Google Algorithm Updates

Google upgraded their algorithm and underlying hardware to support the BERT natural language processing (NLP) model. BERT helps Google better interpret natural language searches and understand context.

• Understanding searches better than ever before (Google)
• What Is BERT? – Whiteboard Friday (Moz)

SERP trackers registered multiple days of ranking flux, with MozCast showing early signs on October 2 and peaking at 98°F on October 4. Google did not confirm an update, and no details were forthcoming.

• Possible Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On October 3rd (SER)

Google rolled out another core update. The update measured at 97°F on MozCast (fairly high, but not historically high) and seemed to impact sites affected by previous core updates. Google did not provide many details.

• Google September 2019 core update to roll-out later today (SEL)
• The September 2019 Google Core Update – Case studies … (GSQi)

Ranking trackers and webmaster chatter registered a week of heavy flux (MozCast peaked at 95°F on July 16) that was later dubbed the “Maverick” update by the search community. Google did not confirm an update, and details were limited.

• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Again: Update Maverick (SER)
• Unconfirmed “Maverick” Google Algorithm Update: July 2019 (Performics)

Google pre-announced a “site diversity” update, claiming it would improve situations where sites had more than two organic listings. Moz data showed that, while the update did marginally improve SERPs with 3-5 duplicate sites on page one, the impact was relatively small.

• Did Google’s Site Diversity Update Live Up to its Promise? (Moz)
• Google search update aims to show more diverse results from different domain names (SEL)

Google confirmed a bug that dropped pages from the search index around the weekend of April 5th. Moz data suggested drops on April 5th and 7th, with about 4% of stable URLs falling off of page one. Most sites recovered soon after.

• How Bad Was Google’s Deindexing Bug? (Moz)
• Google says de-indexing issue is fixed (SEL)

Google confirmed a “core” update, stating it was the third major core update since they began using that label. MozCast hit a peak of 101.2°F, a bit below March 1st temperatures. No specific details were given about the nature of the update.

• Google released a broad core search algorithm on March 12 (SEL)
• Google Names The 3/12 Update The “March 2019 Core Update” (SER)

For one day, Google showed anomalous page-1 counts, with up to 19 organic results. These appeared to be related to In-depth Articles, which disappeared entirely on March 6. MozCast reached 108.2°F, but it’s unclear how much of this was due to the temporary boost in organic counts.

• March 1st Google Update: The Mysterious Case of the 19-Result SERPs (Moz)
• March 1st Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update – Unconfirmed (SER)

After a relatively quiet December and January, tracking tools detected heavy ranking flux, with MozCast reaching 103.4°F.

• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Happening Today? (SER)

Google confirmed a “broad core algorithm update,” with wide reports of massive impact. It rolled out over the period of about a week, but peaked on August 1-2. This update seemed to disproportionately affect sites in the health and wellness vertical, although large-scale impact was seen in all verticals.

• Google’s August 1st Core Update: Week 1 (Moz)
• Google Medic Update: Google’s Core Search Update Had Big Impact On Health/Medical Sites (SER)
• The August 1, 2018 Google Update strongly affected YMYL sites (MarieHaynes.com)

After warning users of unsecured (non-HTTPS) forms months earlier, Chrome 68 began marking all non-HTTPS sites as “not secure.” The changes rolled out on July 24, but rely on users installing the latest Chrome version, which can take weeks or months.

• A milestone for Chrome security: marking HTTP as “not secure” (Google)
• Chrome starts telling users HTTP sites are not secure (SEL)

Algorithm trackers and webmaster chatter signaled heavy rankings flux, but Google did not confirm. MozCast recorded its highest temperature in 2018 at 114°F.

• Google Search Algorithm Update Saturday July 21st? (SER)

Six months after announcing it, Google rolled out the mobile page speed update, making page speed a ranking factor for mobile results. Google claimed that this only affected the slowest mobile sites, and there was no evidence of major mobile rankings shifts.

• Using page speed in mobile search ranking (Google)
• It’s Live: Google Speed Update Now Rolling Out (SER)

Google moved videos from organic-like results with thumbnails into a dedicated video carousel, causing a shake-up in results that were previously tracked as organic. At the same time, the number of SERPs with videos increased significantly (+60% in MozCast).

• Google Is Replacing Video Thumbnails with A Desktop Carousel (RankRanger)
• Trapped In Google’s New Video Carousels – A Dangerous SERP Feature For Some Ecommerce Retailers (GSQi)

Algorithm tracking tools and webmaster chatter showed heavy activity, but Google did not confirm an update. MozCast showed very high temperatures over a 3-day period, peaking on May 23.

• Is Another Google Update Happening In May? (SER)

After testing longer display snippets of up to 300+ characters for a few months, Google rolled back most snippets to the former limit (about 150-160 characters).

• Google confirms it shortened search results snippets after expanding them last December (SEL)
• How to Write Meta Descriptions in a Constantly Changing World (Moz)

MozCast picked up heavy algorithm flux that peaked on April 17 and continued for over a week. Google later confirmed a “core” update, but didn’t provide any specifics and the update wasn’t named by Google or the SEO community.

• Google confirms rolling out a broad core search algorithm update earlier this week (SEL)
• Google Ranking Algorithm Update Continues On For Over A Week (SER)

Google announced that the mobile-first index was finally “rolling out.” Since the index has been in testing for many months, and Google has suggested they are migrating sites gradually, it’s unclear how much impact this specific roll-out had on the overall index. Webmaster should begin to see notifications within Google Search Console.

• Rolling out mobile-first indexing (Google)
• Google begins rolling out mobile-first indexing to more sites (SEL)

On a small set of Knowledge Cards, including some time/date queries and unit conversion calculators, Google started displaying zero organic results and a “Show all results” button. A week later, Google stopped this test, but we believe it is an important sign of things to come.

• Zero-Result SERPs: Welcome to the Future We Should’ve Known Was Coming (Moz)
• In-Depth Look at Google’s New Zero Result Search Results (SEM Post)

Google confirmed a “core” update on March 7th, but volatility spiked as early as March 4th, with a second spike on March 8th, and continued for almost two weeks. This may have been multiple updates or one prolonged, rolling update. The “Brackets” name was coined by Glenn Gabe; no details were provided by Google.

• The Brackets Update – Analysis and Findings From The March 7, 2018 Google Algorithm Update (GSQi)
• Google Confirmed Weekend Algorithm Ranking Shift As “Core Update” (SER)

Rankings showed a spike in volatility (across a number of tools) around February 20th, which quickly settled down, sometimes signalling a targeted algorithm update. Google did not confirm any update in this time period.

• Google Algorithm Update Chatter & Signals February 20th (SER)

Chatter and several tools showed ranking volatility around December 14th. Barry Schwartz named this the “Maccabees” update, but Google would only confirm that several small updates had happened in the general timeline. Pre-holiday updates tend to get more attention (and are generally rarer) due to their disruptive effect on e-commerce.

• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update: The Maccabees Update (SER)
• Google confirms mid-December search ranking algorithm updates (SEL)

After testing longer search snippets for over two years, Google increased them across a large number of results. This led us to adopt a new Meta Description limit — up to 300 characters from the previous 155 (almost doubling). Google confirmed an update to how snippets are handled, but didn’t provide details.

• How Long Should Your Meta Description Be? — 2018 Edition (Moz)
• Google officially increases length of snippets in search results (SEL)
• Google Shuffles Global SERP Feature Trends (RankRanger)

Algorithm trackers and webmaster chatter detected a high amount of flux, peaking (in our data) around November 15. Google did not confirm an official update.

• Mid-November Google Algorithm Search Ranking Update (SER)

Over a period of a few days from October 27-31, there was a substantial drop in Featured Snippets. This co-occurred with a jump in Knowledge Panels, as Google seemed to add many panels for broad terms and objects (“travel”, “toilet”, “web design”, etc.). Some of these panels disappeared around December 15.

• Knowledge Graph Eats Featured Snippets, Jumps +30% (Moz)
• Is the featured snippet bubble bursting? (SEL)

With the launch of Chrome 62, Google started warning visitors to sites with unsecured forms. While not an algorithm update, this was an important step in Google’s push toward HTTPS and may have a material impact on site traffic.

• Next steps toward more connection security (Chromium)
• Google emails warnings to webmasters that Chrome will mark http pages with forms as ‘not secure’ (SEL)

Algorithm trackers (including MozCast) and webmaster chatter spotted increasing flux starting around September 25th, which seemed to spike on the 27th, after a period of relative calm. No update was officially confirmed.

• More Google Algorithm & Search Results Shuffling (SER)

Google officially launched their jobs portal, including a stand-alone 3-pack of job listings in search results. These results drew data from almost all of the major providers, including LinkedIn, Monster, Glassdoor, and CareerBuilder.

• Connect to job seekers with Google Search (Google)
• Google launches its AI-powered jobs search engine (TechCrunch)

MozCast and other tools tracked a massive, multi-day spike that kicked off around May 17th. This preceded a sustained period of high algorithmic flux that may not have settled down for months.

• Was There A Google Algorithm Update Starting On Wednesday? (SER)
• The May 17, 2017 Google Algorithm Update (GSQi)
• Google Search Ranking & Algorithm Shifts Still Underway (SER)

According to our MozCast 10K tracking set, half of page-1 Google organic results were secure/HTTPs as of mid-April. This increased to close to 75% by the end of 2017.

• Half of Page-1 Google Results Are Now HTTPS (Moz)

Google rolled out what appeared to be a major update, with reports of widespread impacts across the SEO community. Gary Illyes jokingly referred to is as “Fred”, and the name stuck, but he later made it clear that this was not an official confirmation.

• New, unconfirmed Google ranking update ‘Fred’ shakes the SEO world (SEL)
• Did Google’s Fred update hit low-value content sites that focus on revenue, not users? (SEL)

Algorithm changes beginning on February 1st continued for a full week, peaking around February 6th (some reported the 7th). Webmaster chatter and industry case studies suggest these were separate events.

• The February 7, 2017 Google Algorithm Update – Analysis and Findings From A Significant Core Ranking Update (GSQi)
• February 7th Google Algorithm Update Was Big (SER)

There was a period of heavy algorithm flux starting around February 1st and peaking around February 6th. It is unclear whether this was multiple algorithm updates or a single update with an extended roll-out, but anecdotal evidence suggests at least two updates.

• Unconfirmed Google algorithm update may be better at discounting links and spam (SEL)

Google started rolling out a penalty to punish aggressive interstitials and pop-ups that might damage the mobile user experience. Google also provided a rare warning of this update five months in advance. MozCast showed high temperatures from January 10-11, but many SEOs reported minimal impact on sites that should have been affected.

• Google warns it will crack down on “intrusive interstitials” in January (SEL)
• Official: Google Intrusive Interstitials Mobile Penalty Now Rolling Out (SER)

Multiple Google trackers showed massive flux around December 14-15, including a rare MozCast temperature of 109°F. Webmaster chatter was heavy as well, but Google did not confirm an update.

• December 15th Google Search Algorithm Update Signals (SER)

MozCast detected a major (106°) spike on November 10th and another on the 18th. Industry chatter was high during both periods, with some suggesting that the second spike was a reversal of the first update. Google has not confirmed either event. Many people reported bad dates in SERPs during the same time period, but it’s unclear whether this was causal or just a coincidence.

• November 10, 2016 Google Algorithm Update – Was It A Core Ranking Update, The Mobile-first Index Being Tested, or Both? (GSQi)
• Was There A Google Search Update On November 10th? (SER)

The second phase of Penguin 4.0 was the reversal of all previous Penguin penalties. This seemed to happen after the new code rolled out, and may have taken as long as two weeks. Post-Penguin activity had one final peak on October 6th (116°), but it is unclear whether this was Penguin or a new update. Algorithm temperatures finally started to drop after October 6th.

The first phase of Penguin 4.0, which probably launched around September 22-23, was the rollout of the new, “gentler” Penguin algorithm, which devalues bad links instead of penalizing sites. The exact timeline is unconfirmed, but we believe this rollout took at least a few days to fully update, and may have corresponded to an algorithm temperature spike (113°) on September 27th.

• Why Didn’t You Recover from Penguin? (Moz)

After almost two years of waiting, Google finally announced a major Penguin update. They suggested the new Penguin is now real-time and baked into the “core” algorithm. Initial impact assessments were small, but it was later revealed that the Penguin 4.0 rollout was unusually long and multi-phase (see September 27th and October 6th).

• Penguin is now part of our core algorithm (Google)
• Google updates Penguin, says it now runs in real time within the core search algorithm (SEL)

MozCast recorded a nearly-record 111° temperature and a 50% drop in SERPs with image (universal/vertical) results. The universal result shake-up opened up an organic position on page 1, causing substantial ranking shifts, but it’s likely that this was part of a much larger update.

• Penguin 4.0: Was It Worth the Wait? (Moz)

While unconfirmed by Google, MozCast recorded extreme temperatures of 108° and a drop in local pack prevalence, and the local SEO community noted a major shake-up in pack results. Data suggests this update (or a simultaneous update) also heavily impacted organic results.

• Everything you need to know about Google’s ‘Possum’ algorithm update (SEL)
• Is a big Google search update happening? Chatter thinks so. (SEL)

Just more than a year after the original “mobile friendly” update, Google rolled out another ranking signal boost to benefit mobile-friendly sites on mobile search. Since the majority of sites we track are already mobile-friendly, it’s likely the impact of the latest update was small.

• Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm boost has rolled out (SEL)
• Continuing to make the web more mobile friendly (Google)

MozCast and other Google weather trackers showed a historically rare week-long pattern of algorithm activity, including a 97-degree spike. Google would not confirm this update, and no explanation is currently available.

• Google Dismisses Any Recent Major Algorithm Update (SER)

Google made major changes to AdWords, removing right-column ads entirely and rolling out 4-ad top blocks on many commercial searches. While this was a paid search update, it had significant implications for CTR for both paid and organic results, especially on competitive keywords.

• Four Ads on Top: The Wait Is Over (Moz)
• Google AdWords Switching to 4 Ads on Top, None on Sidebar (SEM Post)

Multiple tracking tools (including MozCast) reported historically-large rankings movement, which Google later confirmed as a “core algo update”. Google officially said that this was not a Penguin update, but details remain sketchy.

• Google Confirms: Core Search Ranking Update Took Place But Not Penguin Related (SER)