Google has been busy showing of its new search algorithm and the search marketing team at clickmate has been busy going over what it means.
Google has a way of providing a lot of information whilst being quite coy at the same time. There’s nothing new this time, with glitzy presentations in abundance, but less hard facts.
But this is a major milestone for Google, it’s the first large search upgrade for some three years. The upgrade focuses on how the Google interface interprets a search request from a user and relays that information back.
The project is codenamed Hummingbird and will affect around 90% of all search traffic.
Google claim that Hummingbird is aimed at longer and more complicated search queries from users. It also said that the new algorithm was better at handling voice requests, an increasing need given the rise in the use of mobile devices.
Hummingbird is the natural successor to Caffeine which had at its heart a focus on the improved indexing of websites. Hummingbird is said to improve the understanding of each search request. The objective is to try and understand the meaning behind the request, rather than just see the request as simple words. Google is trying to make its interactions more ‘human.’ In many ways, it see’s the search as an on-going process (question, following question), rather than just a single enquiry.
Search marketing observers met the introduction with a lukewarm response, saying that they wanted more information than was currently available.
Google is 15 years old.