Google is a sophisticated Search engine that sees billions of searches daily. To provide its users the BEST experience while browsing over it, Google submits that it announces several search algorithm updates promptly. These updates not only assist the users in getting more balanced and accurate results for their queries but also change the way SEO is done.

Starting with the major Google algorithm updates, Panda was introduced in 2011 followed by Penguin in 2012, Hummingbird in 2013, and so on.  Today, you have the most POWERFUL algorithm updates to date in the form of Google MUM. It’s an acronym for Multitask Unified Model which is an AI-based Natural Language model.

So far it sounds interesting and powerful, right? Continue reading to learn about this algorithm update in detail and how it’s going to change the way you do SEO.

What Is Google MUM?

Courtesy: Google

Though it’s in its beta version, MUM was launched at Google’s annual developer conference Google I/O in May 2021. According to them, the multitask unified model makes use of the T5 text-to-text framework and is 1,000x more powerful than its predecessor BERT!

What separates it from the other models is its capacity to develop a more extensive understanding of the available information and world knowledge. It’s trained across 75 languages and many different tasks at once.

Another critical advantage of this multimodal MUM model is that it can understand any type of content besides just written text. For example, videos, images, gifs, audios, documents, among others. It has the skills to unlock information from different formats, correlate them, and help Google present the most accurate and concise answer to even the most COMPLEX user query

Why MUM?

Google discovered that it takes around 7-8 searches for an average user to get the best results. This is not only problematic for the user but a great setback for the search engine giant as well. That made Google invest heavily in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and introduce MUM that could resolve this major issue, something they aspired to execute since the Hummingbird algorithm update in 2013.

Thus, after the full rollout of the multimodal, Google’s prime focus would be to deliver the best results that are best fit for the search query rather than just scanning the pages aligning with it.

For example, let’s assume nothing like the Google MUM exists in this universe. Now, let’s say you have a query “how to bathe a cat”. Upon hitting the search button, a multitude of the best deemed organic results will come up as shown below, from YouTube as well.

There are chances that even the top results may not be able to answer all your queries you didn’t put up in the search box. Say, how to prevent scratches while bathing a cat, what’s the best shampoo for a cat, how often shall I bathe a cat, and so on.

So, according to the previous Google updates, you’ll have to individually search answers for all these questions from different places like shown below.

This is, of course, not at all desirable!

To overcome this, Google has launched the MUM update that would display the BEST possible results about the entire topic instead of just about your primary keyword. Here, it’s “bathe a cat”.

In other words, this MUM update will answer all the queries you’ve in mind based on what you’ve entered in the search box. This will simplify your search process like never before.

If you’re the owner of the website Google looked up to for the results, it’ll also give you the credit. Thus, improving your SEO and bringing quality traffic organically.

What Benefits Would The Multimodal MUM Update Bring For The Webmasters & SEOs?

As it’s clear by now that the update won’t hamper the content SEO much as it’s more concerned about improving the search engine’s capabilities to understand the online content.

So, as long as you’re publishing highly relevant and high-quality content across all formats like text, image, video, and audio, you need not worry.

However, there is a catch to this!

As Google will now feature amazing content in over 75 languages over its platform, it’s indirectly opening itself up for more competition. This is a major disadvantage to ponder over.

Therefore, with top results in a multitude of languages competing against each other including their media, there will be so much more competition than before for better rankings and visibility over the net.

This will prove to be a big headache for the site owners & SEO masters.

What Will The Update Mean For An Average User?

As referenced initially, the inefficiency of the previous updates to help users with a comprehensive result for their query intimidated Google to go for the MUM update. With this, the users can assume a well-scanned and meticulous answer to the queries they have in mind. Courtesy, Artificial Intelligence (AI).

To understand this with an example, here’s what a search query from the 2013 Hummingbird update appeared to be.

Query: When was Albert Einstein born?

Google will list out all the relevant sources of information based on your query.

Query: Whom did he marry?

Here, Google would list out the relevant information for this query even without Albert Einstein appearing in the subject. This is because Google correlated this query to the previous query.

As understandable, this conversation between the user & Google isn’t a sort of a human-to-human conversation. That’s where the multimodal MUM update will come into play.

Here’s what an average query will look like with the update.

User: When was Toni Kroos born?

Google: Which Toni Kroos do you mean?

User: Umm, don’t know! Can you show me some pictures?

Google: Sure, here are the images of different Toni Kroos.

User: Oh, I mean the middle one.

Google: The German footballer?

User: Yes!

Google: According to Wikipedia, Toni Kroos was born on 4th January 1990.

User: What major achievement did he have in his sport?

Google: Among his several achievements, he’s a 4x UEFA Supercup winner.

User: Can you show me his life’s best goal so far?

Google: I found this video online. Should I fast-forward to the goal?

User: Yes, please do.

Google: Here you go.

User: I think another player scored a similar goal. Can you let me know who?

Google: Sure, here’s Thomas Müller who scored a similar goal as Toni Kroos.

So, which conversation out of these is more engaging and user-oriented? It’s the 2nd one with the MUM update.

When Will The Google MUM Update Go Live?

The MUM update was launched at Google’s I/O conference in May 2021, however, it’s still in its beta stage. The century-old search engine giants are still running the internal pilot testing of MUM.

It has come to the light that Google is planning a complete rollout of its game-changing AI-based update in the coming months or even years.

Conclusion

So far, Google has launched numerous search algorithm updates with the sole ambition to help its users in the best way possible. Starting from the Panda update to BERT in 2019, all updates brought certain changes to how the search engine scanned through the web to lookout for the best results for the mentioned query.

However, it couldn’t overcome the language barrier in any of these updates. So, this MUM update is what is designed to overcome this last hurdle. It’s trained across 75 languages to help the search engine transfer knowledge across languages. Furthermore, Google will also unlock the information in various media formats like images, audio, or videos.

In a nutshell, no matter how complex your query is, Google will solve it easily and quickly like never before. So, wait for the public rollout of the game-changing MUM update and witness the magic LIVE!

The post Are You Ready For Google’s MUM Search Algorithm Update? appeared first on WebPreneurs Pvt Ltd.