Search and Social
Inside Google’s New Hummingbird Algorithm
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Who are These Guys?
Josh Braaten• Director of Inbound
Marketing, Collegis Education
• 8 years of experience
• Winner, Best In-House Search Team, 2013 US Search Awards
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Jeff Sauer• Web Analytics and SEO
Entrepreneur
• 15 years in Digital
• Serial blogger, speaker and online marketer
What is Google Hummingbird?
1. It’s a big question—let’s start with a quick refresher on how Google search works
2. Next, we need to understand how Google has evolved as a search engine to get how big Hummingbird actually is for Google
3. Only then will we be able to define Hummingbird4. And we’ll give you five steps to succeed with Google’s
most comprehensive algorithm update ever5. Finally, we’ll leave you with some thoughts on where
Google might take Hummingbird in the future
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
How Google Works
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How Google Works, Basically
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
• Robots crawl the web• Data is sent to the index
Crawl
How Google Works, Basically
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
• Robots crawl the web• Data is sent to the index
Crawl
How Google Works, Basically
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
• Robots crawl the web• Data is sent to the index
Crawl
How Google Works, Basically
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
• Robots crawl the web• Data is sent to the index
Crawl
A Brief History of Google Search
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
1998: Google launches With new PageRank technology, which determines a website’s relevance by the number of pages, and the
importance of those pages, that link back to the website.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
1999-2002: Improving the Basics
Google spent the first few years improving the core search product’s ability to understand human language better,
from synonyms to n-grams.
They also launched a small product called AdWords.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
November 2003: Florida Update
Google’s first big update, Florida, kills spammy tactics such as meta tag stuffing and on-page keyword stuffing
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2004: Austin, Brandy & Bourbon
Austin targeted on-page spam tactics like white text on a white background.
Brandy introduced latent semantics abilities such as anchor text relevance and “link neighborhoods”
Bourbon affected duplicate content
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2005: NoFollow, Local & Personal
Google introduced the NoFollow link attribute to indicate when links don’t count.
Local results and personalized results introduce new dimensions of relevance. Google will continue to build out
vertical search into 2006 with movies, flights weather, sports and more.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2007-2008: Broadening Search
Google releases Universal Search, which sees the end of the “10 blue links” search results.
They release the Google Search App and introduce voice search.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2009: Vince, Caffeine and Instant
Google introduces major update Vince that sees huge and ongoing impact for brands.
Caffeine update helps Google crawl, index the web and integrate with results more quickly. Google considered
Caffeine a complete overhaul and iteration on the original PageRank.
Google Instant allows users to get search results before
they’re even done typing a query.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2010: The Dawn of the Modern Google
Mayday Update was the first major update targeting content quality and a precursor to Panda.
Brand update allows domains to show up more than once in the search results.
Social signals from Twitter and Facebook are used for the first time as a supplemental proxy for links in Google’s
ranking algorithms.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2011: The Year of the PandaOverstock.com penalized for link-building scheme while JCPenney is outed and penalized for buying links. Google
starts enforcing link ethics.
Google rolls out Panda, the most profound update ever related to content quality. Over two dozen iterations of
Panda have since been released.
The hits kept coming with the introduction of +1 and Google+, Schema, authorship markup encrypted search
and Freshness update.
What Was Panda, Again?
• Major update focused on website quality• Low-quality and thin-content sites were heavily
filtered from the search results• Well-known brands with rich, exceptional
content were the big winners while content farms such as About.com, e-How.com and Mahalo.com saw crippling losses• Website quality extends to on-page factors, domain
factors, page speed and content engagement
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2012: The Year of the Penguin
Penguin is the other shoe for black-hat SEO. Whereas Panda focused on content quality, Penguin decimated most
shady link building practices. Five updates have been made to Penguin since.
Google also rolled out Knowledge Graph, one of its first major uses of Schema.org markup.
Search+ Your World and the Venice update, which affected local search queries, round out 2012.
What Was Penguin, Again?
• Major update focused on backlinks• Google wages war on “Black Hat” SEOs• Link-building schemes such as link networks, paid
linking, link directories and low-quality link acquisition dry up• Google stresses earning links naturally through earning
attention of the voices that matter in your space• The era of high-quality content marketing and Inbound
Marketing begins• Great search now all but demands social collaboration
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
2013: The Year of the Hummingbird
Google Hummingbird is the capstone algorithm for search creates a faster, more contextual and more relevant
experience.
Hummingbird is the third major version of the Google algorithm.
Seemingly unrelated advancement to Hummingbird include Conversational Search, fine-tuning of Authorship and
Google Now
What, Exactly, Is Google Hummingbird?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
What is Google Hummingbird?
• Modern-day PageRank with link, social and other non-link “popularity” signals• Contextual understanding of what searchers
search for: Entities & Concepts —things, not strings• Advanced personalization that includes who you are,
what you’ve searched for and when you searched for it• Quality algorithms and filters (e.g., Penguin and Panda)
rolled into the main algorithm• Hummingbird is Google’s third major iteration of its core
algorithm after Caffeine and PageRank.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
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Authority
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Authority Links
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Authority Links Social Signals
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
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Authority Links Social Signals
Co-Occurrence
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
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Authority Links Social Signals
Co-Occurrence Ratings
Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Authority Links Social Signals
Co-Occurrence Ratings Reviews
Contextual Understanding, You Say?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Personalized Context in Mobile
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“Show Me” Indicates a Map and a Video
Personalized Context in Mobile
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Location Retained fromPrevious search for Budapest
Personalized Context in Mobile
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We know “There” is Budapestusing Previous Search
Personalized Context in Mobile
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Personalized Context in Mobile
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Travel Guides Highlighted
Context is Retained Both Ways
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“Show Me” Restaurants shows local restaurants
Context is Retained Both Ways
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Searching for Budapest showsRestaurants in Budapest
Penguin and Panda are Baked Right In
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5 Ways Social Media Marketers Can Win with Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Mapping the College Decision Process
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
Understand Where Location Plays a Factor
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
Events are Needed to Form Connections
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
Sometimes they Need Time
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
Context is Key!
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Experience need for a better life
Borrow and Build Influence to Reach Personas
1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
2. Structure Data to Understand Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Schema.org
2. Structure Data to Understand Context
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3. The Right Content Feeds the Hummingbird
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Research Topics Write Outreach
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
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Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Advanced Segments in Google Analytics
4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Understand Device Distribution
4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
All of this is FREE in Google Analytics
5. Help Your Brand See and Change Reality
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
Why Can’t I Cancel My Account Online?
5. Help Your Brand See and Change Reality
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
My House is Freezing, Please
Send Help!
Hummingbird is Google Search
“Hummingbird makes results even more useful and relevant, especially when you ask Google long complex questions. And it affects about 90% of our searches worldwide. Yes, Hummingbird affects about 90% of our searches worldwide.”-Amit Singhal, SVP and head of Google’s core search ranking team
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer
What Will Hummingbird Bring in the Future?
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Google GLASS Indexing the World Around Us?
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Self Driving Cars
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Robots Crawling the Web and the World
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Photo Credit BostonDynamics.com
Cat Videos
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Photo Credit: Urs Watcher via Compfight
Thank You
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