobile-Friendly Update 2 (April 21)
This update was more of a boost to the original Mobile-Friendly Update of 2015, a real-time, page-by-page signal that only impacts mobile search results. This update was meant to “increase the effect of the [mobile-friendly] ranking signal.”
January 2016 Core Update (Jan. 17)
Major fluctuations were being observed in the search results. Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed it was a core ranking algorithm update.
January 2016 Core Update (Jan. 10)
Following a weekend filled with ranking changes and fluctuations, Google on Jan. 12 confirmed it was due to a core ranking algorithm update.
2015 Google Algorithm Updates
RankBrain (Oct. 25)
The RankBrain algorithm is powered by machine learning, processing what people search for and sorting through billions of webpages to rank the ones believed to be best first. Initially used on a “very large fraction” of search results, it was later rolled out and used on all Google searches.
Panda Update 4.2 (July 18)
This was a refresh of the existing Panda algorithm. It impacted about 2% to 3% of English language queries.
Quality Update (May)
Mobile-Friendly Update (April 21)
2014 Google Algorithm Updates
Pigeon Expansion (Dec. 22)
Penguin Everflux (Dec. 10)
Penguin Update 3.1 (Nov. 27)
Pirate Update 2 (Oct. 21)
Penguin Update 3.0 (Oct. 17)
Panda Update 4.1 (Sept. 25)
Google said this Panda update was supposed to be more precise and allow more high-quality small and medium-sized sites to rank better. It impacted about 3% to 5% of English language queries.
Pigeon Update (July 24)
This algorithm update was designed to provide more useful, relevant and accurate local search results that were tied more closely to traditional web search ranking signals. Google stated that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters.
Payday Loan Update 3.0 (June 12)
Panda Update 4.0 (May 20)
The 27th update of Panda was supposed to be “gentler” for some websites and lay the groundwork for future changes in that direction. It impacted 7.5% of English queries.
Payday Loan Update 2.0 (May 16)
Page Layout 3 (aka Top Heavy 3) (Feb. 6)
2013 Google Algorithm Updates
Penguin Update 2.1 (Oct. 4)
Hummingbird (Sept. 26)
Panda Update 26 (July 18)
Google confirmed that it was pushing out a new Panda update that incorporated new signals to make it more finely targeted.
Multi-week Update (June 21)
Payday Loan Update (June 11)
Penguin Update 2.0 (May 22)
Panda Update 25 (March 14)
On March 11 at SMX, Google’s Matt Cutts said a Panda update was coming. It seemed to roll out on time as promised. However, Google never officially confirmed the rollout happened.
Panda Update 24 (Jan. 22)
This Panda refresh impacted 1.2% of English queries.
2012 Google Algorithm Updates
Panda Update 23 (Dec. 21)
This Panda refresh impacted 1.3% of English queries.
Panda Update 22 (Nov. 21)
Panda Update 21 (Nov. 5)
Page Layout Algorithm 2 (aka Top Heavy 2) (Oct. 9)
Penguin Update 3 (Oct. 5)
Panda Update 20 (Sept. 27)
Exact-Match Domain (EMD) Update (Sept. 27)
Google launched this algorithm change to prevent low-quality sites from ranking well simply because they had words that matched search terms in their domain names.
Panda Update 3.9.2 (Sept. 18)
Panda Update 3.9.1 (Aug. 20)
Pirate Update (Aug. 10)
This update demoted the rankings of sites that received too many DMCA takedown requests. It wouldn’t be until 2022 that we learned Pirate can cause up to, on average, an 89% drop in search traffic.
Panda Update 3.9 (July 24)
Panda Update 3.8 (June 25)
Panda Update 3.7 (June 8)
Penguin Update 2 (May 25)
Panda Update 3.6 (April 27)
Penguin Update (April 24)
The goal of this update was to decrease rankings for sites that Google believed were violating Google’s quality guidelines. In particular, websites that were buying links or obtaining them through link networks that were primarily designed to boost Google rankings.
Panda Update 3.5 (April 19)
Panda Update 3.4 (March 23)
Venice (Feb. 27)
Panda Update 3.3 (Feb. 27)
Page Layout Algorithm (aka Top Heavy) (Jan. 19)
2011 Google Algorithm Updates
Panda Update 3.1 (Nov. 18)
Freshness Update (Nov. 3)
Panda Update 3.0 (Oct. 19)
Panda Update 2.5 (Sept. 28)
Panda Update 2.4 (Aug. 12)
Panda Update 2.3 (July 23)
Panda Update 2.2 (June 21)
Panda Update 2.1 (May 9)
Panda Update 2.0 (April 11)
Panda Update (Feb. 23)
Scraper filter
2010 Google Algorithm Updates
Merchant Reviews (December)
Brand Update (August)
Caffeine (June)
May Day (May)
2009 Google Algorithm Updates
Vince Update
Feb. 20
In late February, SEOs and webmasters started noticing big brands gaining more visibility in search results. On March 5, Google’s Matt Cutts confirmed the “minor change,” adding that Google’s ranking algorithm may be factoring trust, quality, PageRank, and other metrics for more generic queries. Cutts said it did not impact long-tail queries. A Googler named Vince created this change, which is how the update got its name.
2008 Google Algorithm Updates
Dewey Update (March 31)
Some major shuffling in search results was being reported at the end of March and into early April. Google’s Matt Cutts asked webmasters for feedback on the changes via a form and to include the word “dewey” in their feedback, giving this update a name.
2007 Google Algorithm Updates
PageRank Update (Oct. 7)
Google confirmed they were lowering PageRank scores for some sites that were selling links. Google also said that some of those sites could be removed from its search results or be given penalties that prevent them from ranking well. Google’s PageRank Update Goes After Paid Links? (Oct. 24) documented multiple sites that were impacted.
2005 Google Algorithm Updates
Big Daddy
December
Jagger
October
Bourbon
May
2004 Google Algorithm Updates
Austin
~Jan. 23
This is considered to be a continuation of the work Google started with Florida, aimed at producing more relevant search results. Websites impacted by this update were using on-page SEO tactics that, at the time, had worked quite well (but today are considered spammy, outdated practices).
2003 Google Algorithm Updates
Florida
Nov. 15
Florida was the first major Google algorithm update and it caused a huge outcry. Google’s goal was to make it harder for websites to rank well using manipulative SEO techniques.
Unfortunately, this update drove many websites out of business (including some “false positives”) right before the lucrative holiday season. After this update, Google promised it would try to avoid rolling out major changes around the holidays (a promise that remained unbroken until 2011).
Fritz
July
This is the update when Google switched to indexing pages every day (or more often) instead of doing one large monthly algorithmic update (called the “Google Dance “), where everyone’s rankings would increase or decrease over a period of six to eight days. From this point onward, Google made many (typically minor) changes every day, which came to be known as “everflux.”
Google Algorithm Updates: the latest news and guides
Dig deeper:
‘SEO: The Movie’ aims to trace the rise of internet marketing
Documentary features stories from the early days of SEO, as told by some of the industry's well-known pioneers.
What link builders really want you to know
Wondering why link building seems to be so much work? Columnist Julie Joyce gives us a glimpse into issues link builders face with clients and webmasters.
SearchCap: EU to fine Google, SEO reputation & PPC planning
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: EU sources say $1.17 billion antitrust fine against Google coming in weeksJun 16, 2017 by Greg Sterling Shopping search penalty is the first of three potential fines against the company. SEO: […]
SearchCap: Google mobile index, Bing ads in-market targeting and Pinterest search
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s mobile-first index likely not coming until 2018 at earliestJun 13, 2017 by Matt McGee At SMX Advanced, Gary Illyes says Google will “communicate a lot” before rolling out the mobile-first […]
The role of traditional public relations in SEO
Modern link building relies on a traditional public relations approach. Columnist Jeremy Knauff and PR expert Cheryl Snapp Conner share insight on how to achieve success in this critical area.
How to stop worrying about Google updates
Google is providing less information about algorithm updates these days, leaving SEOs scrambling for answers every time they experience a huge drop in traffic. But columnist Kristine Schachinger believes that all this panic is unnecessary. Read on to learn why.
SearchCap: Google redesign local panels, AdWords roadmap & artificial intelligence
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google has officially rolled out a new tab-based local panel with quick access to reviewsJun 7, 2017 by Barry Schwartz Users can toggle between a local listing’s overview details and their […]
SMX Advanced is almost sold out! Less than 100 tickets left.
SMX Advanced is in one week. This time next week, your peers (and competitors) will be in Seattle getting actionable SEO and SEM tactics and having conversations with the marketers making the biggest impact in the search world. We’ll be covering the SEO and SEM topics relevant today: from mobile SEO to Project Owl, protecting your […]
SearchCap: Bing Ads management, Apple Maps updates & more
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Beginners’ guide to Bing Ads management Jun 6, 2017 by John E Lincoln Considering advertising on Bing but not sure where to start? Columnist John Lincoln provides a handy guide for […]
SearchCap: Google’s latest Smart Bidding option, Zaha Hadid Google Doodle & more
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 7 great reasons to attend SMX Advanced in 2 weeks May 31, 2017 by Search Engine Land Search Engine Land’s SMX Advanced is just 2 weeks away. Don’t miss your only […]
SearchCap: Search trademark issues & search pictures
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Initial Interest Confusion rears its ugly head once more in trademark infringement caseMay 26, 2017 by Chris Silver Smith Columnist Chris Silver Smith details recent trademark infringement cases in which site […]
The big SMX Advanced preview
Search Engine Land’s always sold-out SMX Advanced, the only search marketing conference designed exclusively for experienced search marketers, returns to Seattle June 12-14. Keep reading to find out what’s in store this year. Then register; fewer than 200 spots are left! New trends, new opportunities and new challenges Change is constant in search marketing. Opportunities emerge faster […]
Stop oversimplifying everything!
The old days of gaming Google's ranking algorithm are over, but columnist Eric Enge notes that many SEO professionals haven't moved on yet.
SearchCap: Bing local bots, Yelp conversion & Google I/O recap
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing launches bots for local businessesMay 22, 2017 by Greg Sterling Bots are created automatically from data in Bing Places and will soon work with Facebook Messenger and Cortana. [Podcast] The […]
SearchCap: Google app rankings, hotel ads, AMP analytics
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Remarketing: The best-kept marketing secretMay 19, 2017 by Michelle Cruz Everything you need to know about an opportunity that’s not widely discussed in the industry — search remarketing on Bing. […]
Relevance vs. authority: Which link has more value? (Part 3)
In the third and final installment of his series on authority versus relevance in link building, columnist Andrew Dennis shares insights from experts who believe that the better metric depends on the situation.
SearchCap: eCPC AdWords Changes, Google event search & Google algorithm updates
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google rolls out new event search feature on app & mobile webMay 10, 2017 by Amy Gesenhues Searches for events will now surface a list of activities that include location and […]
Weathering the Google storms
Columnist Bobby Lyons explains his method for gauging the impact of a Google algorithm update and using these insights to discover opportunities for improvement.
SearchCap: Google ranking study, mobile image search features & link authority
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Study: Top-ranking page in Google ranks for a thousand other queries, tooMay 9, 2017 by Barry Schwartz Should you optimize a single page for one keyword phrase? This study might say […]
SearchCap: Google shortcuts, SEO myths & search pictures
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google shortcuts use personalization and rich content to build next-gen local discovery toolMay 4, 2017 by Greg Sterling Machine learning-driven results entirely bypass the traditional search box. Search in Pics: Google […]
How Google measures the authority of web pages
Google has no single authority metric but rather uses a bucket of signals to determine authority on a page-by-page basis.
SearchCap: Google Home recipes, app indexing & Doodles
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Simple tips to get your app indexed, ranked & installedApr 26, 2017 by John E Lincoln Got an app you’d like to promote? Columnist John Lincoln provides some basic tips for […]
Take a deep dive on search and social. Attend a workshop at SMX Advanced.
SMX Advanced pre-conference workshops are conducted by the world’s leading subject matter experts in SEO, SEM, social and digital. All workshops will be held on Monday, June 12, at the Bell Harbor Convention Center in Seattle. You’ll pick one workshop for a full day of actionable tactics you can use to improve your campaigns right […]
SearchCap: Bing updates copyright removals, Google smart display ads & SEO beginners
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing updates its DMCA take-downs and copyright removal processApr 21, 2017 by Barry Schwartz Bing Webmaster Tools gains a content removal section for viewing and appealing DMCA take-downs. 5 must-dos for […]
SearchCap: Google Home users, Apple expands search ads & Google suggested video clips
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Apple expanding successful Search Ads to three new English-speaking marketsApr 19, 2017 by Greg Sterling Ads will begin serving in the UK, Australia and New Zealand on April 25. Google Home […]
SearchCap: Google webspam report, Bing Ads Editor update & Ripoff report in Google
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google: We sent 9M web spam messages in 2016, more than double 2015 totalApr 19, 2017 by Barry Schwartz While more messages were sent, Google said they received less than half […]
Google: We sent 9M web spam messages in 2016, more than double 2015 total
While more messages were sent, Google said they received less than half the 2015 number of user-generated spam reports in 2016.
SearchCap: Going global, PPC in higher ed & more
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: [Reminder] Webinar — National Brands & Local Search: Use Insights to Drive Actions Apr 17, 2017 by Digital Marketing Depot With nearly one third of all mobile searches now related to […]
SearchCap: Google fact checks, Ask.com privacy bug & SEO winning
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google expands fact-checking effort to all searches worldwideApr 7, 2017 by Danny Sullivan Is an online claim true or not? Google hopes special callouts for fact-checking articles will help searchers get […]
In the age of RankBrain, these foundational SEO issues still matter
Search engine technology has evolved, algorithms have become more advanced, and SEO tactics and strategies have changed in response. But columnist Nate Dame believes fundamentals will still move the needle.
The BIG SMX London Preview: Here’s why you should attend
Search Engine Land’s SMX London is every SEO and SEM’s dream. Join us May 23–24 for a tactic-packed agenda with more than 40 dynamic and authoritative speakers, keynotes and more. If you’re involved in SEO, SEM, PR, social media or any other customer-facing activity, you owe it to yourself (and your company or client’s bottom line) to attend. SMX […]
SearchCap: SEO periodic table, Google updates & rank tracking
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: The problem with obsessive rank trackingApr 4, 2017 by Ryan Shelley Search engine optimization (SEO) is often focused on achieving high rankings in search results pages. But columnist Ryan Shelley explains […]
SMX West: Solving SEO Issues in Google’s Post-Update World
Now that Google no longer regularly announced algorithm updates, it can be hard to tell when your site's been hit by one. Luckily, there are steps you can take to determine if you've been hit. Contributor Mark Traphagen sums up a session from SMX West on this topic.
A deep look at Google’s biggest-ever search quality crisis
Under fire for months, can Google reverse the drip-drip-drip of criticism as incorrect, absurd or even dangerous results surface to the top?
SearchCap: Google image search bug, local insights & post-rank
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Search Analytics bug drops some image search traffic from reportsMar 27, 2017 by Barry Schwartz No need to panic: There is a reporting bug in the Google Search Console Search […]
An answer box experiment (my journey into known and unknown factors)
Many SEOs have sought to obtain placement within a featured snippet or answer box in the search results pages, but how does one achieve that? Contributor Bill Sebald shares his experiment in pursuing the answer box.
3 steps to overcoming site issues that impact performance
Consumers and search engines alike have high expectations for websites, so unchecked problems and errors can have a big impact on SEO and content performance. Columnist Jim Yu discusses how to find and address these issues.
SearchCap: Google algorithm update, Gboard update & mobile speed
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: New, unconfirmed Google ranking update ‘Fred’ shakes the SEO worldMar 9, 2017 by Barry Schwartz The webmaster and SEO community, along with the automated Google tracking tools, all show strong signs […]
New, unconfirmed Google ranking update ‘Fred’ shakes the SEO world
The webmaster and SEO community, along with the automated Google tracking tools, all show strong signs that there was a Google algorithm ranking update.
SearchCap: Pinterest search, Google AdWords call extensions & content quality
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google rolls out AdWords account-level call extensions, among other call updatesMar 8, 2017 by Ginny Marvin Business names in call-only ads, more detailed reporting and an expansion of automated call extensions […]