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Major Google Algorithm Updates Since 2000 for Your SEO

Major Google Algorithm Updates Since 2000

Find below, all major Google Algorithm changes history, penalties, resources, links and updates. An ultimate cheat sheet compiled starting from 2000.

Introduction to Algorithms

It's predefined on Wikipedia, 'Algorithms are set of rules that can perform calculation, data processing, automated reasoning tasks and problem solving operations by a computer.'

What are Google Algorithm updates? 

In simple terms, Google Algorithms are called search algorithms that are identified by code names. When a user searches a query on Google seeking for an answer, Google needs to sort through millions and billions of web pages from its search index, to give relevant and useful results within fraction of seconds {About 20,80,00,000 results (0.52 seconds)} 
Thus, Google has a ranking systems which are made up of a series of algorithms. They analyze and understand your query, to return with relevant and useful information.

Click here to learn >> How Google's Search algorithms work?

Google has mainly three core values on, how they approach search:
  • Focus on the user
  • Empower website owners
  • Maximize access to information
Google has made number of algorithm updates since 2000 and they are vital part of Google's ranking system. Each day predictably there are three updates in average, that are designed to improve search results.

Following are some of the major Google algorithm updates:

Contents List 
  1. Medic core or broad core algorithm update
  2. Chrome security warnings [Full Site]
  3. Mobile speed update
  4. Mobile-first index roll-out
  5. 'Brackets' core update
  6. Google jobs
  7. Intrusive interstitial penalty
  8. Snippet Length - Increase
  9. Penguin 4.0 core algorithm update
  10. AdWords Shake-up
  11. RankBrain*
  12. Mobile friendly update or Mobilegeddon
  13. Pigeon update
  14. Hummingbird algorithm update
  15. Exact-Match Domain-EMD Update
  16. Pirate - DMCA Penalty
  17. Knowledge Graph
  18. Penguin update
  19. Ads Above The Fold
  20. Search + Your World
  21. Freshness Update
  22. Query Encryption
  23. Pagination Elements
  24. Expanded Sitelinks
  25. Google+
  26. Schema.org
  27. The +1 Button
  28. Panda/Farmer
  29. Attribution Update
  30. Negative Reviews
  31. Google Instant
  32. Caffeine (Rollout)
  33. May Day
  34. Google Places
  35. Real-time Search
  36. rel-canonical tag
  37. Google Suggest
  38. Dewey
  39. Universal Search
  40. Big Daddy
  41. Google Local/Maps
  42. Jagger
  43. XML Sitemaps
  44. Bourbon
  45. Nofollow
  46. Brandy
  47. Florida
  48. Fritz
  49. Boston

#1. Medic core or broad core algorithm update:

Released on: Aug 1, 2018

This update had caused significant volatility across the web, as per Seroundtable.com over 42% sites mainly affected were healthcare, medical, fitness, healthy lifestyle space websites.

Reference: 
  • This week we released a broad core algorithm update
  • Google Medic Update: Google's Core Search Update Had Big Impact On Health/Medical Sites
  • The Medic Core Algorithm Update - August 1, 2018
  • Google’s August core search algorithm update is now fully rolled out

#2. Chrome security warnings [Full Site]:

Released on: July 24, 2018

Do you still own a HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) non encrypted site? Then, Chrome would mark your site as not-secure for users. This algorithm update is to safeguard your website information while dealing with sensitive information (passwords, credit card details) or credentials. In simple terms, Chrome's security update means "More encrypted connections, more security".

Reference:
  • A milestone for Chrome security: marking HTTP as “not secure”
  • Google Chrome releases from the Chrome team
Chrome Security update depict

#3. Mobile speed update:

Released on: July 9, 2018

'Need for Speed', speed is now a landing page factor for Google search and Ads. Analyzing your mobile page speed is vital to rank higher on the search engines, and to minimize unwanted bounce rate. The days of 2G/3G have gone-by, people across the globe could access internet/fibernet with high speed such as 4G/5G/WiFi etc. Check if your website is mobile friendly or not here

Reference:
  • Using page speed in mobile search
  • Speed is now a landing page factor for Google Search and Ads 
  • Google will make page speed a factor in mobile search ranking starting in July

#4. Mobile-first index roll-out:

Released on: Mar 26, 2018

Google has changed the way of indexing sites, it has given the priority to mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking on search engine. That's because, the number of smartphone users across the globe are expected to increase from 2.1 billion to 2.5 billion by 2019. (Statista)  

Reference:
  • Rolling out mobile-first indexing
  • Best practices for mobile-first indexing
  • How to Improve Your Rankings with Mobile-First Indexing

#5. 'Brackets' core update:

Released on: Mar 8, 2018

The name 'Brackets' was first coined by Glenn Gabe and Marie Haynes called “It’s March Madness!” in her tweet. This update was mainly focused on quality of rich snippets, the time to recover your site, improvement in quality over the long-term, creating unlimited spaces via auto generated URLs from on-site searches and more
Reference:
  • The Brackets Update – Analysis and Findings From The March 7, 2018 Google Algorithm Update (and March 14 Tremor)
  • Measuring Infinity – How to identify, analyze, and fix an infinite spaces problem using a powerful SEO software stack
  • How Will The Latest Google Brackets Update Impact Your Business?

#6. Google jobs:

Released on: June 20, 2017

It's an official launch of the dedicated Jobs tab, by Google's CEO Mr. Sundar Pichai at Google I/O annual developers conference.

Visit Google and search for a job, then you find a snippet with blue tab stating 'Jobs'. Click on it to filter jobs by category, title, location, date posted, company type and employer to apply on this portal.

Search results are synced from major job providers such as, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Monster, Indeed, Comparably etc.

If you're an employer, you can list your jobs too on Google. Learn more here

Google Jobs portal depict
Reference:
  • Connect to job seekers with Google Search
  • Have your job postings found by millions of job seekers who search on Google every day.

#7. Intrusive interstitial penalty:

Released on: Jan 10, 2017

What does this means 'Interstitial'?...

'Interstitial' is an advertisement pop-up that appears on your mobile while loading some xyz website.

Examples of Intrusive Interstitials:
Examples of Intrusive Interstitial (Source: webmasters.googleblog.com)
'Intrusive Interstitial' is a penalty to punish aggressive interstitial and pop-ups that interrupt or spoil mobile user experience. This penalty is to help users easily access content on mobile and to improve search experience of a user. 

Reference:
  • Helping users easily access content on mobile
  • Google's crackdown on "intrusive interstitials"
  • How to Recover From Google’s Mobile Interstitials Penalty

#8. Snippet Length - Increase

Released on: Nov 30, 2017

Snippet length of Google search results, adopting new meta description limit up-to 300 characters from 155 characters. However, this limit has been rolled back to normal later on May 13, 2018 and 'Danny Sullivan' Google's public search liaison asserts on his tweet, the length of snippets is dynamic so the maximum limit is unsure to specify.

Length of dynamic meta descriptions
Reference:
  • Google officially increases length of snippets in search results
  • Google confirms it shortened search results snippets after expanding them last December
  • Google's snippets and the length of your meta description
  • Case Study: Will a Longer Meta Description Increase CTR?

#9. Penguin 4.0 core algorithm 

Released on: Sep 23, 2016

Google Penguin 4.0 update has a official Wiki page "Penguin 4.0 (7th Penguin update)". Penguin is a codename for Google's algorithm update released in multi-phase which is mainly targeted to websites who violate or not follow Google's webmaster guidelines strictly and by that increasing their search engine rankings through Black Hat SEO technique [spamdexing], buying links, obtaining links through networks to boost Google rankings etc.    

Reference:
  • Learn all about Google: Penguin Update
  • What Is Black Hat SEO? A Definition
  • Google Webmaster guidelines as per search console
  • SEO Spam: What is Spamdexing?

#10. AdWords Shake-up

Released on: Feb 23, 2016

This update brought major changes to AdWords, removing right column ads and rolling out of top 4 position ad blocks.

Right column ads before [image source: dentalcompare.com]
After the update, right column ads got vanished
Reference:
  • Google AdWords: Right Column Ads Removed from Google Search
  • Google To Stop Showing Ads On Right Side Of Desktop Search Results Worldwide
  • Google AdWords Switching to 4 Ads on Top, None on Sidebar

#11. RankBrain Algorithm*

Released on: Oct 26, 2015

RankBrain is an AI-Artificial Intelligence system, it helps Google to process and provide more relevant search results to users. This algorithm is believed to be one of the third most important ranking factor.

Reference:
  • Google's using a machine learning technology called RankBrain to help deliver its search results. Here's what's we know about it.
  • A Complete Guide to the Google RankBrain Algorithm

#12. Mobile friendly update or Mobilegeddon

Released on: Apr 22, 2015

This update is for more mobile friendly search results and more relevant app content in search results.

Mobile friendliness of a site [Image source: webmasters.googleblog.com]
Reference:
  • Finding more mobile-friendly search results
  • Rolling out the mobile-friendly update
  • What Is Mobilegeddon & The Google Mobile Friendly Update

#13. Google Pigeon update

Released on: Jul 24, 2014

Like rest of the Google's major updates, Google Pigeon is also a code name given for local search algorithm and one of the biggest local search updates. This update was mainly to increase local search results ranking and search results shown on the Google Maps. 

Reference:
  • How the Google Pigeon Update Changed Local Search Results
  • Pigeon: Search Engine Land’s Name For The New Google Local Search Update

#14. Hummingbird

Released on: Aug 20, 2013

The name was derived from the speed and accuracy of a 'Hummingbird'. Google Hummingbird Algorithm is cited as, total revamp on core algorithm which has significant algorithm change in Google search. 

Google Hummingbird Logo [Image source: Wikipedia]
Reference:
  • FAQ: All About The New Google “Hummingbird” Algorithm
  • An SEO Guide to the Google Hummingbird Update
  • How to Thrill Google Hummingbird: The SEO’s Guide [Infographic]

#15. Exact-Match Domain-EMD Update

Released on: Sep 27, 2012

'Exact Match Domains' are precisely the names of search phrases or queries or keywords. For instance: buyshoesonlineinbangalore.com/ buyconverseshoesonline.com etc. 
Buying a domain name exactly matching of search keywords, that will drive traffic to your website and to rank higher in top positions. With EMD update, nearly 10.3% drop has been observed day over day

Reference: 
  • Google's EMD Algo Update - Early Data
  • What is an exact match domain (EMD) and how can you safely use one?
  • The EMD Update - for “Exact Match Domain”

#16. Pirate - DMCA Penalty

Released on: Aug 10, 2012

DMCA.com is the provider of Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it's a Unites States copyright law for online service providers to protect their valuable content from copyright infringement or theft. the DMCA reinforce the penalties for copyright infringement on Internet by users of a given website.

Reference:
  • The Consequences of a DMCA Violation
  • DMCA Takedown Penalty Added As New Factor In Google Ranking
  • An update to our search algorithms

#17. Knowledge Graph

Released on: May 16, 2012

Knowledge Graph is mainly a step towards semantic search, this will give users a SERP integrated infobox  next to search results, that display with an information extracted from various sources.

Google Knowledge graph depict
Reference:
  • Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings
  • The Beginner’s Guide to Google’s Knowledge Graph

#18. Penguin

Released on: Apr 24, 2012

Penguin update is a step towards rewarding high quality sites, and down-rank sites with unnatural/spam link profiles. Spamming the search results by using manipulative link tactics, this update is also called as “web-spam algorithm update.” It's a multi-phase update which has roll-outs on: May 25, 2012; Oct 5, 2012; May 22, 2013; Oct 4, 2013; Oct 17, 2014; September 27, 2016; October 6, 2016; real-time since. Current version is Penguin 4.0

Reference:
  • The Penguin Update: Google’s Webspam Algorithm Gets Official Name
  • Google Penguin Update Recovery Tips & Advice
  • Another step to reward high-quality sites

#19. Ads Above The Fold

Released on: Jan 19, 2012

This Algorithm change is also called as 'page layout algorithm improvement'. Websites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. That means placing ads on top of the page which would make users to scroll more to find the page content. This act was quite offended by users and resulted in bad experience.

Ads above the fold on a website [Image source: timesofindia]
Reference:
  • Page layout algorithm improvement
  • Google: Page Layout Algorithm/Penalty Is Still Important
  • Google Page Layout Algorithm: Everything You Need to Know

#20. Search + Your World

Released on: Jan 10, 2012

With this update Google tries to migrate search results with your Google plus social data and user profiles together. 

Reference:
  • Search, plus Your World
  • Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World”

#21. Freshness Update

Released on: Nov 3, 2011

Freshness in the search results to bring new and updated content out of Google's index. These results are current and updated not the history. Today, there's so much information and content is being updated to internet in fast phase, to bring that recent information Google's algorithms need to work hard and identify the most recent fresh results for you. This is possible due to Google's advanced indexing system called "Caffeine web indexing system"

Google's result for a word 'Tennis' (It's able to display live streaming of the most recent Tennis happening)
Reference:
  • Giving you fresher, more recent search results
  • Our new search index: Caffeine

#22. Query Encryption

Released on: Oct 18, 2011

This update is a reason behind organic keyword referral data 'not provided' keyword/ search term on your Google Analytics. Bringing more secure search by encrypting search queries for security reasons. Since then, most or all of your organic traffic would depict one or the other keywords as 'not provided'

Depict of 'not provided' keyword result
Reference:
  • Making search more secure
  • Goodbye, Keyword Data: Google Moves Entirely to Secure Search

#23. Pagination Elements

Released on: Sep 15, 2011

This update was to avoid duplication problem created by pagination. So, Google has introduced rel="next" and rel="prev" link attributes similar to rel=”canonical”. 

This markup would look something like below:


Reference:
  • Pagination with rel=“next” and rel=“prev”
  • Google Introduces New Pagination Tags, Pushes ‘View-All’ Pages

#24. Expanded Sitelinks

Released on: Aug 16, 2011

The pack of sitelinks on Google's search have been extended to twelve packs for most branded queries for short-time. But, later however Google limit the sitelinks to 6 packs soon after the roll-out
Site links on Google's search results
Reference: 
  • The evolution of sitelinks: expanded and improved
  • Official: Google Sitelinks Expands To 12 Pack

#25. Google+

Released on: Jun 28, 2011

Google+ came out as a rival to Facebook with serious attack. This social media platform is tightly integrated with Gmail. Google+ has some mindblowing features such as circles, communities, profile and page options which early adopters must be aware of.

Reference:
  • Google is relaunching the struggling Google+ social network
  • Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web
  • Google to Launch “Brand New” Version of Google Plus on Android

#26. Schema.org

Released on: June 2, 2011

It's one of the markup languages or a micro-data which is distinguished from text or presented in text to embed on websites that can be understood by search engines. Similar to HTML, CSS, XML etc. Schema.org was jointly developed and announced by major search engines Google, Yahoo, Bing and Yandex. Some of the schema markup examples are contact information of your business, site logo, social profile, breadcrumbs and so on.

Structured data markup using schema.org
Reference:
  • How to enhance your sites attributes
  • How to Boost Your SEO by Using Schema Markup
  • Learn more about schema.org
  • Schema.org: Google, Bing & Yahoo Unite To Make Search Listings Richer Through Structured Data

#27. The +1 Button

Released on: Mar 30, 2011

Google launched the +1 button in response to rival Facebook's Like button. It's one of the responding action button to social media counterparts such as Facebook and Twitter. It allowed Google plus users to influence search results within the social circles both paid and organic results

Reference:
  • Recommend content with the +1 button
  • The stuff that you're into and the people who get you.
  • Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button

#28. Panda/Farmer

Released on: Feb 23, 2011

It's one of the change to Google's search results ranking. To down-rank low-quality-sites or thin sites such as 'content farms/content mill' where content is mainly generated to convince search engine algorithms with the help of large number of freelance writers

Reference: 
  • How Google Panda & Places Updates Created A Roller-coaster Ride For IYP Traffic
  • The Panda' that hates farms: A Q &A with Google's top search engineers

#29. Attribution Update

Released on: Jan 28, 2011

Attribution algorithmic change tend to rank scraper sites or sites with low levels of original content. Where searchers get to see more original content sites in place of sites that copy others.

Reference:
  • Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO - Algorithm change launched
  • Google algorithm change launched - Hacker News

#30. Negative Reviews

Released on: Dec 1, 2010

An update at the year end 2010, it all started when this interesting and unusual experience of Ms. Rodriguez with 'DecorMyEyes' captioned "A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web" was published on The New York Times. This update was in response to Negative reviews or advertisement which translate to more links to your site and you show up on top of search engines.
Current status of 'DecorMyEyes' on Google search
Reference:
  • Being bad to your customers is bad for business

#31. Google Instant

Released on: Sep 1, 2010

It's an update to 'Google Suggest', to search queries on search engine. When a user wants to search a query it takes more time to type any query on search engines, that's estimated to be more-than 10 seconds. Since, to improve this experience and save time 'Google Instant' search had launched. But, later in July 2017 Google removed the same due to growing number of searches on mobile devices differed from computer. 

Reference:
  • How Google Saved $100 Million By Launching Google Instant
  • Search: now faster than the speed of type
  • Beyond Instant results: Instant Previews
  • Google has dropped Google Instant Search

#32. Caffeine (Rollout)

Released on: June 1, 2010

It's a new web indexing system and search architecture codenamed 'Caffeine' resulting in a 50% fresher results due to continuous updating of Google's index

Reference:
  • Our new search index: Caffeine
  • Google Caffeine: Google’s New Search Engine Index

#33. May Day

Released on: May 1, 2010

May Day...May Day...Yep! on first of May 2010, Google's Matt Cutts confirmed the change of algorithm that impacting the long-tail traffic.

Reference:
  • Google Confirms “Mayday” Update Impacts Long Tail Traffic

#34. Google Places

Released on: Apr 1, 2010

Thankfully, this isn't a April Fool's update! [Just Kidding] 

Google Places, an official launch of local business center. To make it easy for users to find places in the real world like restaurants, shops, schools, parks and more. Featured included are place details, current place, find place, geocoding, geolocation and time zone.

Google Places by Google Cloud
Reference:
  • Introducing Google Places

#35. Real-time Search

Released on: Dec 1, 2009

It's really real! Google's real time search means Twitter feeds, Google News, newly indexed content sourced and integrated for search results feed.

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