Notes

Google Algorithm Updates

(Before Google): Yahoo and AltaVista ruled the web. Relevancy (based on keyword density and meta tags) were the most important ranking factors.

(After Google): Google's revolutionary PageRank-based algorithm, based on the number of links pointing to a site, led to significantly better results than the existing search engines, pages were ranked based on quality and relevancy.

Venice Update (April 2009): Changed how the algorithm perceived sitewide authority and branding favoring trusted brands over their smaller competitors.

Google Panda (February 2011): Affected a massive 12 percent of searches. Targeted low quality "content farms" like EHow, EzineArticles.com and Suite101.com. One of the first Google updates that actively penalized site owners that broke their Webmaster Guidelines.

Google Penguin (April 2012): The "over-optimization" penalty that hit 3.1% of sites in Google's index. This update specifically targeted sites that used black hat link building tactics, specifically over-optimized anchor text. Like Panda, this update is a filter that catches sites in its net every time they roll out a refresh (every 2-3 months or so).

EMD Update (September 2012): To date, the latest major update from Google. This update targeted sites that used the power of exact match domains to get an edge. This further cemented Google's new hardline stance on site owners that gamed the system.