Google has announced the newest algorithm change to hit the search engine. The new algorithm is said to make our searches ‘fresher’ with around 35% of all searches affected.
On first glance this looks huge. Considering the Google Panda update earlier in the year only affected 12% of searches and caused mayhem, this seems to be a game changer. In reality, it’s not!
Where the Google Panda change affected the rankings by looking at quality of a website, the new algorithm change is looking at the freshness of a website. Let’s look at an example of where this could affect searches.
Say for example you are searching for some information on the recent London protests. Over the last 10 years thousands of articles would have been written about various protests in London. You as a user do not want to be shown articles about the 1995 protests. You want articles on the most recent.
A search on Google for ‘London protests’ will now return the most recent relevant search results.
The change looks like it could actually be beneficial and improve the search results to make them ‘fresher’.
The searches which will be affected are:
• Recent Events
• Regular Events
• Frequently updated topics
In reality, this isn’t going to affect the average site very much.
What this does is present an opportunity to many which they may never have had before. Creating new fresh content could now allow websites to rank in areas which they normally could never reach. The full extent of this change is yet to be seen, but it does make for an interesting few months in the world of search.
For more information on the change click here.