Google announced yesterday that it has updated its search algorithm, with the results impacting around 35% of Google searches. This news comes only months after their Panda update which had a major impact on search results, particularly in respect of duplicated content. This time, it's about making their search results as up-to-date as possible for news-worthy stories, while preserving the prominence of older posts where these are still relevant.

Following on from Google's completion of their Caffeine web indexing system last year, which allows them to "crawl and index the web for fresh content quickly on an enormous scale", Google notes that, as of yesterday, they are "making a significant improvement to our ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for these varying degrees of freshness."

As explained by TechCrunch, "Now, it’s clear that Google understands that the most relevant search result is more often the one that’s relevant now – the one that’s bringing you new information."

TechCrunch also makes pertinent points regarding the correlation between this recent update and the abandonment of their RealTime search facility. They note "Google used to have a search vertical specifically for the most recent updates at www.google.com/realtime, where it was indexing Twitter updates. However, when the contract with Twitter expired, Google shuttered the site (it now redirects to the Google homepage). Google said at the time that it planned to re-open the site with Google+ search results alongside other realtime sources of information. But with the new Google search update, a specific vertical for realtime information feels less necessary."

As this news illustrates, the way search engine rankings work is constantly changing. Moore Legal Technology are experts in website design and optimisation to help your firm rank higher in Google and other search engines in order for you to generate more, relevant business online. Call us today on 0845 620 5664 for a no-obligation discussion about how your website or online marketing strategy can be improved.