SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the optimization studies aimed at increasing the visibility of websites and web pages on search engines and increasing traffic by obtaining high rankings.
Websites such as e-commerce, blog or forum pages need SEO to increase their visibility on search engines.
Users on the Internet want to reach the results they are looking for in the most accurate way, and search engines constantly update their algorithms to compare users with the right results. Website owners also need to perform the necessary optimizations so that search engine bots can crawl and understand their websites.
SEO News
2026
2025
2024
Google Introduce Two New GoogleBot: GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video Crawlers
Google added two new GoogleBot to fecthing image and video bytes: GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video
AI Overview Introduced
Google introduced new AI Overview on SERP.
March 2024 Core Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Mar 2024 | 26 Apr 2024 | 45 days |
The March 2024 core update is more complex than usual, involving changes to multiple core systems to better identify helpful content. Google has enhanced its ranking systems with various innovative signals and approaches, moving away from relying on a single system.
The update rollout may take up to a month, causing more fluctuations in rankings. Creators donât need to take any special actions if theyâve been producing content meant for people. Those experiencing lower rankings are encouraged to read Googleâs guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.
March 2024 Spam Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Mar 2024 | 20 Mar 2024 | 14 days, 21 hours |
Google is updating its spam policies to reduce low-quality content in search results, targeting expired websites repurposed for spam, obituary spam, and content created primarily to match specific search queries. The updates refine core ranking systems to better identify unhelpful, poor user experience content made for search engines rather than people.
Expected to reduce low-quality content by 40%, these measures include stricter policies on scaled content abuse, addressing automated or human-generated content designed to manipulate rankings, and site reputation abuse, where low-quality third-party content exploits a siteâs reputation. Additionally, repurposed expired domains intended to boost low-quality contentâs search rankings are now considered spam. Enforcement begins in two months, allowing site owners time to adjust.
2023
Vacation Rental Structured Data Markup
Google announced Vacation Rental Structured Data on 4 December 2023. This structured data make it easier for travelers discover the best lodging options.
Profile Page and Discussion Forum Structured Data
Google has announced new structured data for profile pages and discussion forums to be used in Google Search.
Profile Page Structured Data
ProfilePage markup allows creators (person or organization) to identify information such as their name, social media links, and profile photo.
Discussion Forum Structured Data
DiscussionForumPosting markup is designed for forum websites. This structured data enables discussions to be displayed on the search engine results page (SERP).
Course Info Structured Data
Google announced Course Structured Data to provide course information (pricing, educational level, ratingsâŚ) on SERP.
Vehicle Listing Structured Data for Car Dealerships
Google announced vehicle listing structured data on October 16, 2023.
2022
Introducing Site Names
Site names were introduced to make it easier to identify search results in the SERP.
Note: On September 7, 2023, site names became available for all languages. When first announced, they were available only in English, French, Japanese, and German.
September 2022 Core Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 12 September 2022 | 26 September 2022 | 14 days |
August 2022 Helpful Content Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 25 August 2022 | 9 September 2022 | 15 days |
July 2022 Product Reviews Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 27 July 2022 | 2 August 2022 | 6 days |
May 2022 Core Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 25 May 2022 | 9 June 2022 | 15 days |
Image and Video Tags Removed from Sitemaps
Google removed image and video extensions from sitemaps.
| Sitemap Extension | Deprecated XML Tag |
|---|---|
| Image Sitemap | caption |
geo_location | |
title | |
license | |
| Video Sitemap | category |
player_loc[@allow_embed] | |
player_loc[@autoplay] | |
gallery_loc | |
price[@all] | |
tvshow[@all] |
Context Added to Structured Data Issues
More explanations will be added to provide a clearer understanding of structured data issues in Search Console.
For example, while the comment snippets used to say Missing field, it has now changed to Missing field ânameâ (in the âauthorâ field).
March 2022 Product Reviews Update
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Mar 2022 | 6 Apr 2022 | 14 days |
A new update was released 1 year after the 2 different product review updates that Google previously published.
December 1, 2021
Product Review Updates and Your Website
April 8, 2021
What Creators Need to Know About Googleâs Product Reviews Update
Page Experience Update for Desktop
| Released | Rollout Complete | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 22 February 2022 | 3 March 2022 | 9 days |
Google launched a Search Console report to help site owners understand their desktop pagesâ performance regarding page experience before desktop became a ranking signal. The same three Core Web Vitals metrics (LCP, FID, and CLS) and their thresholds applied for desktop ranking, along with existing signals like HTTPS security and absence of intrusive interstitials.
Mobile-friendliness remained a factor for mobile ranking only. For sites with separate desktop and mobile URLs, the desktop signal was based on the URLs seen by desktop users.
2021
Practice Problems and Math Solvers Structured Data
Google announced Practice Problems and Math Solvers Structured Data.
Introducing Google News Performance Report
Google launched a Google News performance report to better understand user behavior on Google News on Android and IOS as well as on news.google.com.
Search Console Index Coverage Data Improvements
Some features improved in the Search Console. The list of changes include:
- Removal of the generic âcrawl anomalyâ issue type â all crawls errors should now be mapped to an issue with a finer resolution.
- Pages that were submitted but blocked by robots.txt and got indexed are now reported as âindexed but blockedâ (warning) instead of âsubmitted but blockedâ (error).
- Addition of a new issue: âindexed without contentâ (warning)
Soft 404reporting is now more accurate
2013
Penguin 2.0 Rolled Out
Matt Cutts announced that the Penguin 2.0 algorithm rolled out on May 22, 2013. The update has also been fully implemented for other languages worldwide. Penguin 2.0 affected 2.3% of English-US queries. The impact of Penguin varies by language, with higher webspam levels causing more significant effects.
2006
Googlebot Activity ReportsGoogle Activity Reports and Crawl Rate Control Features on Webmaster Tools
Google added âGooglebot activity reportsâ, âCrawl Rate Controlâ, âEnhanced image searchâ and âNumber of URLs submitted on Sitemapsâ
HTTPS Site Verification Became Available
HTTPS Sites verification became available on the webmaster tool.
Website Ownership Verification Method
Google added a meta tag verification option for the Webmaster tool (now called Search Console).
Average Top Position & Mobile Search Queries
Announced on March 1, 2006, the average top position for sets of queries and mobile search queries (for only the top search queries if they were available for the website).
2005
Third-Party Sitemap Creators
Google shared a list of third-party sitemap creators on code.google.com on November 23, 2005.
Note: Some tools may not be working, because itâs been a long time.