Google’s new search algorithm
There is no doubt that Google is ubiquitous in today’s age, where information can be accessed by a simple query and a click. PageRank, the innovative endorsement algorithm developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, shaped the way link analysis is calculated in the world wide web. Since the beginning of PageRank, Google has continuously made improvements to its search algorithm, the most recent being the Fred update. In this update, Google targets websites that “prioritize monetization over user experience” due to “aggressive advertisement placement.” The update also affected websites with poor-quality backlinks (low values of trust and citations), which are caused by broken or “unnatural” links or poor domain authority.
In class, we discuss link analysis and its applications in modern web search. Just as we learnt about assigning values to web page nodes as a way to determine the ‘value’ of a website, Google’s search algorithm not only continues to implement this algorithm, but it is also changing with how the public reacts to the quality of these websites. The latest update to its algorithm seems to focus on the “trust” of a website; the algorithm thus determines the location of a web page on its search results. Today, Google’s search algorithm is essential to many businesses, who rely on these algorithms to stay on top of search results. If these businesses fell off the top search results due to the changes in Google’s search algorithm, they could incur losses because of their loss of page hits.
The article also gives advice to site owners on how to respond to Google’s updates. It focuses heavily on the quality of the content that a website should show, even including cleaning its link profile, which are the links that direct endorse that particular website. This update enhances user experience because web developers have to take into account the sources of their links and their advertisement placements, which affect the user experience and value of the website. For businesses, this update is even more important, because of how easily link analysis and the value of their website can affect the rank of their website on search results, and thus the businesses themselves. Of course, Google will continue to update its search algorithm and cater to the audience’s response to these websites as link analysis is continuously developed.
Link: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/08/24/google-fred-update