Google makes changes which affect 35% of all searches

Google is refining their search algorithm, with the newer results affecting 35% of searches.

Last year, Google deployed a new search index code named Caffeine and explained that this would analyse the web in smaller portions to be able to have a continually up to date index. "When we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we will be able to directly add it to the index".

According to Google, Caffeine treats hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel each second, taking up close to 100 million GB of storage in a data base which is updated daily with hundreds of thousands of GB of information.

The coffee hasn’t yet hit though. By calling on Caffeine, Google has announced an improvement to their search algorithm which has impacted on close to 35% of requests. The aim is to obtain "fresher" results.

These more specifically concern the searches which are being made on recent results or in fashion subjects, regular events and frequently updated subjects. These criteria therefore appear towards the top of the up to date list. The impact should be more visible on up to date subjects.

Google writes "the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old", although they haven’t provided information about how this will be treated with the engines various local versions.

After Panda, another headache for webmasters?