Sunday 6 September 2015

Search Algorithm Update


The Google update from yesterday was a core ranking change, something Google does throughout the year. This was not Panda-, Penguin- or HTTPS-related.

 on June 18, 2015 at 8:58 am

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Yesterday, I reported on some SEO chatter around a possible Google update. Google has confirmed with us that this was an update to the core search algorithm and nothing related to thePanda algorithm that we are expecting to see updated shortly. In addition, Google told us to expect core search algorithm updates in the future as they continue to work on making search quality better.
Google sent us this statement:
This is not a Panda update. As you know, we’re always making improvements to our search algorithms and the web is constantly evolving. We’re going to continue to work on improvements across the board.
This echoes a similar statement Google sent us back with what we coined the Google Quality Update, so I wouldn’t be surprised if what some of the SEO community noticed was around changes to that core search algorithm from May 1st.
The interesting part is that many of the automated tracking tools such as Mozcast showed huge spikes in terms of changes happening in the Google search results. Initially Dr. Pete Meyers thoughtthat maybe the HTTPS algorithm was updated and given more weight, but Gary Illyes from Googlesaid on Twitter that this was not the case. I suspect the reason so many tools showed a spike this week was related to the number one Google search result, Wikipedia, changing all its URLs to go HTTPS this week, which ultimately changed so many 1-5 Google search results, causing the tools to spike.
So from what we know, this was not Panda, not HTTPS and also not Penguin. It was simply a normal Google core search update where Google won’t give us any details on.