On November 3, 2011, Google announced their newest algorithm update called the “freshness” update. This update works to move new or “fresh” content to the top of the search pages. Google’s thinking behind this latest update is that users typically desire the newest news rather than older information. When the information is equally relevant to the search, the new algorithm will position the newer information first. This new search algorithm will help to keep Google in its spot as the most used search engine, giving it the edge over competitors like Bing.
Google began its master plan to promote newer information and more relevant topics in 2010 when they … rolled out their caffeine indexing system. This caffeine system crawls the web searching for hot topics and fresh information. The freshness algorithm takes these recent results and moves them to the top of the list.
This new search algorithm is part of a series of algorithm adjustments that Google has made since February of 2011 when Google announced its Panda update. The Panda update marked a major shift in Google’s search strategy in that it penalized sites that Google views as “content farms.” Content farms are websites that add large amounts of low quality content designed to entice users to visit the pages and click on the ad content. The information on these websites is often not written by experts and may not be factually accurate. In addition, the Panda algorithm took aim at “scrapper sites” which plagiarize other web content to attract users. The Panda algorithm changed web results by 12 percent on average, and all but buried some websites in the search results.
The freshness update, together with the Panda update, benefits news sites and frequently updated sites like corporate sites that advertise products. In contrast, sites with stable or “evergreen” content are moved down the search page because the information is not new. This update marks a major sea change in how search engines rank websites. Instead of searching for the most relevant results, new results have the edge. This makes the Google search page function more like the news feed of a social media site than a traditional search engine because you will see recent information first.
Critics of the recent Google updates argue that users aren’t necessarily looking for “new” information. Some topics, such as information about art or literature, do not necessarily rely on new information. In addition to the criticism about the lack of relevant information, some websites with peer-reviewed sites were downgraded while wiki and user-driven sites remain at the top of the search results. Google states on their official blog that it is refining the results to differentiate between the news-worthy topics and topics that rely less on new information, but some critics argue that Google has not perfected the algorithm yet and that Google needs to work harder to make the results more relevant.
Whether you applaud Google’s efforts to bring you the freshest news or you wish you could return to more relevant results, it seems as if the new search algorithm is here to stay. In the meantime, until your favorite websites adjust to present new content, your best bet is to bookmark the sites rather than count on Google to bring them up in the search results.