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All of Google's Algorithm Updates Through the Years
Understand Google ranking like never when you explore every Google algorithm update ever.
What are Google Algorithm Updates?
Google algorithms gather and interpret data from their search index to deliver the optimal search query results in a fraction of a second. Algorithms are complex systems that are constantly being improved upon. The results of a search engine query depend upon the algorithm and various other ranking signals. In this way, Google attempts to ensure webpages appear in order of relevance on the search engine results pages.
How Often Do Google Algorithm Updates Occur?
In Google's early days, updates were rare and happened only a handful of times. Today, thousands of changes happen within a year. Many of these updates are very minor, and nobody notices them. In 2018, for example, Google launched more than 3,200 updates to its algorithm and ran over 15,000 live traffic experiments!
There are, however, larger updates that affect search engine results pages drastically. When Google rolls out such an update, the digital world buzzes with the implications. You might have heard of a few of these major updates. Below, we share a list of all the major Google Algorithm updates to date.
Some of Google's Major Algorithm Updates
Bert (25 October 2019, December 2019)
Fred (December 2017)
Intrusive Interstitials Update (January 2017)
Mobilegeddon (April 2015 & May 2016)
RankBrain (October 2015)
Pigeon (July 2014)
Hummingbird (September 2013)
Payday (June 2013)
Page Layout Algorithm (January 2012, October 2012, February 2014)
Go with us on a journey through time. Watch the evolution of Google as you follow along with each historical update up to present-day. Here is a list of all the Google updates ever, whether confirmed or unconfirmed.
A List of All the Google Updates Ever (last updated January 2021)
What are Google Algorithm Updates?
Google algorithms gather and interpret data from their search index to deliver the optimal search query results in a fraction of a second. Algorithms are complex systems that are constantly being improved upon. The results of a search engine query depend upon the algorithm and various other ranking signals. In this way, Google attempts to ensure webpages appear in order of relevance on the search engine results pages.
How Often Do Google Algorithm Updates Occur?
In Google's early days, updates were rare and happened only a handful of times. Today, thousands of changes happen within a year. Many of these updates are very minor, and nobody notices them. In 2018, for example, Google launched more than 3,200 updates to its algorithm and ran over 15,000 live traffic experiments!
There are, however, larger updates that affect search engine results pages drastically. When Google rolls out such an update, the digital world buzzes with the implications. You might have heard of a few of these major updates. Below, we share a list of all the major Google Algorithm updates to date.
Boston Update (February 2003)
Boston was Google's first named update, and it improved backlinks data analysis algorithms.
Cassandra Update (April 2003)
Spammy SEO practices were the target of the Cassandra Google update of April 2003. Practices like co-linked domains, low-quality link practices, and hidden text began to be penalised. After the first wave of penalties, banned sites could request reconsiderations.
Dominic Update (May 2003)
Similarly, the Dominic Google Update of May 2003 targeted spammy link behaviours and practices
Esmerelda Update (June 2003)
Known as the last large-scale monthly Google Index update, the Esmerelda update heralded the coming of daily index updates that would start in July 2003.
Fritz Update (July 2003)
From Google Dance to Everflux, the Fritz update was the official kick-off of daily index updates. Known as "Everflux", these daily index updates refreshed a portion of the Google index every day instead of updating the whole index once a month.
Supplemental Index Update (September 2003)
Google introduced their supplemental index in September 2003. Some saw being on the supplemental index as a form of punishment or purgatory. Results from the main index would show first on SERPs unless there were very few results for the search term. In that case, Google would show results from the supplementary index. The supplementary index had fewer restrictions.
Although the Supplemental Index tag disappeared in 2007, Google has never outright claimed that they no longer use the supplemental index. Some believe it is still around and now called "omitted results".
Florida Update (16 November 2003)
On 16 November 2003, many site owners panicked as the Florida update took effect. The update aimed at penalising spammy practices like keyword stuffing. As a result, sites trying to rig the search results in their favour instead fell in rankings.
Austin Update (January 2004)
The Austin update was a continuation of Google's spammy SEO clean-up. Practices like invisible text, meta-tag stuffing, and free-for-all link farms were either outright penalised or rendered ineffective. Some also think this update was an update to the page ranking algorithm called "Hilltop" that had been in use since 1998.
Brandy Update (February 2004)
In February 2002, Sergey Brin confirmed that the Brandy update was bringing five changes to Google's algorithms. First, Google started giving more attention to link neighbourhoods, in other words how well your webpage connected to other webpages and sites in your sector. This change made outbound links more important.
Secondly, Google moved significance away from page ranks and towards link anchors, context, and quality. Latent semantic indexing became more important, while meta tags & descriptions, titles, and headings were put on the back foot. Keyword analysis improved a lot with the Brandy update, with Google better able to recognise synonyms using latent semantic indexing. At the same time, Google's index expanded by more than 20% and began including dynamic webpages in search engine results pages.
Secondly, Google moved significance away from page ranks and towards link anchors, context, and quality. Latent semantic indexing became more important, while meta tags & descriptions, titles, and headings were put on the back foot. Keyword analysis improved a lot with the Brandy update, with Google better able to recognise synonyms using latent semantic indexing. At the same time, Google's index expanded by more than 20% and began including dynamic webpages in search engine results pages.
NoFollow Update (January 2005)
NoFollow targeted spammy blog comments, where blog comments were posted across the internet linking to pages to boost their results. The NoFollow link attribute thus improved outbound link quality.
Allegra Update (02 – 08 February 2005)
Between 02 and 08 February 2005, the Allegra update was rolled out, causing havoc as search engine results fluctuated. Although never confirmed, theories about the update include the devaluation of duplicate content and latent semantics indexing becoming a ranking signal.
Bourbon Update (May 2005)
The Bourbon update of May 2005 affected around 3.5% of search queries. It's believed to have devalued websites and pages that had duplicate content.
Personal Search Update (June 2005)
The launch of personal search in June 2005 meant that the past selections of internet users would influence and guide their future search engine results.
XML Sitemaps Update (June 2005)
This update allowed webmaster tool users to feed pages to the index and to submit XML sitemaps on Google Webmaster tools. The update replaced old sitemaps.
Jagger Update (01 September 2005 – November 2005)
It began in September 2005 and continued in a series of updates throughout October and November 2005. At first, back-link-focused updates targeted unnatural link building like low-quality links, paid links, link farms, and reciprocal links (and other forms of spam). The October updates were most felt, and the final updates culminated towards the end of November 2005 to pave the way for the Big Daddy update.
Gilligan Refresh (September 2005)
Although it was confirmed as a false alarm, many SEOs thought several SERP changes were due to a series of updates they dubbed "Gilligan". Turns out it was just a data refresh. Today, many data refreshes are considered updates because of the changes observed on SERPs.
Google Local & Maps Update (October 2005)
In October 2005, Google merged Google Maps data with Google Local Business Centre data.
Big Daddy Update (15 December 2005 – March 2006)
The Big Daddy updates to Googles’ infrastructure were rolled out over three months and completed by March 2006. Google changed their approach to redirects and canonicalizations with this update. Some sites did not make it onto the new Big Daddy Data Centres due to spammy link behaviour and practices like excessive reciprocal linking.
Supplemental Update (November 2006)
In November 2007, Google updated how their supplemental index filtered pages that are stored in the index and how these pages were handled. They later removed the "supplemental index” label altogether in July 2007.
Universal Search (May 2007)
With this update, Google integrated traditional search results with image, video, news, local, blog, and book search results.
Buffy Update (June 2007)
The Buffy update of June 2007 resulted in fluctuations in single word search results. It was named Buffy because Vanessa Fox, an avid Buffy fan, was leaving Google. She was a respected part of the team, and webmasters named the update after Buffy to honour her.
Dewey Update (April 2008)
Named Dewey by Matt Cutts, this update was rolled out in April 2008. The name allowed for Google to compare the results from different data centres.
Google Suggest (August 2008)
In August 2008, Google launched the "suggest” function that showed suggested phrases when users typed in the search box.
Vince Update (18 January 2009)
The Vince update benefitted big brands with broad-level changes in competitive keyword results that put big brand domains on the first page more often rather than less authoritative sites that ranked before the update (usually earned through hard work and great SEO). The update focused on rewarding trust to deliver better quality SERPs.
Caffeine Update Early Access (10 August 2009)
On 10 August 2009, Google opened the Caffeine update up to developers for feedback. The update included a new indexing system that would crawl and store data more expeditiously and result in 50% fresher results.
Real Time Search Update (December 2009)
The new real time search feature announced by Google in December 2009 listed newly indexed content in a real-time feed titled "latest results”. These latest results appeared as a section on the first page of search engine results.
Google Places Update (April 2010)
In April 2010, around 20% of searches were location-based. Google responded to this trend by upgrading their Local Business Centre with a rebrand. Renamed "Google Places", the tool allowed businesses to advertise more easily, to add service locations as opposed to having only one address, and the opportunity to be marked as a "favourite” place. Google even offered professional photo shoots for businesses.
May Day Update (28 April 2010)
Starting on 28 April 2010, Google rolled out the May Day update that was finalised on 03 May 2010. The update changed how Google chose the best sites for long-tail queries. The update also targeted content farms. It is considered a precursor to the Panda update.
Caffeine Update Roll-Out (10 June 2010)
Google rolled out the Caffeine update on 10 June 2010. Caffeine allowed for continuous updates on small sections of the Google search index. That meant that newly indexed content showed up seconds after being crawled. Google called it "the largest collection of web content we've offered".
Brand Update (August 2010)
This update made it possible for one brand to show up multiple times on page one of a search. Several updates followed as Google tried to find a balance between site diversity and accurately representing host clusters in search results.
Google Instant Update (September 2010)
In September 2010, the Google suggest tool started showing users suggestions before they had finished typing their search query. This feature got a lot of love and hate through the years, but finally went extinct in 2017. Mobile search became dominant at the time, resulting in this feature being booted as an inconvenience.
Instant Visual Previews (November 2010)
A temporary update that ended up being removed shortly afterwards, the instant visual preview allowed users to see a visual preview of the websites in their search results.
Social Signals Incorporated Update (December 2010)
In a response to a negative feedback fiasco where negative reviews were resulting in better search results for businesses and brands, Google updated their response to social signals. The update improved the situation so that brands and businesses could not gain fame and SEO notoriety by treating their customers or fans badly (and getting subsequent bad reviews).
JC Penney and Overstock.com Penalty (January 2011)
In January 2011, Google drew websites Overstock.com and JC Penny over the coals for bad link-building behaviour. Overstock offered universities, students, and parents discounts if they included anchor-text rich content on their university sites. Someone reported them to Google. JC Penney had built thousands of backlinks into their website to target exact-match anchor text and got into trouble.
Attribution Update (January 2011)
Google rolled out this update to stop scraper websites from benefiting from stolen content. The updated algorithm would figure out which site posted the content first and boost that site in search engine results pages as a priority over sites copying the content.
Panda Update (Farmer) (23 February 2011)
Some at first called this update Farmer until Google later announced its name as Panda (they named it after the engineer who developed the algorithm breakthrough). The update spelled the end for just about every content farm out there and impacted about 12% of search results. This is one of the largest updates ever, with a widely felt impact that shocked many of the big players of the day.
The Panda update rewarded unique content that gave users real value and devalued shallow, low-quality content. Websites that were hard to read dropped in rankings, as did sites with unbalanced ratios of adverts compared to content. Over-optimization also became less rewarding, resulting in lower rankings.
The Panda update rewarded unique content that gave users real value and devalued shallow, low-quality content. Websites that were hard to read dropped in rankings, as did sites with unbalanced ratios of adverts compared to content. Over-optimization also became less rewarding, resulting in lower rankings.
Google +1 Button Update (28 March 2011)
On 28 March 2011, Google launched the +1 button, aiming to increase trust as a factor in rankings. The button brought the most trusted results to the fore so that reliable sites ranked on the first page of SERPs, and it mimicked the Facebook like button. In June 2011, Google updated the button to make it faster. In 2011, they again updated the button to include a share icon.
Panda Update 2.0 (11 April 2011)
The Panda 2.0 update was the first official update to the Panda core algorithm and was rolled out to English users. It affected about 2% of search results. The update enabled algorithms to better assess the quality of sites for long-tail keyword searches and began to include data about sites users manually blocked when figuring out rankings.
Panda Update 2.1 (09 May 2011)
At first, SEOs called this update Panda 3.0, but Google announced that the update had been minor—a mere data refresh.
Schema.org (02 June 2011)
The collaboration between Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo called "Schema.org” was announced on 02 June 2011. It was created to deliver a common vocabulary for structured data.
Panda Update 2.2 (16 June 2011)
The Panda 2.2 update launched on 21 June 2011 improved the algorithm's ability to detect scraper sites. Scraper sites are sites that use software to copy data from other websites so they can rank better.
Google+ (28 June 2011)
On 28 June, Google launched their own social network, Google+, a mix between Facebook and LinkedIn. Shares and likes on the Google+ network fed into personalised search ranking factors for a while. In 2019, Google+ was laid to rest.
Panda Update 2.3 (23 July 2011)
The Panda 2.3 update on 23 July 2011 improved the algorithm's ability to distinguish between lower quality and higher quality websites.
Panda Update 2.4 (12 August 2011)
This update was an expansion of the languages in which the Panda update featured. It was rolled out to all English and non-English countries except China, Japan, and Korea and affected about 8% of queries.
Expanded Site Links Update (16 August 2011)
On 16 August 2011, Google expanded their site links display to a maximum of 12 links compared with the previous 8.
Panda Update 2.5 (28 September 2011)
On 28 September 2011, Google released their 7th update to the Panda algorithm.
Pagination Elements Update (September 2011)
With this update, Google added pagination elements to help with crawling and indexing issues. These are not indexing signals anymore.
Query Encryption Update (18 October 2011)
Google started encrypting search data for any internet users who are signed in. This meant that webmasters could distinguish when users were coming from Google but could not see the queries they were using.
Panda Update 3.0 (Flux) (19 October 2011)
After the announcement by Matt Cutts that Flux in search queries could be observable as Google rolled out Panda 3.0, the update was dubbed the Flux update. 2% of search queries were affected, and SERPs fluctuated through October 2011 as signals were added or changed and data refreshed.
Freshness Update (03 November 2011)
This update aimed at increasing the relevance of search results by adapting the algorithm to better rank content based on its "freshness". The update impacted a whopping 35% of searches! The update took up to 2 weeks to roll out.
Automatic Translation Update (14 November 2011)
On this day, Google confirmed a series of updates that had been made in the preceding weeks. The updates included automatic translation, cross-language results being enabled, and the extension of application rich snippets. Google also refined the algorithm's ability to detect official pages and improved page titles in search results by de-duplicating boilerplate anchors.
Panda Update 3.1 (18 November 2011)
This Panda update was a minor data refresh that affected less than 1% of search results.
10 Google November 2011 Updates (01 December 2011)
An announcement by Google details ten changes made in the weeks prior to 01 December 2011. The changes included expanding the index to include more long-tail keywords and optimising for more "fresh” blog results. There was a new Google bar and new verbatim tool. The code for the selection of top results was rewritten so that too many results from a single domain would not show up at the top (also called host crowding). Google refined their algorithm so that related queries would be more relevant and introduced a new parked domain classifier.
30 December Updates (05 January 2012)
On 05 January 2012, Google announced 30 changes they had made during December 2011. Some of the most notable changes they mentioned were that a new signal for image search was the quality of the landing page the image is from, as opposed to just the image itself. The updates included more rich snippets and "soft” 404 detection, a better infrastructure for autocomplete, and higher accuracy in by-line dates. The update allowed for faster browsing on mobile devices by skipping the redirect and just sending mobile users directly to the m.domain.com version of sites.
Personalised Search Update (10 January 2012)
Seen as an upgrade to the earlier Social Search release, Google's Your World expanded on the concept and pulled information from Google+.
Panda Update 3.2 (18 January 2012)
A Panda data refresh was confirmed to have taken place on 18 January 2012.
Page Layout Update (19 January 2012)
On 19 January 2012, Google released an update that devalued pages with too many adverts "above the fold" as Google put it. Websites that had too many adverts at the top, so that users had to scroll down before they saw any content, for example, was viewed as offering a poor user experience and this update addressed the issue.
Venice Update (27 February 2012)
On 27 February 2012, Google released the Venice update. This update used a searcher's physical location or IP address as a signal for search results, whether they used geo modifiers or not. The update also allowed Google to determine the local relevance of webpages.
40 February 2012 Updates (27 February 2012)
On the same day, Google announced 40 changes they had made during February 2011. Some of these updates included improvements on travel-related searches and health searches, as well as launching rich snippets for shopping worldwide. The updates also included algorithm changes in how Google evaluated links.
Panda Update 3.4 (23 March 2012)
The Panda 3.4 update was a data refresh that affected less than 1.6% of search queries.
Parked Domain Bug (April 2012)
A data error resulted in some websites being devalued because they were viewed as parked domains. After complaints from various webmasters, Google confirmed it had not been an intentional algorithm update.
50 March 2012 Updates (03 April 2012)
On 03 April 2012, Google announced 50 changes they had made during March 2012. These changes included a site links data refresh and improvements in the algorithm's ability to detect site quality. The algorithm was also updated to better handle synonyms and queries with navigational or geographical intent. Another benefit of the update was improvements on how anchor text contributed to relevance and search query results.
Panda Update 3.5 (19 April 2012)
The Panda algorithm got another data refresh on 19 April 2012, confirmed by Google’s Matt Cutts. The update looks to have punished template website and press portals and aggregators. These sites are logical targets, as they often have duplicate or "shallow” content.
Penguin Update (24 April 2012)
The Penguin update targeted spammy SEO practices like keyword stuffing and link schemes. Sites engaging in such forms of aggressive web spam were down-ranked and penalised. The update affected 3.1% of search queries.
Panda Update 3.6 (27 April 2012)
Another Panda data refresh took place on 27 April 2012.
52 April 2012 Updates (04 May 2012)
On 04 May 2012, Google announced the 52 changes they had made in April. Some of these changes included adjustments that allowed more authoritative results to rank. The freshness boost was no longer applied to content considered low quality and Google made various changes to site links. Here was a 15% increase in the Google base index, and an increase in domain diversity in search results.
Knowledge Graph Update (16 May 2012)
Google's aim is to bring users and the knowledge they need together faster. The introduction of Google's knowledge graphs on 16 May 2012 was a huge step towards reaching its goal. It enabled the algorithm to better interpret entities in search and surfaced relevant information about these entities. Users would no longer need to click on indexed results and visit other webpages to see the information they needed about the entity.
Penguin Update 1.1 (26 May 2012)
On 26 May 2012, Matt Cutts confirmed a Penguin data refresh that would affect 0.1% of search results. Many of the websites that had taken a knock when Penguin was first release saw some recovery during this data refresh, while other websites that had previously escaped notice came under fire.
39 May 2012 Updates (07 June 2012)
On 07 June 2012, Google announced 39 changes they had made during May 2012. These included improvements in targeting link spam and detecting hacked websites. The algorithm was updated to better detect inorganic backlink signals. The freshness algorithm got an update, as did the Penguin algorithm. News rankings were improved to recognise major news events, and the way Google handles titles on pages was changed.
Panda Update 3.7 (08 June 2012)
Although Google claimed the Panda update that was rolled out on 08 June 2012 only affected less than 1% of English queries in the US and 1% of queries worldwide, ranking tools picked up changes that suggest the update was bigger than other Panda updates.
Panda Update 3.8 (25 June 2012)
On 25 June 2012, Google confirmed a Panda data refresh that would impact less than 1% of queries worldwide.
Panda Update 3.9 (24 July 2012)
On 24 July 2012, Google confirmed another Panda update (a data refresh) that would affect less than 1% of searches.
Webmaster Tool Link Warnings (27 July 2012)
Although this wasn’t an algorithm update per se, it did send ripples through the SEO world. Webmasters had been receiving a flood of unnatural link warnings, and on 27 July 2012 Google clarified that drops in rankings were directly connected with unnatural link warnings. They further confirmed that websites who were the victims of third-part bad linking behaviour were not being penalised.
Pirate/DMCA Penalty Update (10 August 2012)
Pirate/DMCA Penalty Update (10 August 2012)
Panda Update 3.9.1 (20 August 2012)
Google confirmed that another Panda data refresh occurred on 20 August 2012 that affected less than 1% of search results.
Fewer Results on Page 1 (August 2012)
In August 2012, users observed that Google was displaying 7 results per search page instead of 10 for around 18% of searches. It’s guessed that Google reduced organic results to make room for testing potential features. These features would give searchers the “top” results for features like images, site links, and local results. This was the inception of the rich snippet results we have today. Along with knowledge graphs, these tools have made information more accessible to searchers.
Panda Update 3.9.2 (18 September 2012)
Another Panda update occurred on 18 September 2012 when Google confirmed a data refresh that would affect 0.7% of searches.
Panda Update (27 September 2012)
This update was more than just a data refresh, but an algorithm refresh, and it impacted about 2.4% of search results. The update was significant and took over a week to roll out.
Exact Match Domain Update (28 September 2012)
On 28 September, Google’s Matt Cutts announced the EMD update. This update targeted low quality exact match domains. Google confirmed that EMDs would be taking a hit in rankings.
Penguin Update 1.2 (05 October 2012)
This small data refresh confirmed by Google’s Matt Cutts affected only about 0.3% of search queries.
Page Layout Update #2 (09 October 2012)
On 09 October 2012, the “Top Heavy” page layout refresh occurred. This layout update by Google affected around 0.7% of search queries in English. The update occurred worldwide. Many pages that had suffered a dip in rankings with Google’s January 2012 Page Layout update recovered.
Panda Update (05 November 2012)
Google’s 21st Panda update, a data refresh, occurred on 05 November 2012. The update affected around 0.4% of queries around the world and about 1.1% of US queries.
Panda Update (21 November 2012)
On 21 November 2012, Google confirmed another Panda data refresh that would affect about 0.8% of searches in the US.
Knowledge Graph Expansion Update (04 December 2012)
On 04 December 2012, the knowledge graph was expanded to foreign languages in Google’s mission to “map out real-world things”.
Panda Update (21 December 2012)
Google’s 23rd Panda update happened on 21 December 2012 and affected about 1.3% of English searches.
Panda Update (22 January 2013)
On 22 January, Google refreshed the Panda data. The update affected about 1.2% of English searches.
Panda Update (14 March 2013)
Although Google never officially confirmed this update, Matt Cutts alluded to it and Google tools seem to point to the change occurring on this day. From here on, the Panda algorithm was going to be incorporated into the core Google algorithm.
Phantom 1 Update (08 May 2013)
On 08 May 2013, webmasters and SEOs observed massive fluctuations in search results pages. Many investigated the changes and the sites that had taken a hit with no conclusive answers. Some speculated that the sites suffering losses in ranking had also taken a knock previously with Panda updates. With Google not confirming any updates, this update became known as the “Phantom” update.
Penguin Update 2.0 (22 May 2013)
Penguin 2.0 arrived on 22 May 2013 and was dubbed the evolution of Penguin. The update affected around 2.3% of searches. This upgraded version of the Penguin algorithm now had the ability to delve deeper than just a website’s home page when looking for link spam behaviour. Other changes with this update included that spammy links would offer less value, hacked sites would be better detected, and advertorials would not follow page rank anymore.
Domain Diversity Update (May 2013)
As a result of this update, searchers would now see fewer results from one page or domain in their search. When the algorithm picked up four or more results for a single search query from a page or domain, that domain was now much less likely to show up in search.
Payday Loan Update (11 June 2013)
On 11 June 2013, Google released the Payday Loan update, which affected less than 1% of searches in the US but up to 4% of searches in Turkey. It targeted dodgy industries that often use spammy SEO practices like payday loans, drugs, pharmaceuticals, casinos, debt consolidation, and adult searches. The update added an extra filter to these query types and took more than a month to roll out.
Anti-Spam Algorithm Update (June 2013)
In the month of June, Google rolled out an anti-spam algorithm update that targeted websites that violated the webmaster guidelines with unnatural link building. Google’s Matt Cutts exemplified the update by exposing one of the targets, namely Citadel Insurance. Their website had built over 28,000 links in from around 1,000 low ranking domains in just one day. This strategy helped them reach number two in ranking for “car insurance” searches, but by the end of June such strategies were no longer effective.
Panda Dance Update (July 2013)
In July 2013, what is now known as the Panda Dance began. These were monthly updates causing changes in rankings. Google did not acknowledge these refreshes.
Expansion of Knowledge Graph (July 2013)
In July 2013, Google expanded their knowledge graphs to appear in up to a quarter of all searches. The info rich cards appeared above or next to organic search results.
Hummingbird Update (26 September 2013)
On 26 September 2013, the Hummingbird update was released. Where Panda and Penguin had replaced portions of the algorithm, Hummingbird was the first update after the Caffeine update that completely replaced the search algorithm. The update focused on improving conversational search results outside of knowledge graphs. Although voice search had already been active at this point, the update would improve how Google understood the way these queries were entered into the search box. This update started being rolled out in August 2013 and according to Google it affected more than 90% of search queries!
Penguin Update 2.1 (04 October 2013)
On 04 October 2013, Google’s only Penguin 2.0 data refresh occurred. It affected less than 1% of searches.
Authorship Devalued (December 2013)
In December 2013, Google begins to phase out authorship as a boost signal, with less of a boost observed in search results based on authorship.
Page Layout Refresh (06 February 2014)
The page layout algorithm that penalises websites for too many above-he-fold ads or top-heavy websites with too little content visible at the top of the page got a refresh. Also known as Top Heavy 3.0, this refresh did not have any coded changes in the algorithm. Instead, Google updated the index and refreshed the content.
Payday Loan Update 2.0 (16 May 2014)
On 16 May 2013, Google updated the Pay Day Loan algorithm with the new-generation version that had improved spammy website detection capabilities. The update devalued domains that used spammy strategies like cloaking (that's when Google sees something different for a page than what an internet user sees when they click on a link to visit the page from search results.
Panda Update 4.0 (20 May 2014)
For a long time before this day, Google had been silent regarding Panda updates. When the Panda 4.0 update was announced, webmasters and SEOs assumed it would have a large impact on the algorithm. The update affected 7.5% of searches. Many leading websites like eBay and Ask.com to a massive knock in rankings.
Payday Loan Update 3.0 (12 June 2014)
On 12 June 2013, another massive update occurred, namely Pay Day Loan 3.0. This update targeted illegal linking schemes in industries such as porn, gambling, and more. Illegal link schemes often used malware to infect other websites and influenced queries. The update also improved protection available for SEO attacks.
Authorship Photos Removed (June 2014)
In Google's plan to devalue authorship as a mark-up, the next step was removing author photos from search results pages. This change occurred in June 2014.
Pigeon Update (24 July 2014)
The local search engine got updated on 24 July 2014 to include more signals from traditional search. This update was also called Pigeon, and it improved Google's local search engine results as we as its location-based parameters and rankings.
SSL becomes a ranking factor (August 2014)
In August 2014, Google made SSL use a signal, and websites using "Https" got a small boost in rankings. As this signal became more prominent, websites not using https would eventually be flagged by Google as unsafe when users tried to access it.
Authorship Removed from Search Results (August 2014)
In a culmination of its devaluing, authorship was removed from search altogether in August 2014. That means the name of the author would no longer show up under each search result heading on SERPs.
Known PBNs De-Indexed (18 September 2014)
Private Blog Networks were de-indexed by Google in September. These blog networks often functioned as a means of boosting sites to fool the Google algorithm into ranking them. Although this was not a refresh, algorithm update, or even UI update, it affected SERPs. After completing the de-indexing, Google acted against specific PBNs. These actions occurred on 18 September 2014.
Panda Update 4.1 (23 September 2014)
On 23 September 2014, Google's 28th Panda update occurred. The update affected up to 5% of searches and focused on improvements that helped Panda identify low quality content with more accuracy. As a result, some sites employing deceptive ads or with security issues suffered a loss in rankings. Some website rankings also picked up where content was high value.
Penguin Update 3.0 (17 October 2014)
On 17 October 2014, Google released the Penguin 3.0 update. It was a refresh and major algorithm update, the first Penguin update in a year! With this update, many sites that had previously been penalised had a chance to recover. It took about 3 days to roll out the update.
Pirate 2 Update (October 2014)
Notorious pirate websites took a knock as Google released an improved DMCA demolition signal for search. They also changed how they displayed media search results and made user interface changes to help fight piracy. The changes were meant to help internet users find legal and reliable means of media consumption.
Pigeon (Worldwide) (22 December 2014)
On 22 December 2014, Google took Pigeon global and released guidelines for business representation on Google.
Mobilegeddon (21 April 2015)
On 22 April 2015, Google updated the algorithm to reward websites that are more mobile-friendly with better rankings. The update also helped improve search results for mobile users. With this update, mobile-first indexing began.
Phantom 2 Update (03 May 2015)
On 03 May 2015, Google updated the quality filters integrated into their core algorithm. This changed the way the algorithm processed signals that assessed the quality of content. The update also made these assessments real-time. That meant that webmasters no longer needed to wait for a data refresh to see a positive impact from their website changes.
Pages and websites that use clickbait and disruptive adverts suffered ranking losses. Pages that were hard to navigate or that had UI barriers los rankings, as di websites with duplicate or low-quality content.
Pages and websites that use clickbait and disruptive adverts suffered ranking losses. Pages that were hard to navigate or that had UI barriers los rankings, as di websites with duplicate or low-quality content.
Panda Update 4.2 (17 July 2015)
For the first time in 9 months, Google announced a Panda refresh that began on 17 July 2015 and affected up to 4% of searches. Waiting this long for an update meant many sites that had made improvements had to wait for the refresh before seeing any rewards. His was also the last confirmed Panda update.
Google Snack Pack Update (06 August 2015)
With Google focused on optimising the user experience for mobile devices, their next update on 06 August 2015 displayed only three results in the local search map instead of seven. On mobile, only three results fit before needing to scroll. This update also allowed users to use snack pack to filter results by rating using a drop-down box.
Hacked Sites Algorithm Update (05 October 2015)
On 05 October 2015, Google introduced an algorithm update targeting spammy website gaining traction and ranking through hacked sites. The update affected 5% of search queries and it hid sites that used the hacked-site tactic from search altogether. Google spoke about “cracking down” on repeat spam offenders, sites that repeatedly received manual actions.
RankBrain Update (26 October 2015)
RankBrain hit the scene on 26 October 2015 after months of testing. This update introduced machine learning into the algorithm that filtered search results to give searchers the best answer to their query. At first, Google only used RankBrain for about 15% of searches, but it is now involved in almost every query. Many consider RankBrain one of the three most important ranking signals
SL/HTTPS by Default (December 2015)
In December 2015, Google began to elevate HTTPS pages in rank automatically. Because Google views security as a key point of concern, this shift was one of many adjustments made to the algorithm to improve security. Within 2 years, over 75% of results used https.
SL/HTTPS by Default (December 2015)
In December 2015, Google began to elevate HTTPS pages in rank automatically. Because Google views security as a key point of concern, this shift was one of many adjustments made to the algorithm to improve security. Within 2 years, over 75% of results used https.
Panda Core Algorithm Incorporation (11 January 2016)
On 11 January, Google began to roll out a core algorithm update. The update formed part of the process of moving Panda from its own entity to officially becoming part of the core algorithm. Instead of acting as a filter, Panda was incorporated as a core ranking signal. The Panda classifier did not, however, run in real time.
AdWords Update (19 February 2016)
On 19 February 2016, Google removed the sidebar of adverts from SERPs. They also added a fourth ad to the block that appeared above organic search results. This update was another step towards mobile optimisation where the sidebar no longer made sense.
Mobilegeddon 2 (12 May 2016)
In May 2016, Google increased the effect of the mobile-friendly (or Mobilegeddon) ranking signal. This meant that sites that were not mobile-friendly would suffer ranking losses even more than before.
Quality Update (01 June 2016)
An update was suspected to have occurred on 01 June 2016. Although Google never confirmed that an update had occurred, many SEOs and Webmasters saw changes in search that point to a content-related update. Ranking volatility was observed during June 2016 following the first disruption observed on 01 June.
Possum Update (September 2016)
Named by Phil Rozek, the Possum update hit in September 2016 and affected duplicate and spammy local search results for Google Maps and the local pack. The update aimed to provide searchers with greater diversity in results when searching local or location-related queries. Before the Possum update, Google filtered out duplicates by looking for matching domains. With the update, duplicates were now filtered out based on their physical address. The update made room for smaller listings to rank and for businesses right outside of city limits to gain visibility and traction.
Penguin Update 4.0 & Core Algorithm Integration (23 September 2016)
As with Panda, Penguin officially became part of the core algorithm on 23 September 2016. This meant Penguin would now have real-time updates and would affect specific pages instead of entire domains. The update also appeared to take away the effects of spam links on SERPs. Instead of penalising sites with spammy links, Google simply devalued the links themselves. This positive effect continued to be observed into 2019, and many said it was Google’s attempt to quash the effects of SEO attacks.
10 November Update (10 November 2016)
SEOs and webmasters believe a Google update occurred on 10 November 2016, although the update was never confirmed by Google.
Intrusive Interstitials Update (Pop-up Penalty Update) (10 January 2017)
On 10 January 2017, Google rolled out an update that penalised intrusive pop-ups. Basically, the update included pop-ups and interstitials as factors in search ranking algorithm. This update was also focused on improving the mobile user experience. Pop-up that did not block content upon loading and pop-ups that were legally compliant were not included in the penalties dished out.
Unconfirmed 01 February Update (01 February 2017)
On 01 February 2017, a minor and unconfirmed update is believed to have occurred. The update appeared to target private blog networks for spammy link building practices.
Unconfirmed 07 February Update (07 February 2017)
On 07 February 2017, SEOs and webmasters observed massive ranking fluctuations indicative of a major algorithm update. Some sites got major increases, while others suffered major losses. The update was never confirmed by Google, but it appeared to favour high quality content.
Fred Update (07 March 2017)
At first, Fred wasn’t a confirmed update, but as SEOs and Webmasters pointed out fluctuations in rankings, Barry Schwartz confirmed the algorithm update. Fred appeared to target monetisation at the expense of users and user experience, including PBNs and sites created solely to generate AdSense income.
Gary Illyes called this update Fred jokingly, and the name stuck. The algorithm was no joke for those whom it affected. Instead of offering details about the update, Google pointed to the Webmasters Quality Guidelines for insights.
Gary Illyes called this update Fred jokingly, and the name stuck. The algorithm was no joke for those whom it affected. Instead of offering details about the update, Google pointed to the Webmasters Quality Guidelines for insights.
Quality Update (17 May 2017)
For a week starting on 17 May 2017, the industry observed massive fluctuations and changes in SERPs and rankings. The update seemed to target deceptive advertising, low-quality content, and UX challenges.
Unconfirmed 25 June Update (25 June 2017)
Although Google never confirmed this update, SEO tools tracked significant changes in rankings and SERPs. racked significant changes in rankings and SERPs. It was reported that the update affected results 6-10 of search queries the most, as well as the goods and beverage industry to the most extent. Quality Update (09 July 2017). Another such volatility spike was observed on 09 July 2017, and many believe it was another update that was not confirmed by Google.
Quality Update (19 August 2017)
On 19 August, disruptions in the SEO world led many to believe that Google was running another quality update. The update was never confirmed, although ranking and SERP changes indicate that an update happened. The update seemed to target low-quality or “shallow” content, pages with a lot of advertising, category pages, and other forms of negative user experience elements. Some believe that Google began testing their upcoming algorithm update on this day.
Unconfirmed Fall Flux Updates (08 September 2017)
Dubbed the Fall Flux, a series of unconfirmed updates were observed by industry experts such as Glenn Gabe of G-Squared Interactive. SEOs and webmasters observed volatility on 08, 18,25, and 29 September, as well as 04, 08, and 12 October 2017.
Snippet Length Increased (November 2017)
In November 2017, Google increased the snippet length so that meta descriptions could now be up to 300 characters. The change did not last, and Google reverted to the shorter snippet length in the following year.
Maccabees Update (12 December 2017)
Dubbed the Maccabees update by Barry Schwartz because he observed changes on Hanukkah, these were a series of updates happening throughout December that were confirmed by Google. Google did not give details about the update, but webmasters and SEOs observed that doorway pages lost rank. When two pages ranked for the same term, the page that had better user engagement ranked better while the other lost traction.
Interestingly, it seemed that blogs picked up rankings while product or service pages’ rankings dropped. Celebrity websites also fell in rankings, for example, Charlie Sheen, Tom Cruise, and even Barack Obama. Experts believe this indicates a shift in how Google assessed authoritativeness and the quality of content.
Interestingly, it seemed that blogs picked up rankings while product or service pages’ rankings dropped. Celebrity websites also fell in rankings, for example, Charlie Sheen, Tom Cruise, and even Barack Obama. Experts believe this indicates a shift in how Google assessed authoritativeness and the quality of content.
Mobile-First Index Roll Out (March 2018)
During March 2018, Google finally began to roll out the mobile-first indexing they had been working on for months. This meant that Google would now crawl the mobile versions of a website when it was being indexed instead of the traditional web-based version. Any content that wasn’t available on the mobile version of a site could remain absent from Google search.
The mobile version was also used when deciding ranking. The migration to a fully mobile-optimised indexing process took some time and Google notified webmasters as their sites were re-indexed.
The mobile version was also used when deciding ranking. The migration to a fully mobile-optimised indexing process took some time and Google notified webmasters as their sites were re-indexed.
Broad Core Algorithm Update (09 March 2018)
A confirmed broad core algorithm update was confirmed by Google on 09 March 2018. The update focused on content relevance relating to the searcher’s query instead of content quality. Google claimed the update would benefit previously “under-rewarded” pages and motivate everyone to “build great content”.
Broad Core Algorithm Update (16 April 2018)
On the 16th of April in 2018, Google confirmed another update like the update that occurred on 09 March 2018. Like the previous update, this update also focused on content relevance.
Video Carousels Update (June 2018)
In June 2018, Google launched a carousel displaying video search results. The carousel only appeared on some search queries, but video was kicked out of regular results. It’s estimated that about 60% of searches showed video results in a carousel.
Mobile Speed Update (July 2018)
In July 2018, Google made the speed at which a mobile site loads a ranking signal with their mobile speed update. This formed part of their efforts towards a seamless and enjoyable mobile user experience.
Chrome Security Warning Update (July 2018)
In July 2018, users began to see security warnings for http sites labelled as “not secure” by Google. This built on the October 2017 update that warned users about “unsecured forms”. This would push more sites to purchase SSL certificates and ensure all content was served to users securely.
Medic Broad Core Algorithm Update (01 August 2018)
Many nicknamed this update “medic” because it appeared to target medical sites, but Google confirmed that it didn’t. In fact, it targeted YMYL (your money or your life) sites. SEOs and experts concluded what Google also claimed, that to rank, websites needed to produce content that people were searching and that gave searchers real value. The importance of authority, relevance, and trust became a focal point for discussion throughout the industry.
A "Small" Update (27 September 2018)
On Google’s 20th birthday, Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed that some sort of smaller update had occurred. This after SEOs and webmasters observed significant spikes and dips in rankings. After this update, some websites that had suffered a knock during the August 2018 update recovered.
Halloween Update (31 October 2018)
Webmasters noticed changes that began around Halloween in 2018 that were believed to indicate an unconfirmed Google update. There was not a lot of evidence for an update, and this false alarm was more likely knock-on effects of the August 2018 update combined with Google increasing its neural matching.
Valentine’s Day Update (13 February 2019)
SEOs and webmasters observed changes that pointed to an unconfirmed update on Valentine’s day of 2019. This time, rankings improved for many sites and very few negative impacts were observed.
Extended Results Page Update (01 Mach 2019)
On this one day in March 2019, Google showed 19 results per search results page for all queries, or 20 including the snippet. Many experts think this was a glitch and not an update.
Florida 2 Broad Core Update (12 March 2019)
As with the other recent Google updates, Google did not go into the details about what the update of 12 March 2019 entailed, instead pointing to their quality guidelines. Again, the update looked to have impacted YMYL sites. Low-quality sites took a knock, but sites with high trust and authority indicators ranked better. The update seemed to take user behaviour into consideration as a ranking signal, as domains with lower bounce rates received better rankings.
Deindexing Bug Fixes (04 – 11 April 2019)
Between 04 and 11 April, Google repaired an indexing bug that resulted in 4% of stable URLs disappearing from the first page. Apparently, a technical error resulted in the de-indexing of a massive portion of websites.
Indexing Bug Fixes (22 – 28 May 2019)
A Tweet on 22 May 2019 gave the industry a heads up that Google was dealing with indexing bugs resulting in stale results for some queries. The bug was fixed within a day, but another bug appeared that prevented Google from capturing new listings.
June 2019 Core Update (02 June 2019)
For the first time ever, Google pre-announced the release of a Core Google Update. They did this to prepare webmasters for the coming changes. The update saw more video results in search, with Google focusing more on video content than before. The update also knocked low quality news sites in rankings.
Broad Core Algorithm Update (24 September 2019)
On 24 September 2019, Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed that an update was under way. The update targeted websites exploiting a 301-redirect loophole. Users would buy expired domains and redirect the whole domain to their website to increase rankings and results. Sites that had relevant redirects weren’t affected.
Video content also got another boost, with video bumping down other organic results. Google’s only insight about the update was to see their guidelines.
Video content also got another boost, with video bumping down other organic results. Google’s only insight about the update was to see their guidelines.
Entity Ratings Update (September 2019)
With this update, reviews posted by the webmaster to their own site, even using a widget, would no longer show up on search. This change was specifically applied to entities that Google considered local businesses. To get your user reviews to improve your rankings, encourage your site visitors to leave a review on Google My Business and claim your GMB listing.
BERT Update (25 October 2019)
BERT, which stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, was one of the largest updates in five years to the Google algorithm. Google began by rolling it out to the US on 25 October 2019. BERT helped Google to better understand search queries. The update affected 10% of queries. BERT is a deep-learning algorithm that gives Google context around each word in a search query. This contextualisation helps Google to better interpret long-tail keywords and is optimal for voice search.
Local Search Update (19 November 2019)
On 19 November 2019, Google updated local search with changes in how the algorithm formulates results. The update helped to improve Google’s interpretation of the context of a search query by improving its interpretation of synonyms. This resulted in local businesses showing up more in searches.
BERT (Worldwide) (09 December 2019)
On 09 December 2019, Google confirmed it was taking BERT live across the globe in a lengthy list of languages and locations.
January 2020 Core Update (13 January 2020)
In a predictable trend, Google announced another broad core update occurring on 13 January 2020 but gave no details about the update itself.
Featured Snippet Deduplication Update (22 January 2020)
On 22 January, Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed the new update that adapted how feature snippets work. Before, the site that claimed the featured snippet spot (or position zero) also appeared in the organic results. This update focused on de-duplication of the snippet and its feature domain and affected 100% of search queries around the world. It also affected organic click-through rates and rank tracking.
Unconfirmed Update (07 February 2020)
Although Google never confirmed that an update occurred on this date, SEOs and webmasters observed significant fluctuations in rankings indicative of a core update. Other than these fluctuations, it was hard to determine any specific factor that influenced the algorithm and caused these changes in rankings.
COVID-19 Pandemic Updates (March 2020)
When the pandemic hit, the digital world transformed in a short amount of time. Google made various unconfirmed updates during March 2020 to adjust to trending searches and unprecedented problems. Among other things, Google helped fight misinformation by improving user personalisation. Google added a sticky menu for COVID-19 related searches and temporary business closures to GMB.
Ads for respirators and medical masks were banned temporarily, while misinformation across multiple platforms was scrapped. Some GMB features were limited for a while as Google dealt with a huge influx of GMB changes due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Finally, Google kept users up to date on the progress of the virus with continuously updated reports.
Ads for respirators and medical masks were banned temporarily, while misinformation across multiple platforms was scrapped. Some GMB features were limited for a while as Google dealt with a huge influx of GMB changes due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Finally, Google kept users up to date on the progress of the virus with continuously updated reports.
May 2020 Core Update (04 May 2020)
On 04 May 2020, Google announced a core algorithm update was being rolled out in the next two weeks. The update focused on core web vitals and EAT (expertise, authoritativeness, and trust). It also focused on providing better search results for queries related to the pandemic.
It appeared that some pages with lower ranking authority experienced improvements in rankings. Pages with low-quality and unnatural links were penalised. The SEO world largely reacted negatively, especially because of the timing of the update (in the middle of a pandemic and at the peak of economic shutdowns).
It appeared that some pages with lower ranking authority experienced improvements in rankings. Pages with low-quality and unnatural links were penalised. The SEO world largely reacted negatively, especially because of the timing of the update (in the middle of a pandemic and at the peak of economic shutdowns).
Google Bug Fixes (June 2020)
In June 2020, google confirmed that bug fixes were affecting search results temporarily, as Google struggled to surface fresh results.
Google Indexing Glitch Fixes (11 August 2020)
A huge indexing glitch occurred on 11 August 2020 worldwide. Search results were suddenly very low quality and low relevance. ECommerce sites reported massive ranking dips. Within a few days, Google had fixed the glitch.
Indexing Bug Fixes (09 October 2020)
During the first week of October 2020, the bug fixes continued. Bugs involving mobile indexing, news indexing, canonicalizations, sports scores, and top stories carousels had to be sorted out. Google had repaired all the glitches by 09 October 2020. The bugs affected around 0.2% of search queries.
Subtopics Update (November 2020)
In November 2020, Google launched an update that added a subtopics ranking feature to the algorithm. Subtopics are powered by machine learning and help Google understand subtopics related to a search query. With the subtopics update, users can see a greater diversity of content when they search a broad term.
December 2020 Broad Core Update (03 - 17 December 2020)
From the third to the seventeenth of December 2020, Google rolled out a broad core update. After the 2020 broad core update, many websites experienced an uptick in organic traffic. Three days later, however, the ranking improvements disappeared, and some sites even fell in rankings. As is now Google’s typical form, no details about the update were given, although the update appears to good content as opposed to shallow or thin content. Google has likely also had to make major adjustments since the pandemic has changed the digital landscape so much.
2021 Page Experience Update (coming soon)
Google recently announced that an update called the Page Experience Update will be happening in 2021. This will be the latest Google Algorithm update. So far, the update hasn’t occurred yet, but here is what it will entail. The update adds three core web vitals as new ranking factors. These are sets of user experience criteria that Google will evaluate hen determining rank. Using these three metrics, Google can assess a page’s experience signals more accurately.
- The LCP or largest contentful paint is a measure of how long it takes for the largest content item on a page to load.
- The CLS or cumulative layout shift is a measure of how visually stable a site is when scrolling and loading.
- The FID first input delay is a measure of users’ initial interactions with a page gaging responsiveness and interactivity.
P.tch has over 15 years’ experience in building and growing eCommerce companies and platforms in South Africa, having worked with brands such as Wantitall.co.za, Netflorsit.co.za, Hairhousewarehouse.co.za, Digital Planet, Hpshop.co.za and many more. If you’re looking for an eCommerce growth and development partner, please contact us.
Sources: search engine journal; linkgraph; stanventures; seroundtable;
Steven Green
Sporty fun loving “Half IronMan” with self-acclaimed degree in Search engine optimisation & Entrepreneurship. CEO & Founder of Trafficfundi, P.tch Digital & Greenies Comics.
