Google Algorithm Changes and Other Updates You Should Know About
April 22, 2018
Google is constantly evolving, and it seems like the search engine giant is at it again with some changes to search protocol and a brand-new algorithm update. What will this mean for your business or website? Well, it could mean a lot of things depending on how well you’ve been following the algorithms in the past. Google updates its algorithm regularly, making small changes, which are commonly announced through the search engine’s social media platform, or by tech hungry bloggers. Either way, if you keep your eyes peeled you can usually spot these small changes and use them to your advantage.
So, what do these latest changes look like and are they going to make your life easier or more complicated? Let’s find out.
Algorithm Changes and What They Mean
Google’s algorithm is a secret to all but those who create it. It includes so many intricate rules and regulations that it’s impossible to uncover them all. However, one thing that is known is that by following these algorithm laws, you can boost your website ranking more quickly and efficiently. So, it’s good to pay attention when something new hits the news feed.
There have been rumors circulating about another possible change to Google’s current standard of ranking for a few weeks now, but it’s not been confirmed until now. It seems that Google announced through their Twitter account that this latest algorithm will be broad core. Core updates take place a few times every year, and it can make a big difference to the way that your business is ranked. Following one of these changes you might notice movement in the placement of your site, sometimes good, sometimes bad. This will depend on whether the algorithm leans in your favor.
Core updates affect a large scale of Google users, because they are more advanced updates than the small ones which happen weekly and sometimes daily. Sites which have gone unrewarded in the past but have been working hard to keep up with search engine guidelines will be rewarded, while those who have stopped focusing on SEO may drop in their rankings.
So far, the reaction to this change has been pretty standard; site owners are checking their current standing on the search engine home page and calculating how far they’ve moved in position. For some, this could mean some hard work to get back on top, but only time will tell.
Changes to Autocomplete Save You More Time
Autocomplete is a function incorporated by Google and other search engine platforms to simplify the search process by making your typing time shorter. The same way that your internet caches addresses to auto-populate when you begin typing into the address bar, Google has created a long list of autocomplete predictions based on the searches made throughout the history of Google.
The latest changes to the autocomplete function were announced through Google’s official blog, which explains how the autocomplete works, using the example of typing “san f” and receiving options, such as, “San Francisco”, “San Fernando”, and more. It specifies that the feature is used mostly on mobile devices that have smaller keyboards and where typing is slower, saving up to 25% of typing time by alternating between these pre-populated text options and manual type. The post also concludes that these are not suggestions for you to try out but predictions of what you’re going to type. Users are meant to select the option closest to their original query or continue typing a query if it doesn’t populate automatically.
Unfortunately, this function has caused Google some trouble in the past, which may be why they are modifying it today. Because the auto text is based on queries already typed out by Google users, the engine can populate some offensive projections of what you might be typing. This includes sexist, racist, illegal, or political predictions.
Now, Google is implementing some restrictions to the autocomplete template and removing sexual predictions, aside from those associated with medical research or education, spam, hate group information, violence or information relating to harming self or others, predictions relating to illegal acts, and other such queries. This won’t include pop culture references, book titles, song lyrics, painting titles, or other query predictions based on existing works of artistic expression.
Google has made it clear that while they are working to remove offensive search predictions, it will take some time to work out all the kinks and some may slip through the cracks. This is reportedly not a nod of approval to inappropriate materials, simply an effort which will take time to rectify.
Your Ranking Is Affected by Old Information
Another change coming soon to Google users will affect business websites looking to hire. For a long time, one of the ways Google determines ranking has been relevance of information on a page. This includes whether a job is still available for hire. Unfortunately, for business owners, when job listings are left up, but no longer available, it could hurt your ranking.lisinb
The search engine will penalize companies who keep up old information, including want ads, by moving them further down the ranking list during a search. This could be harmful to the integrity of a business or put it further behind its competition if the business doesn’t manually remove listings which have expired.
For a closer look at other changes happening at Google, you can monitor the search engine’s social media pages or their official blog.