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How many Google updates are there? No one really knows for sure. The search engine giant is notoriously tight-lipped about its inner workings, and the team of engineers who work on the algorithm are sworn to secrecy. But that hasn’t stopped speculation from running rampant in the SEO community. Some say there are as many as two hundred updates a year, while others claim it’s more like five hundred. And still others maintain that the number is closer to a thousand. So what’s the truth?
An answer to that question may never be fully known, but in this post we will take a look at what we do know about Google updates – past, present and future. We will explore how they work, what they aim to achieve and how you can stay ahead of them (or at least keep your website from being penalized).
Introduction
The Updates
Google has always been secretive about its algorithm, and for good reason. If everyone knew how it worked, they could game the system and make the search results less useful for everyone. So while we don’t have a complete list of every single change that’s ever been made, we do know quite a bit about some of the more major updates. Here are just a few of the more notable ones:
Panda: Panda was first rolled out in February 2011 and was designed to target low-quality content farms that were churning out large quantities of thin, poorly written articles. This update had a major impact on many sites, with some estimates suggesting that as much as 12% of all search results were affected.
Penguin: Penguin was initially released in April 2012 and has undergone several iterations since then. It is designed to target sites that are trying to manipulate the search results by using black hat SEO tactics like keyword stuffing and link buying.
Hummingbird: Although it wasn’t officially announced until September 2013, Hummingbird is thought to have been implemented sometime in the summer of that year. This update was a complete overhaul of the algorithm, with a focus on understanding the user’s intent instead of just individual keywords.
Mobile-friendly: In April 2015, Google released an update that gave preference to mobile-friendly websites in the search results. This was seen as a direct response to the growing number of people who were using smartphones and tablets to access the internet.
RankBrain: RankBrain is an artificial intelligence system that was introduced in October 2015. It is designed to help Google interpret queries that it has never seen before and provide more relevant results.
Conclusion
So how many Google updates are there? The answer, unfortunately, is that we don’t really know. Google is constantly making changes to the algorithm, some small and some large. But what we do know is that they are all aimed at making the search results more relevant and useful for users. And as long as they continue to do that, we will continue to use their products and services.
To stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to keep up with the latest SEO news and trends. Google is always changing, and so is the SEO landscape. But by keeping your finger on the pulse, you can make sure that your website is always one step ahead.
Conclusion
Google is constantly making changes to its algorithm, and it can be difficult to keep up with all the updates. However, it’s important to stay informed so that your website doesn’t get penalized. Keep up with the latest SEO news and trends to make sure you’re always one step ahead.
Jamie Fallon is an SEO expert who lives life to the maximum, redlining every day on a rollercoaster straight to the grave.
In an SEO career of almost ten years, he’s seen it all, he’s done it all, and he’s not impressed: from white text on a white background to today, when you can have robots paint or write for you like some kind of sick science fiction come true.
No matter what life throws at him, Jamie always manages to come out on top. He’s an expert at seeing the silver lining in every cloud and making the best of every situation. His positive attitude and unshakable faith in himself have seen him through tough times. For some people, success goes to their heads; but Jamie never forgets what got him to wherever he thinks he is.
When he’s not busy gaming the system, you can find him writing angry thinkpieces on how Google is ruining everything good about the internet, or hanging out with his wife (pictured).
