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Google Freshness Update

Last week Google released yet another algorithm update, and although it wasn’t Panda 2.6 or Panda 2.5.2, it has affected up to 35% of searches. The newly-named ‘freshness update’ is built on the Caffeine update that was launched last year, allowing Google to provide the very latest content.

Google’s Amit Singhal states that

“Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today’s world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old.”

This seems to be a very timely release, especially in the UK, with lots of hot topics currently trending on the web and on social media, including Frankie Cocozza being kicked off the X Factor, the England poppy fiasco and Carlos Tevez leaving Manchester. With all these topics trending across the web, the freshness update has provided us with the very latest information on the subject from the last day, hour or even minute. There has been a lot of information around about the freshness update and here is Google’s official announcement.

So we know that the algorithm will do the following:

• Shows the lasted information on hot topics, trending stories and breaking news.
• Provides the latest information on regular and upcoming events including concerts, Olympics, General Elections, etc.
• Identify the very latest information on product releases, product reviews and information.

To determine how various websites were affected, Searchmetrics performed its analysis using its own SEO database, which ranks sites using its “SEO Visibility” metric. This metric is based on the search volume of a keyword, the type of search (informational, navigational or transactional) and the rank of the URL in question.

In the initial list of winners and losers (see below), Searchmetrics provides the previous SEO Visibility for the sites as of October 30th and the current rank as of November 6th. The percent change is also indicated on the far right, while the type of site is on the far left.

Winners



Losers