GOOGLE UPDATES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WEBSITES

Earlier Google used to update algorithms only a handful of times but now that number has increased to thousands per year. While some of these changes or updates are so slight that they go unnoticed, but others are major algorithm updates that seriously shake up the Search Engine’s Result Page (SERP’s).

Google provides certain guidelines to improve your web page rankings in search results. If you are following those directions, then your website won’t get affected by the Google algorithm updates, but if you’re not following those directions then your website ranking will be impacted by the updates by getting low ranking in search results. Google introduces changes or updates in their search algorithms frequently because they want to provide web users with a better experience.

Here’s a brief summary of all the Google algorithm updates so far and how they impact the website’s ranking:

1. PANDA UPDATES: In February 2011, Panda update was introduced for the first time and it was designed to target websites with low-quality content. This was aimed at stopping sites with poor content quality from getting high ranks on the search engine’s result page. Websites are re-evaluated periodically so they can begin ranking higher if they change their web pages to feature high-quality content. Google also released a list of ways for the website owners so that, they can make sure that their website is considered to be of high quality. 
2. PENGUIN UPDATES: The goal of this update was to provide higher ranks to website’s that have organic links and to stop the sites from achieving high rankings through the purchase of links to their websites or through the use of link networks. This update was first released in September 2012 and was designed to ensure that websites with artificial links were penalized. 
3. HUMMINGBIRD UPDATES: Google released possibly the biggest update in its history in August 2013 and named it “hummingbird”. This update was designed to put a larger emphasis on the entire search query instead of the query with specific keywords. It was aimed to favour “conversational” search queries, since many queries are now made verbally via smartphones, putting more emphasis on context, location, and intent.
4. PAYDAY LOAN UPDATE: Google in June 2014 announced a new update and referred to as ‘Payday Loan’ update. This update was targeted for websites that are connected to ‘spammy queries’ such as payday loan. It was aimed at cleaning up search results for such ‘spammy queries’.
5. PIGEON UPDATES: Google updated it’s algorithm around the end of July 2014 and named it ‘Pigeon’ update. This update primarily affected websites that want to attain higher ranks for the local search, providing more useful and relevant local search results.
6. HTTPS UPDATE: Google again announced its algorithm update in late July 2014 stating that this algorithm would slightly begin to favour the websites that are secured using HTTPS. This update was designed to provide higher ranks to those websites that use HTTPS. Google also announced that its plan is to “encourage all the website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web”.
7. MOBILE FRIENDLY UPDATE: In February 2015, Google announced a ‘mobile friendly’ update and they themselves stated it as ‘significant’. This update was aimed at considering whether a website was mobile friendly or not when returning search results on mobile devices. It is expected that only those websites that are considered to be mobile friendly by Google will attain a higher ranking for searches performed on mobile devices.
8. RANKBRAIN UPDATE: It was first released in October 2015 and is actually a part of the ‘hummingbird’ algorithm. It helps Google in understanding the meaning behind queries and is also the third most important ranking factor for websites. This update is not only involved in interpreting search queries but is also contributing to how highly pages rank for specific searches.
9. POSSUM UPDATE: This update was released in September 2016. This was the most ‘comprehensive’ update to search results with a localized element since the ‘Pigeon’ update in July 2014.  The name ‘Possum’ was given to it because many business listings seemed to have disappeared from the localized search result when in reality they were being hidden by the filters. This update ensured that local result will vary depending upon the searcher’s location, meaning the closer you are to the business’s address, it is more likely for you to see it among local results. 
10. FRED UPDATE: Google released it in March 2017 and targeted websites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines. The majority of affected sites were blogs consisting low quality, spammy or irrelevant content and was appeared to be mostly created for the purpose of generating ad revenue.
11. MEDIC UPDATE: Google rolled out a major update to their core ranking algorithm in August 2018 that targeted “Your money or your life” websites, such as financial and medical websites. Websites that deemed to have more trust, authority and expertise and have passed all of Google’s quality tests were ranked higher while others suffered a drop in rankings but were not penalized.