A Brief History of Google Search Algorithms

A brief history of Google search algorithms

Confused by algorithms? Who wouldn’t be, considering that Google changes its search algorithms hundreds of times each year. The point of these pesky formulas, however, is not as hard to grasp if you understand why they exist in the first place.

Google bases its search results on PageRank, its original algorithm dating back to the 1990s. PageRank was created to establish a hierarchy that would rank websites in search engine results according to importance and popularity. Generally, it does so by taking into account both the quantity and quality of links to a given page. Your website may not have received thousands of visitors, but if it’s the only online source of expert information on a given topic, it could still rank higher than a spammy page that has been viewed more times.

Many other factors determine the ranking of search results on Google. Take a look at the top three  and what they mean for marketers: