Google Algorithms And Updates Focusing On User Experience: A Timeline - Search Engine Journal

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As the role of search evolves to touch multiple marketing and consumer touchpoints, optimizing for the user has never been so important.

This is reflected in Google’s continual focus on the searcher experience. Whether in its core algorithmic updates, new features, products, or SERP format changes.

While some of these Google changes have involved updates targeting low-quality content, links, and spam, other updates aim to understand consumer behavior and intent.

For example, most recent updates have focused on page speed, Core Web Vitals, and product reviews.

Considering the massive competition for SERP real estate from brands, even slight drops in position will critically impact traffic, revenue, and conversions.

In this article, I examine a combination of some (not all) Google updates and technological advancements that significantly reflect the search engine’s focus on the human user and their experiences online – from Panda in 2011 through to Page and Product Experience in 2021 and 2022.

Google Panda (2011)

First launched in February 2011, subsequent updates were continuous and added to Google’s core algorithm.

Panda was announced to target sites with low-quality content; this was one of the first signals that Google focused on content for the user experience.

The focus: producing and...

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