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SEO in 2013, 2023, and 2033:
The more things change…
Barry Adams
March 2023
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2013
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SEO in 2013
• Post-Panda SEO;
➢ Thin & low quality content wasn’t rewarded
➢ ‘Great content’ started to make sense
• Penguin in full swing;
➢ Targeting link schemes & unnatural links
➢ Penalises keyword stuffing & over-optimisation
• Hummingbird update confirmed in Sept 2013;
➢ Full query text considered for rankings
➢ From ‘keywords’ to ‘topics’
• Knowledge Graph in its infancy;
➢ Early stages with limited SERP impact
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SEO in 2013
• Post-Panda SEO;
➢ Thin & low quality content wasn’t rewarded
➢ ‘Great content’ started to make sense
• Penguin in full swing;
➢ Targeting link schemes & unnatural links
➢ Penalises keyword stuffing & over-optimisation
• Hummingbird update confirmed in Sept 2013;
➢ Full query text considered for rankings
➢ From ‘keywords’ to ‘topics’
• Knowledge Graph in its infancy;
➢ Early stages with limited SERP impact
Business as usual
(more or less)
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2015:
RankBrain
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RankBrain
• Enables relevant SERPs for unfamiliar queries
• First time Google uses Machine Learning in search;
➢ Reluctantly
• It opened the door for what came in 2018…
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Amit Singhal
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John Giannandrea
Amit Singhal
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2018:
The first ‘core algorithm update’?
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2018–now: The era of ‘Core Algorithm Updates’
• Machine Learning is increasingly driving SERP rankings;
➢ Less reliance on manually crafted ranking factors
➢ BERT & MUM are ML systems working on SERPs
• Every core update is an improved ML model;
➢ Constant training on feedback provided by human quality raters
• ML can do what manual ranking algorithms can’t;
➢ Deal with the insane chaos that is the World Wide Web
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But what about?
✓ Mobile-first Indexing
✓ HTTPS
✓ Core Web Vitals
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But what about?
✓ Mobile-first Indexing
✓ HTTPS
✓ Core Web Vitals
Social Engineering Updates
Intended to change WWW behaviours
Mostly irrelevant to the bigger picture
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Google 2013-2023: Three Key Trends
1. Machine Learning & AI;
➢ Moving away from manual factors
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2023
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Ads
Local pack
People also ask
Organic results
Related searches
Knowledge graph
Related entities
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SERP Features
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Google 2013-2023: Three Key Trends
1. Machine Learning & AI;
➢ Moving away from manual factors
2. SERP Features;
➢ Increased diversity in ranking types
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SERP Features & Knowledge Graph
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Knowledge Graph
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Bodybuilding
Terminator films
Governor of
California
Maria Shriver
Ronnie
Coleman
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Knowledge Graph
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Knowledge Graph
• Topical Authority
• Authorship
• E-E-A-T
Expressions of the
Knowledge Graph
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Knowledge Graph
• Underpins most Google SERP features
• Enables Google to understand entities & relationships
• Empowered by Structured Data
• Critical aspect of Google search quality
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Google 2013-2023: Three Key Trends
1. Machine Learning & AI;
➢ Moving away from manual factors
2. SERP Features;
➢ Increased diversity in ranking types
3. Knowledge Graph;
➢ Not keywords, but entities & relationships
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Generative AI
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ChatGPT / Bard = LLM
• Large Language Models
• Basically predictive text on steroids
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LLM’s key problem
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LLM’s key problem
Industrial Grade
Bullshit Generators
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The solution..?
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The solution
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Knowledge Graph
The solution
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Search in 2033..?
1. Machine Learning & AI;
➢ Black box systems
2. SERP Features;
➢ Powered by AI and KG
3. Knowledge Graph;
➢ Entities & relationships, accuracy
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2013
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2023
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2033?
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Insane* Predictions
• Conversational search;
➢ Not queries, but conversations
• Predictive search;
➢ Your device will give you the answer before you ask
• Headless websites;
➢ No front-end, just data for search engines
*Probably, maybe