The last two weeks have seen several feature releases from Google. In addition, Google documentation updates and explanatory content from John Mueller (Google’s Search Advocate) and other sources provided search engine optimizers with clarity about a handful of long-running uncertainties.

In terms of practical features, web admins can now take advantage of indexifembedded tags that tell Google how to handle embedded content. There’s also a new search section on mobile results. The upcoming release of the “Topics” feature, in line with Google’s depreciation of third-party cookies, is also an important development. 

In other news, Google made a few changes to its online guidance. SafeSearch documentation has been merged, and a new note in Google Webmaster Guidelines lays out the relationship between “Car” and “Product” schema markup. John Mueller also provided some insights into how Google evaluates internal links and Danny Sullivan (Google’s Search Liaison) explained how “deduplication” works in relation to “Top stories.” 

Let’s dig into the latest updates, announcements, and search-related analysis from the last two weeks. 

Topics to Replace FLoC as Part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox Initiative

On January 25th, Google announced that it would be retiring “Federated Learning of Cohorts” (FLoC) and replacing it with an alternative targeting technology called “Topics.” 

“Topics'' is part of Google’s “Privacy Sandbox,” an initiative tasked with developing digital tools that allow publishers and advertisers to continue to leverage data about user behavior as cookies become redundant. 

“Topics” will share subjects that individual browsers have expressed interest in with third-party sites, thus negating the need to provide confidential personal information. Google published a nifty little explainer video that shows how everything works. 

In an official blog post, Google wrote: “With Topics, your browser determines a handful of topics, like “Fitness” or “Travel & Transportation,” that represent your top interests for that week based on your browsing history. Topics are kept for only three weeks and old topics are deleted.”

It’s still early days, and a developer trial will launch in Chrome shortly. What the final tech will look like remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it’s a change that will affect all businesses that rely on visitor data to serve ads and generate audience insights. It highlights the importance of web admins taking Google's depreciation of cookies seriously. 

New Robots Meta Tag (indexifembedded) Added to Documentation

Google has introduced a new robots tag - indexifembedded - that lets web admins stipulate that they’d like Google to index content that’s embedded in iframes (and some other HTML tags) on third-party pages (or elsewhere on the same site) even if the “unembedded” content on the parent page contains the noindex tag.

Google says that it may prove to be a particularly useful tool for media publishers, who often allow third parties to embed content but don’t want to publish the content on their own site. 

You can learn more about the new tag in this recently published post on the Google Search Console blog. Currently, Google is the only search engine that supports this feature.

New Mobile Search Feature on Google Mobile

Google has released a new feature called “People search next” on its mobile search pages. A Google spokesman confirmed the rollout with Search Engine Land. 

“People search next” appears alongside other features like “Related searches” and “People also search for.” It would appear that it is only available in the US at the time of writing. 

“People search next” is interesting from an SEO perspective for two reasons. First, it provides content creators with new ideas for keyword-focused pages. Second, search result page widgets like this one potentially take up space occupied by results from third-party websites. It’s essential for SEOs to be aware of these changes as they may affect how ranking strategies are formulated. 

Google Updates SafeSearch Documentation

Google has updated its SafeSearch documentation but the guidance remains the same. All documentation is now available in one place instead of spread across different subsections of the Google Search Central documentation. 

If you haven’t already, you should make sure that your website is optimized for SafeSearch. The instructions show you how to check if some or all of your web pages are being filtered and how to remedy any mistakes on Google’s part. 

Google Clarifies Car and Product Schema

Google has added a note instructing web admins about how to label “Car” markup in a way that doesn’t obviate eligibility for “Product” review snippets. 

The note reads: “Currently Car is not supported automatically as a subtype of Product. So for now, you will need to include both Car and Product types if you would like to attach ratings to it and be eligible for the Search feature.”

In a nutshell, this means that you should use both car and product schema on vehicle listing pages. If you only use “Car” schema markup, product reviews may not appear in search results. 

Google Removes Time Ranges From Recipe Schema Markup

If you publish recipes on your blog, then Google’s update to its “Recipe” documentation will be of note and you’ll need to make some minor changes to your schema markup. 

All references to ranges have been removed and Google no longer supports time ranges for “Time” properties. Instead, Google advises publishers to use “an exact time; time ranges aren't supported.”

John Mueller Provides Some Insights Into How Google Evaluates Internal Links Based on Page Location

“Internal linking” refers to the practice of linking to different pages of a website so as to create an optimized “flow” of authority (or “link equity”). The argument runs that well-structured internal link architectures are correlated with higher rankings. 

In an office-hours hangout, Search Advocate John Mueller said that the location of internal links on a page (header, footer, in-content, etc.) doesn’t matter from Google’s perspective. So it looks like SEO’s don’t need to worry about exactly where they place internal links. It is likely a much better approach to focus on optimizing user experience. 

Danny Sullivan Provides Insight Into Deduplication Process for “Top stories”

In reply to a tweet by Executive Editor of The Verge Dieter Bohn, Search Liaison Danny Sullivan shed some light on how Google’s deduplication process works in relation to “Top stories.”

In a nutshell, Google will remove a link to a webpage from the main results if that link appears first in “Top stories.” However, if the “Top stories” widget appears after the normal results, the link is not removed. 

Danny Sullivan said, “...we deduplicate a link from web results if a link appears as the first link in Top Stories and if the Top Stories box appears before web results. If it comes after, we don't.”

 

 

 

What is Google 3-Pack? 

The 3-Pack is Google's method used to display the top three results for local SERP results. It references the user’s location to make the search more relevant. For instance, if a user searched “restaurants near me”, Google 3-Pack would display three restaurants near the user’s current location. 

Google 3-Pack has undergone a couple of major changes, first in August of 2015 when the Google 7-Pack was cut down to three, creating the 3-Pack. At the time, the update placed more emphasis on links to the brand’s business websites. The way information was displayed also changed, making it easier for mobile users to navigate the 3-Pack by showing addresses and business hours, rather than phone numbers. 

In December 2021, Google 3-Pack saw another major update. Google described the update as a rebalancing of its three key ranking factors for 3-Pack results: proximity, relevance and prominence. The rather rapid impacts to results made it clear that the rebalancing was to place greater emphasis on proximity as a factor. The 2021 update also integrated the results with a map. 

How do I rank locally on Google? 

You cannot optimize specifically for Google 3-Pack because businesses that appear on Google 3-Pack are location dependent. In other words, the local SEO results change depending on the searcher's location. 

However, you can optimize your web presence in a way that will increase your chances of appearing in the 3-Pack.

How to optimize your web presence to increase likelihood of showing in the Google 3-Pack.

1. Make sure your Google Business Profile is filled in and up-to-date. This is the easiest component for you to control and is weighted heavily – about 25% – in your ranking potential.  
2. Solicit customer reviews on your Google Business Profile. Receiving multiple positive reviews can be beneficial when it comes to boosting your visibility, both as a ranking factor (prominence), and because Google reviews and stars will be plainly visible to users on the 3-Pack. 
3. Make sure your listings throughout the web are accurate and consistent. This includes business name, address, and phone number (NAP). 
4. Cultivate locally relevant links to boost your visibility. There are a number of ways you can cultivate reputable links, such as sponsoring local nonprofits and events or joining a Chamber of Commerce. 
5. Build standard backlinks to raise your organic rank. Backlinks are best cultivated through outstanding, well-distributed content that attracts readers. 
6. Build a strong presence on social media and other platforms to establish yourself as a Google local listing with loyal followers. 
7. Improve the user experience (UX) on your website, as Google favors better experiences. Since 2015, for example, Google has rolled out updates asking websites to be responsive and allow better usability for the mobile experience.

Appearing in the Google 3-Pack attracts attention to your brand and encourages people to engage with you. Keep these guidelines in mind when you create your web presence to maximize your chances of appearing on these lists. 

 

What is a meta description? A meta description is the small blurb that appears underneath your website on the search engine results page (SERP). It is designed to provide users with a brief summary of the content on your page so they know if the page will answer their question. Traditionally, meta description length has maxed out at 155 characters for desktop and 120 characters for mobile, with the exception of experimental periods such as when Google temporarily extended the length to a 320 characters. 

Why should I care about meta description length? 

It is important to stay within the character limit on the meta description length to avoid having part of your description cut off by the search engine and appear incomplete in the SERP. Remember that the limit for mobile search is shorter (120 characters) than desktop (155 characters), so if a majority of your traffic is mobile, your meta description length should conform to that standard. Staying within the meta description length will create a better experience for users.

Do meta descriptions matter? 

Yes. The meta description is a valuable tool both for users and the search engine when it comes to SEO management. When the page appears on the SERP, users will scan it to see if it answers their query. While Google has stated that meta descriptions do not directly factor into search rankings, well-written meta descriptions can help improve click-through rate (CTR). In turn, this can raise your traffic and engagement, improving your rankings in the SERPs. 

How do you write a meta description? 

Here is a five-step breakdown, based on recommendations and suggestions Google has stated in its webmaster guidelines, of how to write effective descriptions that will help improve the click-through rate from your listings on the SERPs and become an expert at SEO. 

1. Accuracy and quality 

The primary concern for a quality meta description is always accuracy. The summary should correctly describe the content and provide motivation for users to click this particular link. Keep in mind that just like the rest of your content, keyword stuffing or using only lists of keywords provides little context or helpful information for the user. This creates a poor user experience and will not encourage clicks. Meta descriptions should be snippets of high-quality content. 

2. Character limits 

Put the most important text near the beginning of the description. Google does not set character limits for meta description length, but it does limit the number of characters displayed to users on the SERP. Best practice is to keep meta description length between 120 and 150 characters. This ensures your entire description will appear on both desktop and mobile. 

3. Consistency and originality 

Since meta descriptions do not always get displayed to users, site owners have the tendency to overlook their importance. Brands should make sure that every page has a unique, quality description, particularly for pages that have no text on them. The same description should not be used across multiple pages of the website. Each page of content offers something different for the user, and thus the meta description should be similarly unique and articulate what makes the individual page important.

4. Use a call to action 

Think of the meta description as the body copy in a search ad. Describe what the page has to offer and then use action language words, like “Learn how to…”, “Discover how to…,” “Read about…,” “Take advantage…,” “Sign up for a free trial…”. 

5. Robots directives when needed 

Google allows site owners to use the “nosnippet” robots directive if they want to prevent the search engine from displaying any type of snippet in the SERP. This would make the result only show the title. The snippets that appear beneath your website links on the SERP play an important role in generating attention and traffic for your website. They demonstrate your relevance to prospective readers. 

Meta descriptions can have a powerful impact on whether people click your result on the SERP and engage with your content. They are one of the most important ways you can control what is being shown in search results. Work to create descriptions that inspire and entice the user so that they are inclined to click and see what you have to say about the topic at hand.

 

 

Latest Google algorithm updates: 

1. Core Update (September 2022)
2. Helpful Content Update (August 2022)
3. Core Update (May 2022)
4. Product Review Updates (April, December 2021) 
5. Page Experience Update (2021) 
6. Core Updates (June, July, November 2021) 
7. Core Update (December 2020) 
8. Core Update (May 2020) 
9. Core Update (January 2020) 
10. BERT (October 2019) 
11. Core Update (September 2019) 
12. Site Diversity (June 2019) 
13. "Medic" Core Update (2018) 
14. Google "Fred" (2017) 
15. Interstitial Penalty (2017) 
16. Google AdWords SERP Update (2016)
17. Google RankBrain Update (2015) 
18. Google Quality Update (2015) 
19. Google Mobile Update (2015) 
20. Google Hummingbird Update (2013) 
21. Google Penguin Update (2012) 
22. Google Panda Update (2011) 
     

How have the latest Google algorithm updates impacted search results? 

Every year, Google updates or adjusts its algorithm hundreds of times. The vast majority of the time, the updates do not noticeably impact SERP and website owners do not even notice. However, there have been a few significant times when Google has made updates that cause obvious changes in rankings and traffic rates. 

This is a basic overview of some of these major changes so you can understand how the algorithm has developed over the past few years. 

Core Update (September 2022)

In September of 2022, another core algorithm update came shortly after the heels of the Helpful Content Update in the month prior. There was no information given out about this update, other than the inferred fact that it was enough changes to indicate it as a core update to Google's algorithm and to expect some changes. With it being so close to the Helpful Content Update, it's important when looking at performance that both of these updates likely are working together to help promote good content, and reduce visibility for spammy or unhelpful content. 

Helpful Content Update (August 2022)

In August of 2022 Google had announced a "Helpful Content Update", which aimed to improve the standards neccesary for searchers. This was noted to be similiar to the Panda algorithm update, which impacted poorly written content that did not hold much value to the users, and were written for search engines. Sites that produced spammy content that was unhelpful would be slapped with a sitewide penalty and would affect total site performance, and not just topical areas on your site. 

Google provided a list of questions to ask and how to approach writing for the user, which is essentially the same as content brief for writers, and also included some industries that it might impact more than others, including:

• Online Educational Materials
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Tech Related Content

SEOs following Google's guidelines for years saw this as a big win, as it cuts down on spammy quality outranking thoughtful and helpful content on websites. See our Helpful Content blog post about it.

Core Update (May 2022)

Not since November 2021 was there a Core Update, so in May they rolled out the most recent update that would improve search relevancy and serve more useful content to searchers. By June 9th, this rollout was complete, and there were typical fluctations that we saw happen with this update, most notably to poor quality domains.

Product Review Updates (April, December 2021, March, July 2022)

Starting in 2021, SEOs saw a new kind of update, the product review update. The first product review update, which Google pointedly described as not a core update, was targeted at English-language content rolled out over a two-week period at the end of April. In terms of impact, the update was significant, but less significant than a core update and had the main effect of prioritizing the highest quality, most useful product reviews in the SERP (search engine results pages). 

The December update followed the blueprint of the April update, ostensibly improving upon it. The timing of the rollout, which took about three weeks and concluded just a few days before Christmas, rankled more than a few e-commerce retailers. 

This continued into 2022 in March and July, continuing to do minor but impactful changes regarding the way that product reviews were being ranked. 

Page Experience Update (2021)

Google’s Page Experience update began rolling out in mid-June after an initial postponement. The update introduced key performance metrics known as Core Web Vitals that now factor into rankings. It was long anticipated and, by design, did not result in major ranking changes. The long rollout of two-and-a-half months and plenty of time to prepare also helped. The 2021 update impacted the mobile user experience with the desktop update rolling out in February 2022. 

Core Updates (June, July, November 2021)

Despite a late start, in 2021 Google followed the three core update template it established in 2020, though it could be argued the June and July updates were parts one and two of the same update. Core updates tend to roll out quickly and the three 2021 updates were no different, but many SEOs questioned the timing of the November update, which began rolling out right before Thanksgiving and continued rolling out for about two weeks right through Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many retailers biggest selling season. Google continued to offer its standard guidance for core updates.  

Core Update (December 2020)

Following E-A-T guidelines is once again invaluable to this Google Core Update. Google also recommends getting to know quality rater guidelines in order to understand how Google systems work and how your content is rated. Creating informative, unique and optimized content that speaks to your readers will continue to help the rankings of your site.  

Core Update (May 2020)

Even though COVID-19 hit in 2020 and businesses and sites struggled to keep up with how much more digital the entire world immediately became, Google went ahead with a huge core update known as the May 2020 Core Update. Because of the pandemic, search intent changed and Google made it easier for people to find relevant answers to their questions with the update.  

Core Update (January 2020) 

The January 2020 core update broadly impact search results worldwide. Because it does not target any one specific thing, Google recommends that users pay attention to E.A.T, or expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. The content that continues to align with these objectives will be the content that then sees the best rankings. Better content contributes to this superior user experience, and the easier it should be for brands to see their material rise on the SERP, regardless of core updates.  

BERT (2019)

BERT – Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers – is a neural network-based technique for natural language processing and has the ability to better understand the full context of your query by looking at all of the words in your search and delving deeper into the relevant information you’re seeking. This update was so significant that Google needed to buy new and more powerful computer hardware to process the information from the crawl.  

Core Update (September 2019)

This update appears to have been broadly targeted at downgrading sites with low-quality content as well as a rollback to fix some unintended impact from prior core updates.  

Site Diversity (2019)

The Site Diversity update is an adjustment that seeks to eliminate multiple listings from the same domain from the SERP. Multiple listings are now seen less often.   

"Medic" Core Update (2018)

The "Medic" Core Update was a broad core algorithm update, one of the updates that Google does several times a year. While Google did not confirm the specific purpose of this update, it had a large impact on health, finance, and your money your life (YMYL) pages. SEO experts speculated that this Google update boosted the rank of high-quality articles that offer advice on major life issues, such as finances and health.  

The Google "Fred" Update (2017)

An unconfirmed algo update, Fred had an outsized impact on organic listings, with a number of sites experiencing traffic declines from 50 to 90%. The exact parameters of Fred have never been confirmed by Google, but seem to crack down on sites that emphasize display ads and/or traffic monetization widgets over content as well as making said elements difficult to differentiate from actual on-page content.  

Mobile Interstitial Penalty (2017)

This SEO penalty applied to sites running interstitial ads that blocked the user's view of the content on the page. This was not a blanket penalty on all interstitials. Instead, it focused on intrusive interstitials on mobile and interstitials that require the user to dismiss them manually.  

The AdWords Update (2016)

In Q1 2016, Google fundamentally changed the way that paid search listings appeared on the SERP. They removed the traditional 4-pack placement in the righthand column (where the Knowledge Graph element now appears) and integrated them into the top of the main listings. The integration trend would continue, with the icons labelling listings as paid advertisements gradually being deemphasized over time. 

The RankBrain Update (2015)

When RankBrain went live, it introduced artificial intelligence to the Google algorithm. This part of the algorithm has the power to monitor user behavior and response to queries to ‘learn’ more about intent and the value of certain pages. It is now Google’s 3rd most important ranking signal.  

The Quality Update (2015)

This update, also known as Phantom II, was noticed a few weeks after the mobile update went live. This update rewarded sites that focused on the user experience and high-quality content while penalizing those with too many ads and certain types of user-generated content. Once again, thin content was hit hard. This is likely one of the reasons that thin, ad-heavy user-generated sites, like HubPages, were penalized while other user-generated sites with lots of high-quality content, like Quora, saw a boost.  

The Mobile Update (2015)

The mobile update forced all sites to become mobile-friendly or risk being penalized in the SERPs. Rather than mobile-optimization being reserved for the brands at the forefront of the industry, every site needs to have a responsive version.  

The Hummingbird Update (2013)

The Hummingbird update was a change to Google’s algorithm to make it smarter at interpreting semantic search. It was designed to help Google better understand intent and context. This forced marketers to shift towards longtail keywords. It also encouraged marketers to develop pieces based more on user intent and needs rather than a single keyword.   

The Penguin Update (2012)

About a year after the Panda update, the Penguin update was released, creating another push towards quality content. This update targeted spam by looking at backlinks. It rewarded those with quality, organic backlinks and penalized those with artificial backlink profiles.  

The Panda Update (2011)

This update was first launched in 2011, but it has had several updates over the years. In the beginning of 2016, Panda was added to Google’s core ranking algorithm. 

Panda targets spam and weak content that does not help the end-user. Thin content, duplicate content and content with too many ads are all penalized. 

 

How do I succeed when the Google algorithm keeps changing? 

If you look at the timeline of Google algorithm changes, you will notice that there is a clear purpose and pattern. Each algorithm update is geared towards improving user experience and helping searchers find the information they need as quickly as possible. The Google updates all focus on weeding out poor content and boosting the content that fills this need. 

When developing content for your site, you need to: 

1. Think less about the search engine and more about your end-user 
2. Create content that will engage readers at every stage of the buyer’s journey 
3. Develop a site that is easy to navigate 
4. Use a variety of types of content, including images, videos, infographics, and text 
5. Perpetually monitor your site so that you can identify any changes in traffic rates and correct any drops as quickly as possible. 

Google’s algorithm is always changing because it is trying to provide the best information as quickly as possible to its users. To keep a high SERP rank and presence no matter how the algorithm changes, create high-quality, user-friendly content.