Search engines such as Google and Bing are not static – they make improvements and changes to their platforms on a daily basis. As some of these updates have a significant impact on the search results, and can mean that once high-ranking listings fall off the first page, it is important for marketers to both keep up to date with how search engine algorithms are changing, as well as understand the improvements that have gone before.
This chapter outlines the most important updates to the Google algorithm from the first named (‘Fritz’) in 2003 all the way to the addition of natural language processor BERT at the end of 2019. It covers:
- Panda and Penguin: These updates from the early ’10s sought to combat low-quality sites and manipulative linking strategies. What can practitioners today learn from these significant updates?
- Mobile: Over the years, web browsing behaviour has shifted from desktop to mobile. How has this affected how webpages are indexed?
- ‘Phantom’ updates: While Google will announce some updates as they are made, or even ahead of time, some are made more quietly, only coming to attention after certain sites experience dramatic drops in rankings. Historically, who have been the winners and losers of such updates, and why?