Google Freshness Algorithm Update and Its Impact on Search Engine Rankings. The Google Freshness algorithm update brought a significant change to search engine rankings. This update, as implied by its name, introduced a major shift in Google’s ranking algorithm, which was based on the Caffeine update released in June 2010.
When Google announced the algorithm change on November 3, 2011, stating that it would affect 35% of all searches (with 6-10% of search results being significantly impacted), it drew the attention of SEO professionals and content marketers. The focus was on providing “fresher and more recent search results.”
Why Was Google Freshness Algorithm Introduced?
The rapid pace of content creation and the emergence of new web pages is one of the main reasons that prompted Google to strive to deliver updated, fresh content. When you combine this rapid content growth with the level of unique and new searches Google encounters, it becomes clear why identifying, managing, prioritizing, and ranking fresh content in Google’s search index is essential.
According to a 2012 article by ReadWrite, 16-20% of the searches Google handles daily are completely new, meaning that every day, 16-20% of Google users ask new questions!
The primary goal of this update was to emphasize the importance of the latest content, particularly in areas such as the latest news, events, policies, celebrities, and more, where users are expected to seek the most current information. For instance, someone searching for information about “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” likely wants to know her latest boyfriend, so a recent news article with numerous social media shares, engagement, and backlinks over the past few hours would likely replace older, outdated content, providing those “activity freshness” signals.
Who Was Affected by Google Freshness Algorithm?
Significantly, between 6-10% of searches were affected by the Freshness algorithm, with a degree of change applied to about one-third (35%) of all searches—a substantial figure. Interestingly, many sites benefited from this update, while fewer sites experienced a drop in ranking or traffic, which is uncommon in most Google algorithm changes that typically lead to some sites losing rankings and traffic.
Google favored sites such as news websites, video portals, and many brand sites that regularly provide new content and have higher CTRs.
Industry Reaction to Google’s Freshness Update
The nature of this update was fundamentally positive. Content creators of valuable material, providers of fresh and relevant news, and many large brands investing in content saw their first reaction as analyzing the algorithm and the logical nature of this update. The analysis, based on Google’s announcement of its 35% effectiveness on search results, matched the expected “significant” impact, with only a minimal negative effect on search results reported.
The Process of Improving Google Freshness Algorithm
The Freshness update is one of the favorite algorithms among Google’s experts because it logically and effectively improves SERP changes in a practical, easy, and impactful way.
If you produce content in a specific area and your information is outdated or hasn’t been updated for a while, you can simply go beyond your current position in Google’s results page with more attractive, fresh, and new content. In such cases, you’ll likely need to pay more attention to that content, both on-page and off-page.
A crucial part of Google’s content freshness update is that the algorithm is not just about updating content but also about the frequency of related content.
For example: The expected frequency for content that ranks highest for a political campaign (which lasts for weeks) is higher than its static content, reflecting campaign changes. Therefore, relevance, accuracy, audience engagement, and social sharing signals increase.
This update is creating the “query deserves freshness” (QDF) method: The QDF solution revolves around a topic’s “hotness.” If news sites or blog posts are actively writing about a topic, this model indicates that it is one of the subjects users want to access more information about. The model also examines Google’s billion-dollar search flow, which, according to Mr. Singhal, better monitors global desire and interest in a particular topic.
This update has been made possible by the Google Caffeine web search index update: With the Caffeine algorithm, we analyze the web in small sections and update our search index continuously worldwide. When we find new pages or new information on existing pages, we can directly add them to the index. This means you can find fresher information than ever before—regardless of when and where it was published.
Practical Tactics for Site Ranking Recovery After Google’s Freshness Algorithm Update
Here are five of the best ways to recover lost rankings (or take advantage of new opportunities) as a result of the Google Freshness algorithm update:
Rewrite Existing Content
Review the performance of your content annually or even for the previous period. Identify pages/topics that previously brought significant traffic and rankings to your website and prioritize refreshing them. You might notice that time-dated content in blogs, news, and media sections have seen significant changes or declines in data. If so, consider updating historical content by citing new sources, updating statistics, using more quotes, and adding terms that reflect the latest searches.
Social Sharing and Content Amplification
Social signals, fresh link signals, and content sharing can enhance rankings related to QDF and previous algorithm updates like the Freshness update. Don’t underestimate the value of social success and PR activities that help discover and engage with new content.
Reconsider Content Frequency
If your website includes industry changes, major events, etc., you might need to reconsider how frequently you update your audience and add new content to your site. People are looking for important content and the latest news more than ever. Slight changes in frequency can make a significant difference in user engagement on your website.
Adopt a Layered Approach to Content Creation
With various types of content, including voice, video, images, virtual reality, and traditional web content (blogs, news, media, content hubs, microsites, etc.), adding multiple layers of content can provide broader visibility for your brand, allowing you to achieve much better rankings on various keywords from Google. Whether these updates lead to new landing pages or add depth and quantity to existing URLs will vary based on your goals. But either way, doing so will help you benefit more from Google’s content freshness algorithm.
Incorporate Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is more valuable than other types of content because it doesn’t lose its value over time and encompasses many user searches. Typically, evergreen content reflects the following:
- Comprehensive topic research
- Unique insights
- Specialized, targeted use of a specific subject
- Monitored content that is updated periodically if needed
- Longer-form content
- Mixed-content types
These pieces of content usually act as “hero” content on your website. Evergreen content helps increase your site’s traffic.
How Successful Was Google’s Freshness Algorithm Update?
While the Freshness algorithm change is often overshadowed by other algorithms such as Penguin, Panda, Hummingbird, Mobile-First Index, RankBrain, etc., it is still considered one of Google’s successful algorithms.
When you search for phrases that are the latest news, such as [football scores], you’ll find that the top-ranking sites provide the following information:
- Live results
- In-game updates
- Latest scores
- Connection to the scoreboard
- And more…
These useful and frequently changing results (often changing hour by hour) reflect the practical benefits of this update in creating a better search experience for users.
Final Thoughts
The main goal of this Google algorithm is to place more emphasis on the freshness of content, as internet users today are more eager than ever to find the latest and most up-to-date information and news across various fields. Since Google has a strong preference for new and fresh content, by keeping your content updated, you can attract Google’s attention to your site and achieve higher rankings in its search results page.
