How the Main Algorithms of Google’s Search Engine Work

Google and other search engines play a significant role in our virtual lives. With their help, we daily search for necessary information, check the weather, find products and services online, and make purchases. It’s hard to imagine life without search engines nowadays, so it’s crucial to learn how to use them effectively.

In today’s article, we will delve deeper into the Google search engine. We will also examine its algorithms and operating principles, and discuss how to maximize productivity and efficiency when using the search engine.

How Does Google Work?

To understand how best to work within the search engine, one needs to grasp its operating principles. First, let’s understand what Google is.

Google is a massive library of websites that selects the most relevant sites according to your query. The most high-quality web pages will be those that precisely answer the user’s search question.

This process can be further examined as follows:

• First, the Google bot finds your site;
• then it sees the code;
• The Google bot associates your site with specific content and adds it to its directory;
• after this, your site is analyzed and evaluated, compared with competitors, and other technical parameters are checked;
• If your site is deemed high-quality, it is shown to the user in the search results.

At the stage of “adding your site to the directory,” Google pays attention to key SEO elements such as:

• page title and description;
• text and keywords within it;
• images and their descriptions.

It’s by this scheme that sites are entered into the database and subsequently shown in results. However, if you want your page to be in the top ten displayed search results, you must focus on its SEO optimization.

What are Google Filters?

Every search engine has certain rules, requirements, and recommendations for websites. For non-compliance or harmful manipulation, Google imposes filters on the page, affecting the site’s positions in the results.

Filters act as a sort of punishment for manipulative actions against the search engine. Let’s delve further into the list of requirements, violation of which will lead to undesirable consequences for your site.

Panda

Panda is a search algorithm that began operating in 2011. Its main goal is to check the quality of site content. There are several requirements regarding this:

• It must be useful and relevant to the user, clearly answering the query;
• The content should be structured (with lists, schemes, tables) for easier user comprehension;
• It should be original and not repetitive;
• The content should match the declared subject.

If your site falls under the Panda filter, you’ll need to heavily work on page content, remove plagiarism, add structure to the text, and wait up to 6 months for the site’s rankings to return.

Penguin

The Penguin algorithm targets poor-quality links. Debuting in April 2012, it gave many headaches to unscrupulous SEO agencies that used backlink spam tactics on the site.

If a site is affected by this filter, its positions significantly worsen, leading to a drop in traffic. Typically, a month before such consequences, a notification arrives in Google Webmaster Tools about the use of links violating Google’s rules.

Exact Match Domain

Above, we discussed the most commonly applied Google filters where sites often fall prey. But there are also less major algorithms, one of which is Exact Match Domain.

This filter focuses on tracking keyword spam and their inclusion in the domain. For instance, if you write scientific papers for students, don’t name your site “zakazat-diplom-Ukraine.” Opt for simpler options like “otlichnik,” avoiding keyword-heavy names to avoid being filtered.

Links

This algorithm tracks links on the site. A good web resource should have both outgoing and incoming links. The latter indicates other sources linking to you, while outgoing links show your readiness to mention other internet resources in your content.

But don’t overuse links or turn your site into a chaotic set of links. This threatens with the imposition of filters, so focus on developing your page using rational and organic methods.

Broken Links

You’ve likely encountered a 404 error when searching for needed information or products. If a site accumulates a significant number of such error pages, its positions in the results will drop.

New Google Filters

Besides the main filters we’ve reviewed, there are relatively new ones that emerged due to innovative changes in the search system. These algorithms also bear significance as they directly affect your site’s standings.

Mobilegeddon

Lately, mobile traffic has been confidently growing. Hence, the emergence of mobile site versions became necessary.

This filter began in 2015 and was a first of its kind. At the time, its primary task was to make site usage from mobile phones convenient and straightforward. The key methods for achieving this goal included:

creating mobile versions. This was the fastest and easiest implementation method, albeit with numerous drawbacks, such as user inconvenience, moderation challenges, and optimization issues;

AMP version of the site. In this case, a duplicate site was created without layouts, menus, or ads;

adaptive layout. This is considered the most optimal and widely-used method now.

Speed Update

This was the first algorithm aimed at improving website loading speed. Introduced in 2018, it significantly impacted the rankings of sites with slow loading speeds.

The Speed Update consists of three elements:

• LCP – the time taken to fully load a site for the user;
• FID – the time taken for the first content with which user interaction is possible to be displayed;
• CLS – ensures no errors during scrolling.

BERT and RankBrain

RankBrain is a lexical tool that aids in finding a site not only by keywords but also by selecting synonyms for them. Thus, with low-competition queries, sites lacking the exact keywords but fitting the user query may surface.

BERT is a logical tool tracking where users go after their query. To optimize BERT it is recommended to:

• write informative articles that fully reveal the chosen topic;
• add synonyms to your texts;
• use other content besides textual (videos, images, music).

Google YMYL

This algorithm is relevant for medical, legal, financial, and other services related to health and finance. In such topics, the search system demands expertise and credibility of information. Moreover, with this tool, sites are manually checked. Ensure your content’s quality, or the positions of your webpage will significantly drop.

Pigeon

This filter began operations in 2014 and is one of the most helpful. If a user’s query is geographically tied (e.g., “private kindergarten Kyiv”), the sites matching the requested region are shown first.

To effectively use this tool, you need to:

• indicate your location on the site;
• If you have several stores/offices/manufacturing units, mention them all;
• for each such element of your business structure, create your Google My Business card;
• If you operate in multiple regions, create separate site pages tied to requests for each locality.

Unofficial Google Filters

Besides the above-listed search engine algorithms, unofficial filters also exist. Below, we’ll examine some of them in more detail.

Sandbox

The term “sandbox” translates literally to “sandbox.” It means that new sites cannot take top positions. In this case, high-quality content, compliance with all requirements, and excellent optimization don’t help. Webmasters claim that to take good positions and receive traffic, a waiting period of 3-6 months is necessary.

DomainAge

This algorithm is also related to the site’s age but works in the opposite direction. According to this filter, the older the domain (5-7 years), the higher the positions it occupies. Thus, when creating new web pages, preference is often given to purchasing old domain names.

-5, -30, -950

The essence of this algorithm lies in the fact that when search engine requirements are violated or not entirely clean methods are used for site promotion, Google doesn’t immediately ban it. Initially, it lowers the web resource’s positions by 5. If mistakes aren’t fixed shortly, another 30 are deducted. Further deductions by 950 happen, and finally, the domain ends up permanently sanctioned.