Google’s search algorithm has experienced a lot of adjustments over the years. Beginning from the year 2000, there has been countless updates that affect how content ascends or drop down in the results pages (SERPs). For many internet marketers, this suggests that an upgraded Google algorithm will always be on the horizon. Even though we can never tell how the algorithm changes but here are five areas to focus on in 2018.
Get ready for fake news algorithm updates
The fake news concern has long been an issue Google continues to fighting for quite some time now. Fake news results popping up in search ranking in the serps is an overwhelming issue that cannot be resolved without some measure of difficulty, which is why Google hasn’t developed a powerful plan to combat this trend yet, even though it has acknowledged the problem. Google specifically intensified it efforts in the wake of the last US elections where a page gave totally inaccurate results.
Voice search and featured snippets will grow together
One in every five mobile search searches presently emanates from voice search — this volume would rise rapidly in the coming months as Google Assistant-enabled devices keeps growing in prominence and acceptance. And with the growth of voice search, we will observe a rise in featured snippets from where Google usually gets its voice search results.
Artificial intelligence would be featured in more areas of search
Some few years ago we were initially presented with RankBrain which is Google’s machine-learning AI platform designed to process its search results. Ever since its launch, it’s progressed from taking care of 15 % of search queries to handling all search queries.
Google’s attraction for Artificial Intelligence goes beyond RankBrain, they have pulled resources to engineer the Cloud Vision API, which has the ability to recognize a huge number of objects. Google has a great deal of machine-learning capability they are currently selling as their own product.
Algorithm upgrades to tackle Manipulative guest posting coming
Google recently cautioned site owners that making use of article marketing as a large-scale link-building strategy goes contrary to its regulations and could potentially lead to a severe penalty. Considering that this is a popular trend in the SEO world, Google’s advice in all probability alerts that an algorithm upgrades aiming towards manipulative guest posting is on the way.
‘Linkless’ mentions
Bing recently revealed that they monitor unlinked brand mentions and make use of them as a ranking indicator —this also means that Google might be doing more of these.
As AI starts to perform a more significant role in rankings, it’s not unfounded to assume “linkless” mentions would begin playing a greater part in search rankings.
An interstitial crackdown on the way
The previous year’s mobile interstitial penalty update was an indication of Google’s persistent fight against obtrusive mobile advertising campaigns. The worst hit sites had ambitious advertising that stopped users from doing anything and other concerns that restricted usage of the interface.
But some SEO expert point that the consequence of this penalty seemed underwhelming. Huge businesses still appear to be getting away with interstitial advertisements. However, Google might decide to crack down on them very soon.
Mobile-first indexing
It’s almost three years since Google reported that mobile queries had eventually surpassed desktop searches on it platform — BrightEdge also reported that 57 % of traffic among its clients originated from mobile devices.
Google is taking into account this shift in user behavior with mobile-first indexing, meaning Google will set up and position its search listings according to the mobile version of content.
