Google surges on towards semantic searching

In late September 2013, Google unveiled an upgrade of its search algorithm. The algorithm, named Hummingbird, is the first major upgrade in three years. The algorithm has been rewritten to such an extent that one could say this in a replacement and not an upgrade, according to Amit Singhal, Google’s search chief.

 

Any major change to Google’s search algorithm is meant to have a material say in the evolution of the Web. The latest version of The Authority Report by Parse.Ly, which was published in July 2013, estimates that Google has about 65-70 percent of the market share in the USA. The graph below illustrates the global market share, according to NetMarketShare (September 2013). Interestingly, I used Google, to get this information.

 

Figure 1: Global Market Share for Search Engines (September 2013), NetMarketShare

 

Hummingbird has been in use for over a month, and affects about 90% of Google searches. Hummingbird is different from predecessors and upgrades like Penguin, Panda and Caffeine in that it ranks information on a more intelligent understanding of search questions or requests, while the predecessors focused on better indexing of websites.

 

Google has sought to align itself to the semantic Web through a number of initiatives prior to the introduction of Hummingbird. In May 2912, it introduced the Knowledge Graph, a system that connects objects that are popular and relevant for particular searches. The discourse around search engine optimisation is around an inevitable world of semantic searching.

 

David Amerland, a search engine expert and author of Google Semantic Search sees Hummingbird as an extension of Google’s semantic capabilities, as it increases the ability to deal with complex search queries and improves the indexing of entities in Web documents. He sees these capabilities enriching the Knowledge Graph (a Google knowledge base to enhance the search engine’s search results through semantic technology). Hummingbird doesn’t treat search queries as a group of keywords but attempts to understand the meaning of a query. It tries to answer questions and not simply match keywords with documents.

 

Trond Lyngbø, a senior SEO strategist and partner at Metronet in Norway also affirms that the major objective of Hummingbird is to trying to find the intent behind the queries, and offer a solution, It will go a long way towards removing irrelevant information from search engine results pages.

 

Hummingbird will compel businesses to change how they present information on the Web. Web content needs to satisfy the intent of the person making the search. One can see this as an evolution from ‘dumb’ keyword search optimisation, to best guessing what a searcher’s user intent and matching it with relevant content, to contextualising searches and personalizing them according to location, platform, prior searches, etc. Web content needs to be deep and seen as the most relevant piece of content for any given query. The elimination of keywords data from analytics has ushered in an era where authorityship matters more than key words.

 

Rather than ensure that your website captures key words likely to be searched, businesses will need to position themselves as leaders or authorities around a particular area. The quality of content, or the level of expertise will influence search results. Companies will be increasingly more involved in social media to understand what their customers are interested in, and build their content around that.

 

Google has had to make changes of this nature to adapt to realities such as how the Internet is accessed these days. Tablets and mobile devices, with capabilities such as voice activation search options are some of these realities. Companies will therefore also have to adapt, and search engine optimisation strategies will be a business imperative going forward.


Reference

 

Gesenhues, A. (2013). Google’s Hummingbird Takes Flight: SEOs Give Insight On Google’s New Algorithm, Available Online:  http://searchengineland.com/hummingbird-has-the-industry-flapping-its-wings-in-excitement-reactions-from-seo-experts-on-googles-new-algorithm-173030 [Accessed 15 October 2013]