Google Hummingbird Update
The Google Hummingbird update has been live for sometime now. Although according to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch, this is not so much an update as it is a whole new algorithm.
Does it matter which it is? Not really, after all’s said and done, we still need to get sites visible and people will continue to search.
What is Google saying though? Not a lot until you really go into it in depth. Then between the lines quite a lot!
They’re really focusing an mobile, both phones and tablets. Google Now is moving towards being even more of an assistant. Amit Singhal explains in a post on the Google blog. you can set a reminder to buy butter on your next trip to Safeway, Google Now will remind when you walk in the store.
They really seem very proud of their voice search, maybe on SIRI on i0S 7 it works well, but on my computer, not so much.
I asked “which is better for me, butter or olive oil?” I got results for “Which is better to boil”, not really so useful.
Knowledge Graph is also mentioned, getting better and giving more information.
It’s mobile where most of the changes are being made and, where those changes will be most notable. In an article on Forbes, Google news room is quoted as saying that the Hummingbird has been flying for several months, not just the one quoted elsewhere.
I first wrote this in 2013 and now it’s time to look at what’s actually happened. Hummingbird was indeed a whole new flock of birds. It changed how search worked because the little bird could understand semantics and context.
The Knowledge Graph got better. It’s job is to keep the searcher on the results page as long as possible. after all, Google makes it’s money from search by selling advertising via its AdWords program. With the product feed available to retailers, you can now buy direct from the search results page.
This means that Google is hoping to become the place on the web for all your needs. Having said that, Google Plus is getting less and less support because it never took off in the way it was hoped. Facebook has not only kept it’s user base but grown it to one and a half billion users, making it a powerhouse that can challenge Google.
Discover more about the Hummingbird update here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Hummingbird
Have you noticed a change in the visibility of your site?
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