Some of you may not be familiar with this face, but those that are in the SEO world, this man is as recognizable as Michael Jackson as the king of pop music. His name is Amit Singhal and he has for the past 15 years been the head of Google Search.  Which is a big weight to have on your shoulders for so long, and he has made huge waves in changing the way that search works, and how results are factored into search queries we do on Google every day.  He actually even took the algorithm Larry Page, one of the founders of Google, created that made Google what it is, and improved it. It made Google better and was a key member in making it the powerhouse it is now.

He has been involved with a very hands on approach in all of these improvements and has actually for the last year only done searches through mobile searches on his phone. He has wanted to see just for himself how the algorithm is affecting the now most popular way that we search.  Over 50% of the searches that are now done on Google are done through mobile devices and will continue to move in that direction.  And with these changes, he also was the head of the SEO update known as Hummingbird, which changed the game for a lot of SEO “experts” that had been using poor links and improper tactics to game the Google algorithm. Their methods actually hurt their clients websites, and have been struggling to get back to where they once were since. If you feel you’ve been affected by algorithm updates we can help you fix it.

Who is taking over?

John Giannandrea who has been over the artificial intelligence and machine learning department at Google will be taking over.  It has been something forecasted by SEO’s for about a year now that AI would start to be a part of search, and help computers to learn how to think more like humans rather than a machine.  Which is kind of scary, but also very cool that science fiction is starting to become science fact.  A lot of the information that Google has been using for AI research and development is from mobile searches, and especially those that are voice searches to learn. A great example of what it does was explained by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land: “Humans don’t write code to identify all the things that make up what looks like a cat. They write code designed to help machines themselves learn what a cat is.” And that is from the algorithm that John helped build called “RankBrain” which has been a part of Google’s ranking factors for over a year now.

This is an exciting time for search, and a very confusing one at that for businesses who are wanting to show up for the services and products that they provide.  We at Infogenix can help your company improve your SEO and give you real results to increase visibility and rankings.  With this new change in Google’s hierarchy it will be intriguing to see how search will continue to evolve and how it affects businesses online.  If you want to learn more or have any questions for us, please reach out to us and we’ll be happy to talk to you about how Infogenix can help your business.

(So this is sort of nerd information, but also is relevant to businesses trying to get more of a presence online.  I’ll also mention just a little bit of history of search as well so don’t be alarmed if you get bored out of your skull from this post.)

Our friends over at Search Engine Land just released some information letting us know that pending approval from the US Department of Justice there could be a deal that would put Google’s search results into Yahoo! search results! Which is crazy, but also interesting in the fact that if you are ranking well on Google, more than likely you will be ranking just the same in Yahoo, depending on the query.  Now SEO’s have seen this be reflected before, and mostly only pay attention to Google’s rankings as they have the highest market share in search, but this is pretty nice too.

Yahoo! just had their earnings report and that was where this new deal was revealed. Which has a lot of confusing language and is a little hard to completely understand, not to mention that the confusion gets even more wacky when you think that, already Yahoo! has a deal with Microsoft to share the same search algorithm and have a contract working with each other. It was very much like they were joining forces to fight the powerhouse that is Google and somehow possibly contend in the search arena.  If you are a nerd like me, you’ll remember that earlier this year this partnership was actually renewed in April. So how does this trifecta of search work out now?

Well Bing is contracted to have 51% of the ad market share on Yahoo!, which is for paid ads. The remaining 49% can be used by Yahoo! or any 3rd party of their choosing.  They were testing out Google’s system back in July and seemed to like how the results were going.

Yahoo Almost Owned Google

Something also that not many people know is back in the late 90’s when Google was just in its infancy, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were trying to get their foot in the door with larger companies, and were actually trying to get Yahoo! to purchase their algorithm! They were laughed out the door, as Yahoo! was the powerhouse of search at the time, and had no interest in using an alternative to what they currently were using.  If only they could go back in time and change their minds about that decision now.  Of course at the time they had no idea how huge Google would become, but still it is interesting to think about. You never know what kind of opportunities you can miss out on if you aren’t willing to take a real look at it and consider it.

What the new deal will entail

Well this deal will allow Yahoo! to use the Google algorithm in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America.  Europe is out of this deal as there is an anti-trust action happening with Google in Europe so that is why. Also it is interesting to know that Yahoo! doesn’t have to use Google’s algorithm if they don’t want to, there is no guarantee that they will use it, it just gives them the option.

Conclusion

For us, we believe this is very important to know and again is a confirmation to use the proper methods and strategies to rank well Google. And this will be reflected even more on other search engines now, so if you are wanting to learn more about what is going to be best for your website please contact us. We will be happy to help you create a better site and increase sales and conversions for your business.