SEO News Roundup: Webmasters Highlight Potential Google Update

Tom Williams runs through this week’s search engine optimisation news, including details of a potential new Google algorithm update, DuckDuckGo serves up 10 billion searches, Google confirms no more numbered updates for Penguin, and more.

Is Another Google Algorithm Update On The Cards?

Webmasters are talking of ranking and traffic changes from Google, according to Barry Schwartz in Search Engine Roundtable. He wrote last week that:

The ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has seen an uptick in chatter around ranking and traffic changes from Google. Plus, many of the tracking tools that have updated for the day are showing signs of a Google update.

However, don’t panic just yet. According to Schwartz all indications are that this was a fairly minor update.

DuckDuckGo Hits 10 Billion Searches Milestone

Privacy search engine DuckDuckGo has announced it has served up more than 10 billion searches since its inception in 2008. What’s more, the search engine saw four billion of those searches performed in 2016 alone, while 10 January 2017 proved its busiest day ever when it served up 14 million searches in that one day alone.

According to DuckDuckGo its increased popularity is due to the fact, “People are actively seeking out ways to reduce their digital footprint online.”

Google Android App Improves Search Experience

The latest version of the Google Android search app now has the patience to wait for a better internet connection – even if you don’t.

If your internet connection drops out then the updated app will continue to keep trying to find a search answer until a connection returns. It will then send you a notification that the app has found the search results for your query. Simply click on the notification to view your results.

Google: No More Numbered Penguin Releases

Penguin 4.0 will be the last of its kind, according to Google. Gary Illyes posted on Twitter that Google has no plans for further numbered releases for Penguin.

He also pledged to continue to work hard to make sure Google was transparent with all future changes to Penguin, saying:

I'll work hard to make sure we're transparent about big substantial changes to Penguin.

Site Command Has No Order, Says Google

Ever wondered on the order in which Google lists the results from a site:www.mydomain.com command? Well, it appears there is no order, other than that the home page will list first.

Talking in a Hangout with Search Engine Roundtable, Google’s John Mueller confirmed that there is no specific order, other than that the home page will rank first.

This goes against Matt Cutts’ advice in 2011, whereby he stated there was some sort of site command ranking order.

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Read last week’s SEO News Roundup: Interstitial Ad Penalty Arrives

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