Following its start more than 15 years ago, Google’s updated its algorithm dozens of times. While some updates went unnoticed, others made a monumental impact on search engine optimization (SEO). Ready to learn about the most impactful Google algorithm updates?

2011: Panda

A signature feature of early SEO was its black-hat practices. People could stuff their content with keywords, as well as create low-quality content that offered little value to users — it would rank on the first page of search results, however.

That’s why Google launched Panda, which is an algorithm that combats the following:

• Duplicate content
• Keyword stuffing
• Thin, unoriginal content
• Plagiarized content

With Panda, Google encourages your business to create original content that’s high-quality. It should offer value to users. That’s why you want to consider your users first when developing content, whether a blog post or service page, for your website.

2012: Penguin

Following Panda, Google launched Penguin. This Google algorithm update focused on the practice of link building, which had become riddled with manipulative tactics. Instead of earning links for quality content, people would purchase links from spammy websites.

A quick summary of Penguin includes:

• Link buying
• Links from unrelated websites
• Links from spammy, low-quality websites
• Links from websites created for link building

Following Penguin’s launch, businesses needed to rethink their strategies for link building. Again, Google indirectly emphasized the importance of original and unique content — that kind of content would naturally earn links and shares from trustworthy websites.

That’s one reason why content marketing is becoming such a critical focus of digital marketing.

2012: Pirate

The Pirate Google algorithm update breaks the company’s pattern of animal names. It does, however, continue Google’s focus on delivering high-quality results to users. With Pirate, Google aimed to prevent the ranking of websites that distributed pirated content, such as movies, music, or books.

The focus of Pirate included:

• Websites with a high-volume of pirated content
• Websites with a high-volume of copyright infringement filings

For many businesses, Pirate is a non-issue.

2013: Hummingbird

With the launch of Hummingbird in 2013, Google continued its mission to provide users with relevant, high-quality search results. This algorithm update focused on delivering search results that matched user intent, rather than the keywords in the user’s query.

As a result, Hummingbird targeted the following black-hat SEO strategies:

• Keyword stuffing
• Exact-match keyword targeting

While keywords are still critical to SEO, Google emphasized that high-quality content would naturally include synonyms and related terms to those keywords. This is another Google algorithm update that stressed the company’s commitment to one-of-a-kind content that answers user questions.

2014: Pigeon

The following year, Google introduced the world to Pigeon. This update impacted Google’s local and core algorithm by providing users with search results influenced by their location. Thus, if you searched for a grocery store, Google would highlight the closest ones to your location.

As a local business, Pigeon could have a negative impact if you had:

• A page unoptimized for local search
• An unoptimized Google My Business page
• An inconsistent number, address, or phone number across your online identity

That’s why you want to ensure all your company’s mentions, whether on your website or another website, share the same information. It’s also important to invest the time in creating and optimizing your Google My Business page.

2015: Mobile

With more than 50 percent of the world’s Internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it made sense for Google to develop a mobile-friendly update — unlike other Google algorithm updates, this update didn’t receive a nickname.

The mobile-friendly updated penalized webpages with the following:

• A design that wasn’t mobile-friendly
• An improper viewport tag configuration

It’s essential for businesses to respond to this update. Creating a mobile-friendly website can lead to more visits from mobile users, as well as business for your company, by improving the user experience. If you already have a mobile-friendly site, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool for a quick check-up.

2015: RankBrain

The same year Google implemented its mobile-friendly update, it also launched RankBrain. By integrating this machine learning system into its algorithm, Google hoped to provide users with even more relevant search results by deciphering what users meant by their query.

To demonstrate RankBrain, think of the following query, “gray console developed by sony.” In the past, it was difficult for Google to know that you were searching for a PlayStation. With RankBrain, however, it understands that, “playstation,” and “gray console developed by sony,” reference the same object.

While RankBrain didn’t penalize specific behaviors, it did continue Google’s mission towards delivering relevant, high-quality results. It also encouraged companies to invest in a web design that prioritized the experiences of users.

2016: Possum

In 2016, Google returned with Possum. The focus of this Google algorithm update, like Pigeon, was local search. The update focused on varying local results, based on the location of the user. Now, businesses outside the general vicinity of the user could earn a spot in search results.

The only downside to Possum is that your place in search results could shift if you shared an address with another local business. Another risk is that your competitor can outrank you if they’re closer to the searcher.

In response to Possum, many companies have begun investing in geofences — or geofencing marketing. These are virtual fences, which you can place at competitor locations, that send a notification about your business to users in the vicinity.

2017: Fred

The next update from Google came in 2017 with Fred. For many, Fred served as a follow-up to Panda. It focused on eliminating low-quality webpages from results that focused only on generating revenue from ads or affiliates.

To avoid the repercussions of Fred, you want to make sure your website’s free of the following:

• Ad-centered content that offers little value
• Affiliate-saturated content that provides little value

For many businesses, Fred is a non-issue if you’re producing valuable, quality content for users. If you’re considering partnering with affiliates or allowing ads on your website, it’s critical that you do so in moderation and continue to create helpful and unique content for consumers.

While Google’s updated its algorithm several times, there is a consistent pattern to its changes. It wants to provide users with original and relevant content, emphasizing that companies should consider not only Google when developing their SEO strategy but also users.

SOURCES

https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-panda-update

https://findbestseo.com/blog/12-tips-how-create-seo-content-your-small-business

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/penguin-update/

https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-hummingbird

https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-pigeon-update

https://searchengineland.com/report-57-percent-traffic-now-smartphones-tablets-281150

https://backlinko.com/google-rankbrain-seo

https://www.inc.com/john-lincoln/googles-possum-update-how-it-rocked-local-seo-rankings.html

https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/geofencing-marketing/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/fred-update/