In the Online world, it is a need for marketers to work according to the changing algorithm. If you want to stay on top and keep competition at bay, you have to make sure that you are working according to the rules and regulations of Google’s algorithm. Only when you are able to follow it strictly will you be able to acquire desired results.
As Google’s algorithm keeps updating on a regular basis to improve user experience, it usually becomes challenging for marketers to provide the best results. So the only way to retain your position is by staying updated about the constant change in algorithm. In this guide, we will check out some of the most significant changes in the SEO algorithm and updates made in the year 2022 and before to give you an easy look at how Google is constantly evolving.
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What do you mean by Google algorithm?
Google algorithm is a highly complex system that is generally used for retrieving data from search engines and delivering instant and best results for search queries. Search engines make use of algorithm combinations and several other ranking factors to provide web page ranking according to the relevance of SERPs.
In the last few decades, Google has already made a range of algorithm updates to improve the user experience. However, recently Google has started making numerous changes every year to make sure that users are able to get top-notch results. Most of the updates are very tiny and get unnoticed. However, occasionally this search engine rolls out some of the major algorithm updates that seriously have an impact on the way it works.
Here I have compiled a complete list of updates and launches in the Google algorithm that has been rolled out over the year. I have just provided some brief details to help you understand what the updates were all about.
Major SEO Updates:
Product Review Updates:
20th September 2022
Google rolled out its new algorithm update on product review on 28th September, which was completed on 26th September. Even when this search engine provided no major advice to the owners for this update, they just shared a post based on the product review updates for owners to get more information.
Core Algorithm Update:
12th September 2022
Google recently announced a major core algorithm update on 12th September, which was completed on 26th September. It has some of the major information provided to the site owners, which would impact the websites. However, this was less significant than the previous update.
Helpful content update
25th August 2022
Google started releasing details on 18th August about its new update on helpful content. It is a site-wide signal which will be thoroughly meant for rewarding content that can provide beneficial information to the readers rather than just creating content to rank on search results. Google rolled out this update on 25th August, which was completed after 15 days on 9th September 2022.
Google has provided a compiled list of 15 questions regarding the content. You have to make sure that you are creating content for humans. It also mentioned the content types that will have the most impact and would be a form of entertainment, arts, and educational material. However, businesses from a few categories were only able to feel this impact, including lyrics, ringtones, and coding. The overall effect was not huge.
Product reviews update
27th July 2022
The fourth release of Google was made on the product review. The update took 2 to 3 weeks to roll out after making the announcement. It took six days to roll out the product review update fully. This was a new thing for most businesses and was entirely meant to review the websites that were creating high-quality product reviews. Overall, the update has little volatility and is not as widespread compared to the other product review updates.
Core Google update
25th May 2022
It was the very first Core algorithm update made by Google in 2022. It was made in more than six months. The search engine mentioned that it would take more than two weeks to roll out this update completely. Compared to the Past core updates, these updates included some of the major changes made by Google on how the ranking system of the content will be assessed.
Product review update
23rd March 2022
As mentioned by the search engine, it said that it would take a few weeks to release a product review update. As it was working on the two prior updates, it was taking much time to roll out. Like the others, this update was also meant to help Google find high-quality product reviews and provide them with a better ranking on the search engine.
It included a bit of advice from the side of the search engine about the recommendation of creating reviews and product reviews for individual and multiple products.
Page experience update
22nd February 2022
Google used the social media platform Twitter to announce its page experience update. It mentioned that the search engine was rolling out the update for desktop search slowly, and users can expect the rollout to get completed by March 2022. The search engine also provided the developers with in-depth information on this update on Google search Central.
This update also included signals from the mobile version, except the web page needs to be mobile-friendly. It took the search engine nine days to roll out this update.
Product reviews update
1st December 2021
The agenda of product review updates by Google was to check the review sites, and the update was made in April. It was only to reward the website while creating high-quality product reviews by ranking them better in search engines. Google was working to show its users content with Original and insightful analysis. It was checking in-depth for the contents that were written by the enthusiast or experts. This update took them around three days to completely roll out the information.
The search engine also shared a link where the website owners could find more information.
Local search update
30th November 2021
Google mentioned that this update would rebalance several factors that they considered vital while generating local search results. The update was made between 30th November to 8th December, which overlapped the core update rollout, which was made in December, along with the product review update.
Core update
17th November 2021
It was the final and the third core update made in 2022. Just like all the other core updates rolled out by Google, this update made in November 2021 has made a major impact on websites and search engine optimization among all languages. It took the search engine two weeks to completely roll out this update.
Spam update
3rd November 2021
Google made another announcement about an update to the users. It was about its new system for search spam detection. Google provided thorough guidance about the best practices of Google in the Google Webmaster guidelines. It would have a significant impact on all the websites that were choosing an unethical practice.
Link spam update
26th July 2021
Google has already mentioned the principal purpose of this link spam update. It said that it was going to nullify all the spammy links present across the web and in different languages. The website that will have such links will be majorly impacted on their ranking. So, Google advised all website owners to follow the best practices for all outgoing and incoming links.
Core update
1st July 2021
This was the second Core update rolled out by Google. It is like the typical core update made by the search engine. The July core update included a comprehensive update that changed the entire algorithm and not any specific single function. It took 12 days for the search engine to roll the complete core Update to release.
Spam update part two
28th June 2021
It was a sequel, as promised by the search engine about the spam update. Both the spam updates were global updates that targeted image and web-based results.
Spam update part one
23rd June 2021
Google made its first announcement about a spam update release to the system and also mentioned that the second will be released in the upcoming week. However, the search engine did not provide any additional guidance or details.
Page experience update
15th June 2021
Google has started using the new metrics for core web vitals. This would help it to understand how the users perceive specific webpage experiences. It included three major core web vital metrics, which include the largest content full paint or LCP that measures loading performance, first input deal or FID that measures its interactivity, and cumulative layout shift or CLS that measures the visual stability.
It is a part of the page experience update that includes ranking signals like mobile friendliness, HTTPS, page load speed, and intrusive ads. The rollout started very slowly and finished by the end of August.
Multitask unified model update
June 2021
The multitask unified model of Google was developed on the transformer architecture known as BERT. And it was a thousand times more powerful and immensely capable of multitasking that would innovatively connect user experience and information.
Core update
2nd June 2021
The core update is the first update rolled out by Google from the two back-to-back information. The search engine decided to release the updates separately as some of the updates they were planning to rule were not ready by June.
Just like any other Google core update, this update was wide-reaching and comprehensive. It impacted many sides that were not following the guidelines.
Product reviews update
8th April 2021
Just like any product reviews update, this update was solely made to improve and reward all the websites that way creating high-quality product reviews. It includes original research, in-depth analysis, and insightful writing. Google mentioned that such product review websites would be rewarded in the search rankings.
The search engine provided a list of questions to make sure that it becomes easier for the owners to understand what to include and how to create an authentic product review.
Passage ranking
10th February 2021
Google again announced through Twitter the passage ranking, which will be officially launched for English queries in the US. According to the search engine, this recent change does not necessarily mean that they are indexing individual passages of any page. They will be indexing pages and consider specific passages that will be informative and will be provided as information on the first page. If they think your passage from the content is effective, it will become a ranking factor.
Core update
3rd December 2020
Google finally confirmed its core algorithm update in December. This was the third update made by the search engine in the year 2020. A good amount of time was required for this update and there was a good gap from the last rolled update made by the search engine.
Core update
4th May 2020
Google again used Twitter to make an announcement about the broad update on the core algorithm. It took the search engine 1 to 2 weeks to finally make a complete rollout.
Snippet Deduplication
22nd January 2020
Danny Sullivan from Google took Twitter as a medium to talk about the new update. It confirmed that web pages that are featured in snippets will not get repeated in organic listings of Page 1. This was a significant change that affected the way of search listings throughout the world.
Core Update
13th January 2020
Google took Twitter as a medium to announce its broad core algorithm update. It made sure that a new core update would be released soon. It provided similar guidelines as the recent core algorithm updates.
Other algorithm updates:
- BERT on 9th December 2019
- BERT Update on 25th October 2019
- Broad Core Algorithm Update 24th September 2019
- Featured Snippets Update on 1st August 2019
- Core Update on 2nd June 2019
- Core Update on 12th March 2019
- Valentine’s Day Update on 13th February 2019
- Halloween Update on 31st October 2018
- Small update on 27th September 2018
- Broad Core Algorithm Update 1st August 2018
- Broad Core Algorithm Update 16th April 2018
- Broad Core Algorithm Update 9th March 2018
- Maccabees Update on 12th December 2017
- Quality update on 19th August 2017
Bottom Line:
Google is one of the search engines that have always kept marketers on their toes. It keeps providing a new Google SEO update that becomes beneficial for the users to keep enjoying the features. However, in case you don’t follow the guidelines in the latest SEO update made by this search engine, it can badly impact your business.
As a search engine has always preferred user experience, it keeps making SEO algorithm updates. With new technology and ideas, the latest Google algorithm update only improves and benefits the searchers. Whether you have a website or a blog, you need to be aware of the latest Google algorithm update to get a better ranking and improved visibility.
If you have just landed on this platform and you don’t have much idea about SEO algorithm updates, you can keep checking my blog. However, if you’re looking for an expert who can implement the latest Google Algo update according to your business, it is beneficial to make a wise choice. You can choose Digital Habibi, as I keep an eye on the regular Google update and make changes accordingly.
Since it is a vast platform with huge competition, you will just stay unrewarded if you don’t stay updated with the new Google algorithm update. So make sure that you choose a good expert who can ensure proper marketing and follow the SEO algorithm update to improve visibility and acquire faster results.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no such specific answer to this as it completely depends on the search engine. If you take a look at this blog, you will find that the frequency depends on the search engine itself. Many times users stay unnoticed about minor SEO updates that this search engine makes, but when it is about any major SEO algorithm update, it provides a detailed overview of it.
If you do not follow the latest Google algorithm update, it will only lead to getting unnoticed. When you follow the guidelines, it talks about your authenticity and credibility. Therefore, Google will reward you with better ranking, which will improve your visibility and conversion. So if you’re not following the SEO algorithm updates made by this search engine, you will stay back in the competition.
If you have an online business, irrespective of the industry, you need to stay updated with the latest Google algorithm update. Every business needs to abide by Google guidelines in order to improve its conversion and business. So all you need is to hire an experienced marketer who can implement the SEO new updates and help you to improve your ranking faster.
