Google Tweaks Search Algorithms

Google says it tweaks its search algorithms virtually all the time. Now Google says it has made some changes that will affect search rankings for perhaps 12 percent of queries.

Google says it has revised the algorithms to reduce rankings for low-quality sites that add little value add for users, especially those that copy content from websites or sites that are just not very useful. Google doesn't say so, but we obviously are talking about "content farms" that are created for the nearly-exclusive purpose of generating traffic to support ad impressions, producing "webspam." See http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-search-and-search-engine-spam.html.

Webspam is the "junk" users might see in search results when websites successfully cheat their way into higher positions in search results or otherwise violate search engine quality guidelines.

At the same time, the new algorithms will provide better rankings for high-quality sites, those with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on, Google says on its blog.

The new changes presently affect only U.S. searches.

Official Google Blog: Finding more high-quality sites in search