Google is a major player in the arena of search engines. In fact, some say that this entire arena was initiated by Google itself but this is not the case. Many search engines existed before the advent of Google. Google just happened to streamline the process of search engine optimization and considered it as a top priority. This is why it took most pieces of the cake and it continues to do so today, while other similar search engines like Yahoo and Bing could not.

 

Since its inception, Google has been regularly updating its algorithms to rank different websites by relevance to a keyword. These webpages are then seen through the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) which is very much based on the relevance of keywords. The relevance itself is found through complex algorithms and relevant signals laid down by Google. Down below are the various Google Algorithms that have taken place at Google over the years. These updates have shaped up the current algorithm scheme which websites need to follow in order to achieve visibility.

Florida Update – November 16, 2003

The first ever update to take place was the Florida update by Google. This update ushered a new era for the process of Search Engine Optimization. This was done to wipe the search results that were using unethical tactics (like keyword stuffing and hidden links) to optimize themselves to rank high on Google. Due to this update, many of the commercial search results were wiped out.

Jagger Update – September 1, 2005

This one took place in three phases called Jagger 1, Jagger 2, and Jagger 3. In this updates, the practice of manipulative link-building was the target. The first one started with focusing on backlinks and other types of spamming related activities. Due to it there was a huge reduction in the duplications of the meta titles, excessive internal links, and there was an improvement in the structure and architecture of a URL. This one laid down the best practices of SEO we use today.

Big Daddy Update – December 1, 2005

This was a long and gradual update due to it being an infrastructure update. This one went on till March 2006. Big Daddy upon its release received complaints that were actually unrelated to it when Google also tried to get feedback about it from their users. This one handled the URL canonicalization and redirects, which many at the times led to the disappearance of some websites from the (SERPS).

Vince Update – January 18, 2009

This update was done to competitive keywords at a much broader level to make bigger brands more visible rather than the competitive search engine optimized links. The other half, which did not make it included affiliate sites, non-authoritative sites, and sites ranking high due to search engine optimization techniques.

Caffeine Update – August 10, 2009

This update was done to let Google crawl and store data more efficiently through better indexing. The main role of this update was to provide a system of indexing web pages.

Mayday Update – April 28, 2010

This update made sure that there was an improvement to how Google assessed long-term queries.

Panda Update – February 23, 2011

This was the first ever iteration of the Panda update. This update mightily impacted around 12% of Google search queries. It ended the ‘content farm’, which at the time was considered a legit and popular tactic of search engine optimization. Unnamed at first, Google finally came up with a name that was based on the architect of this very algorithm.

 

• Panda 2.0 Update to Panda Update 3.0 – April 11, 2011 to October 19, 2011

 

This was the second iteration of Panda but was considered the first update to the Panda core algorithm. This update includes the addition of indicators like the sites that Google blocks. There was another update to it and was labeled as 2.x (starting from 2.1) but Google insisted that this was data refresh, which to this day it still says that their 2.x’s are. In Panda 3.0, Google added some additional signals for the algorithm and calculated how they impacted the search results.

 

• Panda 3.1 to 3.9.2 Updates – November 18, 2011 to September 18, 2012

 

The Panda 3.1 was the usual data fresh up update.

 

• Panda Update from September 27, 2012, onwards to it becoming part of Google core algorithm.

 

To this day, it has been not confirmed but Matt Cutts suggests that Panda Update # 25 would be the final update until it is incorporated into Google’s core algorithm. Since then Google has been rolling out data refreshers for 10 day period, every month. Data refresh and incorporation into the core algorithm.

 

• Panda 4.0 Update to Panda Core Algorithm Incorporation – May 20, 2014 to January 11, 2016.

 

Panda 4.0 update was the same data fresh up update, whose version 4.1 and 4.2 were also the same update. It went like this until Panda was essentially incorporated into Google’s core algorithm.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Low content
• Duplication
• User Spamming
• Bad User Experience
• Keyword Stuffing

 

Freshness Update – November 3, 2011

This one impacted around 35 percent of the websites on the internet and how they portrayed their search results based on how fresh they were. These fresh results were based on things that were current events and hot topics.

The Page Layout Update – January 19, 2012

This one targeted the links with too many advertisements

 

• The Page Layout Update – February 6, 2014

 

This was a simple refresh as no change to the core algorithm was found. It was found that Google simply reran the algorithm and updated its index.

Venice Update – February 27, 2012

Through this update, Google began using either the physical or the IP address of the user.

Penguin Update – April 24, 2012

The Penguin update has been a long-awaited ‘over optimization’ penalty that arrived in the date of April 24, 2012. This one was initiated to downrank the over optimized (keyword stuffing, unnatural link building) pages that were breaking the mold of Google Webmaster Guidelines. This update affected 3.1 percent of the English language queries.

 

• Penguin 1.1 to 2.0 Update – May 26, 2012 to May 22, 2013

 

These were the data refresh of the core Penguin update, usually affecting 0.1 percent of English language queries. The Penguin 2.0 was the ‘next generation’ of the core Penguin update, which made a more in-depth search of link spamming besides looking into homepages and high-level category pages. The 2.0 affected 2.3 percent of English language queries in the US.

 

• Penguin 2.1 – October 4, 2013

 

The Penguin 2.1 was the first of the Penguin 2.0 data refresh that impacted 2.1 percent searches worldwide.

 

• Penguin 3.0 Update – October 17, 2014

 

In this update, a data refresh happened again. Penguin 3.0 was rolled out to fight spammy websites especially those of which voilates Google’s guideline about linking.

 

• Penguin 4.0 Update and Core Algorithm Integration – September 23, 2016

 

Through this Google was now implementing search results evaluation in real time. Another addition was that it devalued the links rather than downgrading.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Links that are of poor quality.
• Links that are paid for.
• Links originating from irrelevant sites

Pirates Update – August 2012

This update was created to fight the links that were infringing copyrights that were ranking well in the Google search. The main affectees were popular pirate sites that were offering movies, games, music, books and these were mostly torrent sites.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Pirated Content
• Excessive copyright infringement content

Exact Domain Update – September 28, 2012

This one targeted the spammy or low-quality exact match domains.

Payday Loan Update – June 11, 2013

The payday loan update targeted the websites relating to shady industries like the ones that charged high-interest loans, payday loans, porn and casinos. This update took around 1 to 2 months and affected around 0.3 percent of US queries.

 

• Payday Loan 2.0 Update – May 16, 2014

 

A next generation of the Payday Loan Update that targets spammy websites

 

• Payday Loan 3.0 Update – June 12, 2014

 

Target spammy queries and also dealt with negative SEO threats.

The HummingBird Update – September 26, 2013

This one was a major change to the core algorithm of Google. This update dealt with complex search queries after the rise of conventional search queries and other non-traditional search queries like voice searches. This algorithm actually tries to find intent rather than the keywords in the searcher’s query. This one tries to find the meaning behind the searched query. This update affected 90 percent of the searches worldwide.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Same keyword matching
• Keyword Stuffing

Pigeon Update – July 24, 2014

Google started using the traditional signals for ranking and influencing the local search results. This one improved location ranking and distance parameters. This included a link between the local algorithm and the core algorithm. This meant that from this update onwards same SEO factors were to be used for both local and non-local Google search results.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Google my page not properly installed
• Inconsistencies related to NAP
• The absence of Citations in directories that are local
• Bad optimization of a page

Mobile Friendly Update – April 21, 2015

This update was created to provide better search ranking for mobile-friendly websites and this update made an impact on all of the globe’s language. It is a page level factor algorithm, which means one page can be approved as mobile-friendly while the whole other site can fail the test.

 

• Mobile Friendly 2.0 Update – May 12, 2016

 

It was meant to increase the ranking signal of Google

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Missing Mobile Version
• The wrong configuration of a viewport
• Unreadable content
• Use of plugins

Quality Update – May 3, 2015

This one affected Google’s core algorithm and websites with most ads were affected by this algorithm. This one happened throughout 2015, 2016 and 2017.

RankBrain Update – October 26, 2015

This was a new addition to the core algorithm and introduced machine learning to the mix. This was done to help Google handle the search queries more comprehensively as the machine learning algorithm filter out the search results to give the best answers to the user. It affected 15 percent of the queries. This one is a machine learning system that filters out the meaning behind the searcher’s queries. Machine learning helps with serving best-matched results based on the meaning of the searcher’s query.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Bad User Experience
• Lack of query-based relevance features

Possum Update – September 1,  2016

This update’s goal is to search and deliver results that are diverse that are in turn based on the searcher’s and business address. After the implementation of this very same update, Google search results became physical location based.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Sharing of address with another business
• Rivals who are nearby searcher’s location

Intrusive Interstitials Update – January 10, 2017

 

This one was made to target websites that provide space to intrusive interstitials and pop-ups that decimates the experience of mobile users.

Fred Update – March 7, 2017

It was named after a joke by one of Google’s employee and was created to target low content websites. Other than this Google is quiet about what specifically it did but it has been hinted in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

 

Things to avoid to pass this algorithm:

 

• Very thin and affiliated content
• Very much ad-based and also low-value content

February 1 and February 7 Update – 2017

On February 1 blog sites were affected and on February 7 websites relating to high quality gained more visibility.

Fall Flux Update – September 8, 2017

This is an unconfirmed update as in this day several SEO experts realized there were some noteworthy changes to Google algorithm. The changes specifically affected traffic and search visibility.

Maccabees Update – December 12, 2017

Google confirmed some minor changes to the core algorithms during this time.

Broad Core Algorithm – March 9, 2018 – April 16, 2018 – August 1, 2018

The update was created to reward the under-rewarded websites and Google did not give that much about other than that everyone should “continue building great content”. The similar update took place on April 16, 2018, and on August 1, 2018