Google’s new algorithm will generate fresher and more recent search results, improving users’ chances of finding the content they want, the company claims.
Speaking on the company blog, Google fellow Amit Singhal says that the majority of people only want to search for the most up-to-date news and reviews about a given event. In many cases, older information is considered redundant.
“If I search for ‘Olympics’, I probably want information about next summer’s Olympics, not the 1900 Summer Olympics,” Singhal wrote, ZD Net reports.
“Google Search uses a freshness algorithm, designed to give you the most up-to-date results, so even when I just type ‘Olympics’ without specifying 2012, I still find what I’m looking for.”
Google reckons that the changes will affect around 35 per cent of all search results. While this figure is quite significant in the search marketing world, the ramifications for online content providers are far greater. Only the very latest industry news now stands a chance of ranking highly within the search results pages.
Frequently updated sites, such as news, shopping and eCommerce sites, are also likely to fare favourably with the new update, says PC Pro.
“Different searches have different freshness needs,” Singhal continued. “This algorithmic improvement is designed to better understand how to differentiate between these kinds of searches and the level of freshness you need, and make sure you get the most up to the minute answers,” he said.
