At High Position our technical search team are continually researching and monitoring changes within search and, with 500+ Google algorithm changes each year, that’s no easy feat!
Most algorithmic changes are minor and go unnoticed to the untrained eye, but SEO’s and search marketers will understand that these updates may significantly impact search rankings, search traffic, and ultimately ROI.
Monitoring search flux, analysing update impact on SERPs, and reforming search strategy, as well as education our customers, form the day to day role of the High Position technical team. Whilst most SEO’s and those who fear Google will sulk at yet another change and hold their heads in despair, our SEO geeks love nothing more than getting their technical brains wrapped around an update.
Below is a historical timeline of the Google algorithmic search changes (that we’re are of!). We’d also recommend the following people / websites to follow to keep yourselves up to date!
Recommended on Twitter…
- High Position SEO on Twitter
- Matt Cutts, Head of Web Spam @ Google
- Ben Milleare, Technical Director, High Position
- Tom Jepson, Head of SEO, High Position
- Chris Ainsworth, Technical Team Leader, High Position
Recommended Blogs…
Algorithm Update Timeline
The “Hacked Spam” update is an algorithmic changes targeting hacked spam within search results, estimated to impact ~5% of search queries.
An update on how we tackle hacked spam (Google Webmaster Blog)
Almost 10 months after Panda 4.1 Google confirmed to Search Engine Land the slow rollout of Panda 4.2 estimated to impact ~2-3% of English language queries. According to Search Engine Land the update will take months to roll out therefore winners/losers may not see immediate impact.
Google Panda 4.2 Is Here; Slowly Rolling Out (Search Engine Land)
Google Panda Update Coming In Upcoming Weeks (Search Engine Land)
Confirmation of an update to the core algorithm following industry speculation surrounding SERP flux.
Google Core Algorithm Change: Not Panda, Not Penguin & Not HTTPS (Search Engine Roundtable)
Google Update Happening? Maybe Panda About To Kick Off? (Search Engine Roundtable)
After much speculation Google confirmed the release of an algorithmic change dubbed ‘The Quality Update’, initial thought by many to be Panda related. Although no specific details were revealed Google said the change affected the core ranking algorithm and how it processes quality signals.
Google Confirm ‘The Quality Update’ (Search Engine Land)
Google’s ‘phantom’ algorithm update hits websites (CNBC)
Google Deny Panda Update (Search Engine Roundtable)
Possible Panda Update (Search Engine Roundtable)
In an unprecedented announcement Google pre-announced a major algorithm change for mobile search results. Dubbed ‘Mobilegeddon’ the mobile-friendly update is in essence an algorithmic changes designed to reward mobile-friendly web pages. The implied reward is delivered in the form of a ranking boost to mobile-friendly web pages within Google’s mobile search results.
What you NEED to know about Google's Mobile Friendly Algorithm Update (High Position)
Finding More Mobile-Friendly Search Results (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
What Is Mobilegeddon & The Google Mobile Friendly Update (Search Engine Land)
Google announced an update to the way in which Google handles doorway pages as “coming soon” on 16th March.
The roll out was confirmed by Google’s John Mueller on 24th April.
An Update on Doorway Pages (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
The Doorway Algorithm Did Launch (Search Engine Roundtable)
Google Brand-eCommerce “Update” Causing Fluctuations (Search Metrics)
Pigeon Update Rolls Out To UK, Canada & Australia (Search Engine Land)
Google Finally Releasing New “Pirate Update” To Fight Piracy (Search Engine Land)
Confirmed as still rolling out on 28th November 2014
Confirmed: Google Penguin 3.0 Released (Search Engine Roundtable)
Google Confirms Penguin Rollout Continued Into Thanksgiving Day (Search Engine Roundtable)
Slow rollout commencing earlier W/C 22nd September
Panda 4.1 Slow Rollout Commences (High Position)
Authorship Removed from Search (John Mueller, Google+)
Google “Pigeon” Updates Local Search Algorithm (Search Engine Land)
Removal of Authorship Photos from SERPS (John Mueller, Google+)
Google Spam Algorithm Version 3.0 Launches (Search Engine Roundtable)
Google Payday Loan Algorithm 2.0 Roll-Out Confirmed (High Position)
Google Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm (Search Engine Land)
A change to the way Google handles exact-match domains (EMDs).
Google’s EMD Update - The Numbers (High Position)
Search quality highlights: 86 changes for June and July (Google Inside Search)
Introducing the Knowledge Graph (Google Official Blog)
Another step to reward high-quality sites (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
Page layout algorithm improvement (Google Inside Search)
Giving you fresher, more recent search results (Google Official Blog)
Confirmed: Google Panda 2.5 Update Arrived This Week (Search Engine Land)
The evolution of sitelinks: expanded and improved (Google Inside Search)
High-quality sites algorithm launched in additional languages (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web (Google Official Blog)
Google, Bing & Yahoo Unite To Make Search Listings Richer Through Structured Data (Search Engine Land)
High-quality sites algorithm goes global, incorporates user feedback (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
Finding more high-quality sites in search (Google Official Blog)
Google Webmaster Video Reconfirms Use Of Social Signals (Search Engine Land)
Being bad to your customers is bad for business (Google Official Blog)
Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews (Google Official Blog)
Help test some next-generation infrastructure (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
Canonical URL Tag - The Most Important Advancement in SEO Practices Since Sitemaps (Moz)
Google’s Vince Update Produces Big Brand Rankings (Search Engine Land)
Universal Search: The best answer is still the best answer (Google Official Blog)
Confusion Over Google’s Supplemental Index (Search Engine Roundtable)
Google’s Cutts Says Not An Update - I Say An Update, Just Not A Dance (Search Engine Watch)
WebmasterWorld Names Google Update; Bourbon (Search Engine Roundtable)
The latest on update Austin (Google’s January update) (Search Engine Journal)
Search Engine Size Wars & Google’s Supplemental Results (Search Engine Watch)
Google Launches The Google Toolbar (News From Google)
