Google Algorithm Updates From The Start Till 2022- The History!

Keeping up with Google's most recent updates is a must for any SEO campaign. It will allow you to stay competitive and avoid being left behind in the often-changing world of search engine optimization trends, which can make all the difference when it comes time to ranking on top results pages during searches online. Keeping abreast about past changes means that your website has more chance at getting found by potential customers who are searching through their options - something every business relies upon.

Updates for the year 2021

Release of Yet Another Anti-Spam Update (November 3)

Google provided another spam update in November to complete the two that were released in June to improve the search experience for users. It took a week for this update to go live. Google advised firms to follow the best practices outlined in their Webmaster Guidelines to avoid negatively impacted.

Google's Page Title Update Changes Titles (August 16)

As a result of this improvement, several website owners have noticed that their Google search results names have been significantly altered. Pages were experiencing a decrease in performance due to this.

New titles would be generated by combining H1 tags, picture tags, and anchor text data. As a result, many page titles may or may not adequately reflect the content. Therefore, websites are advised to adapt their titles to be more actionable to prevent alterations.

Another Google Core Update Is Available (July 1)

After the June 2021 update, this one took 12 days to be released in full. As a result, many web pages won't notice any substantial performance changes due to this Core Update. As a result of this update, Google made several modifications to how it crawls and analyses web content.

Updates to the Page User Interface Have Been Made (June 25)

When Google launched its new Core Web Vitals, this was a huge update. A website's user experience is now evaluated using these measures, considered ranking considerations.

It includes LCP (the largest contentful paint) FID (the first input delay). In addition, CLS (the core web vitals) are also included (Cumulative Layout Shift).

Both organic and news results were affected by this upgrade.

There are two new spam updates from Google (June 23, June 28)

These two updates were implemented to limit the number of spam pages that appear in the search results for both regular and picture searches. There was a need for all websites to upgrade their SSL certificates. Checking for any security vulnerabilities and routinely cleaning up their links were also recommended.

After a long wait, Google has finally released its first major update of 2016. (June 2)

The Google Algorithm Core upgrade took ten days to implement and affected many Google products and services. It has an essential impact on the success of numerous firms in search results. Some people saw a rise in their position, while others declined.

Google's Product Reviews Are Getting a Makeover (April 8)

More in-depth evaluations are now preferred and valued above shorter ones due to this modification. This is being done to assist Google in creating a better user experience by helping to improve the quality of online reviews.

With its latest indexing change, Google prioritizes mobile users (March 5)

Mobile-first indexing was already the default for all new websites built after July of this year. After this change, all websites will be indexed through their mobile version, regardless of when they were first built. Because mobile traffic is now the primary search mode, Google has implemented this change.

Google Has rolled out Passage Indexing for queries in the United States and English (February 10)

Google could index individual web pages and individual paragraphs and sentences using artificial intelligence. This was done because they aimed for quick and effective answers on the SERPs.

The following are the most recent updates for 2020.

The Google Core Update for May 2020 Has Been Announced (May 4)

The most recent significant Google update occurred in May 2020. Instead of emphasizing a website's search authority, Google's most recent core algorithm upgrade emphasized variety and high-quality content. These changes aided the visibility of newer, smaller websites in recent Google search results.

Featured Snippet Deduplication Has Been Revealed by Google (January 22)

The most recent Google algorithm change impacted featured Snippets. Featured Snippets no longer appear with standard organic search results; now, only Featured Snippets appear.

The Google Core Update for January 2020 Has Been Announced (January 13)

Google's most recent algorithmic upgrade included some additions and alterations. Because of its extensive scope, it had a significant impact on global search engine results. There were instant increases for specific websites and a decrease in traffic for others.

Updates for 2019

Updates to the "BERT" Algorithm Have Been Released (October 24)

They called it their most significant change in five years. As a result of this change, Google processed more complex, conversational inquiries. Around 10% of all inquiries were estimated to be affected by the update.

The Google Core Update for September 2019 Has Been Unveiled (September 24)

This was the most recent major Google algorithm update in 2019, and it took place in September of that year. In contrast to the previous E-A-T criterion revisions in June and March. Google has suggested that any websites affected by this core update pay more attention to the following four factors:

  • Both in terms of content and overall quality
  • The presentation and the production
  • Competitive analysis skills

Google Has Announced A Major Algorithm Update For June 2019 (June 2)

Pre-announced by Google, the June update differed from prior versions given without warning. Various niches saw significant fluctuations in results after the upgrade because of Google's heavy focus on search intent.

Google has released the March 2019 Broad Core Update (March 13)

Data from the March 2019 core update shows that this is independent of the prior "Medic" upgrade's impact on Google's algorithm. This upgrade focused on rewarding websites that provide a positive experience for their visitors for the most part.

Updates for 2018

Released is the "Medic" Broad Core Algorithm (August 1)

No specific factors were targeted in this fundamental Google SERP change. However, the "Medic" appellation was given to the update since it substantially influenced several high-profile health and medical websites.

The Quality of the Algorithm (May)

Google's search algorithm underwent a series of changes around the middle of May. This Google algorithm upgrade penalized websites that produced pages with little or no content. The ranking authority of sites with significant bounce rates, slow loading times, and a lot of advertising was also significantly reduced.

Announcing the quality update to the core algorithm for April of this year (April 16)

A new entry was added to the Google penalties guide following this significant change. Again, websites with high-quality and valuable information were given an advantage over their rivals. However, when it came to the content, those with little to no substance were penalized.

Google has confirmed that the April 16 algorithm update will take place.

A fundamental algorithmic shift at Google (March)

Search engine optimization (SEO) best practices were rewarded in Google's mid-March search algorithm update.

Here's what's new in 2017!

The "Maccabees" Update on Google (December 14)

This algorithm modification, dubbed "Maccabees," was not officially announced by Google. Only confirmation of numerous minor updates that occurred around the same time was provided as part of the update. Nevertheless, many e-commerce platforms and well-known digital marketers' websites suffered over the busy Christmas season because of the "Maccabees" algorithm upgrade.

Unveiling of Google Fred (March)

The Google Fred upgrade penalized only websites with low-quality content and a focus on money. Google Fred, which caused a 90 percent decline in traffic to some sites, serves as an excellent example of the harm that Google penalties may do.

Is Google Fred targeting low-quality content sites?

Google has cleaned up its act a bit (February)

Google delivered two critical improvements in a week in the early part of February. Unnamed and without formal announcements, experts wondered how Google's algorithm for SEO had altered its guidelines. Some believe that it improved the algorithm's ability to distinguish between legitimate links and spam.

Implementation of Popup Penalty (January 10)

Known as the popup penalty, Google introduced its intrusive interstitial penalty in 2017. This was done to penalize websites that used popups that were too invasive.

Google's Intrusive Interstitial Penalty is now in effect.

Updates for 2016

Google Penguin 4.0 Has Been Released (September 23)

The latest version of Google Penguin, version 4.0, was released with many enhancements. First and foremost, Penguin became an integral part of Google's core algorithm, updating it in real-time. The second benefit was that rankings were no longer affected by the domain as a whole but were now more page-specific.

The Game Has Been Changed by Google (September)

Several search engine optimization (SEO) tools reported a significant increase in SERP volatility in early September. For local search, this was especially true. Many specialists struggled to discover reliable information about what exactly Google did. There were no pauses in updating. Results began to shift again around the middle of September.

Websites that are optimized for mobile devices (May 12)

Websites with a strong focus on mobile consumers will benefit from this new feature. Mobile-friendly websites saw their search engine ranks rise slightly due to the update.

AdWords Changes (February 23)

A fourth ad has been added to the typical top block of search results, replacing the removed sidebar advertising.

An update dubbed "Ghost" (January 8)

Some SEO-related tools reported changes and oscillations in the search engine results page (SERP) early in January. In the absence of any public announcement of these alterations, marketing experts assumed this was the newest Penguin update. On the other hand, the company promptly dispelled this rumor and eventually acknowledged that it was, in fact, a change to the algorithm's core. Despite this "ghost" update, it appears to have had no negative impact on its bottom line.

An Algorithm Change in "RankBrain" (October 26)

Google announced the "RankBrain" algorithm adjustment in late October. Artificial intelligence learning was effectively incorporated in this upgrade to enhance the search process further. Although it was first revealed in October, it was available for use months earlier than that. The ranking factors were not significantly altered by implementing "RankBrain."

According to the company's blog post, Google is now using artificial intelligence (AI) machines to perform web searches.

Google's October 14/15 Zombie Update

In the middle of October, several web admins noticed a substantial shift in search results, which was not an official Google update.

The Snack Pack is a new feature from Google (August)

"Snack Pack," despite not changing the algorithm, was a massive change in the realm of local search. Instead of the typical 7-pack, Google decided to go with a 3-pack. This was the most significant update to Google's local algorithm since Pigeon was introduced just a few years ago.

The Release Date of Panda 4.2 Has Been Announced (July 17)

There was no activity on July 17 despite announcing a new Panda update from Google. As a result of Google stating that the Panda 4.2 adjustments would be implemented over months,

Google has implemented a Quality Enhancement (May 3)

Known as "Phantom 2," this update was not previously published by Google. It wasn't until the following day that the alteration was announced, but web marketers had already noticed something was amiss. While Google didn't detail what the modification contained, they simply stated that it was an improvement to "quality signals."

The "Mobilegeddon" Update from Google (April 22)

Google's search algorithm was tweaked to improve the ranking of mobile results. Unfortunately, while it gave preference to mobile-friendly sites, it degraded the rankings of sites that were not mobile-friendly.

In some circles, this update was referred to as "Mobilegeddon," and many were expecting a significant shake-up in the SEO industry. However, overall, the impact was less than expected.

Google's Unnamed Update (February 4)

There wasn't a significant change in Google's algorithm in the first half of 2015. Google didn't make any official announcements about the change. On the other hand, SERP tracking tools showed a considerable shift in search results. Gmail responded by saying that Google was making tweaks and no new software needed to be installed.

Running an SEO campaign means being on top of Google's most recent updates at all times. To stay ahead of the opposition, you need to keep up with Google's algorithm adjustments. It's also essential to keep up with the latest SEO trends so that your website can be found on the top page of search results.

Conclusion

Google is always making adjustments to the way in which it judges websites. This means that you need to stay updated on all of these updates, but also learn about previous changes so as not to miss out on any opportunities for improvement! After reading this article about what Google expects from your website content and structure (including penalties), we're confident no issue will go overlooked any more than before- now there's an understanding of exactly where each factor falls within its category.

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