Google Hummingbird
Google Hummingbird is a search algorithm used by Google.
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What is Google Hummingbird?
Although it’s technically accurate to call Google Hummingbird an algorithm update, this is kind of a misnomer. This is because Hummingbird was essentially an entirely revamped version of Google’s search algorithm, not just a patch or minor update.
Hummingbird makes Google almost human with the way it responds to queries. Instead of looking at keywords, Hummingbird makes Google look deeper and focus on the whole statement or question.
In relation to the example above, the new update helps the search engine understand that you’re looking for a physical store near your area of residence that sells tacos, provided that you use the Google domain based in your country
How Hummingbird Affects SEO
SEOs have long dreaded Google’s updates since they believe that these would mess with the ranks they’ve worked so hard for.
But Google said that as long as you have been following their age-old rule to make original and high quality content, then there’s nothing really to worry about since the Hummingbird was just meant to process information in a different way.
Hummingbird — August 20, 2013
Announced on September 26th, Google suggested that the “Hummingbird” update rolled out about a month earlier. Our best guess ties it to a MozCast spike on August 20th and many reports of flux from August 20-22. Hummingbird has been compared to Caffeine, and seems to be a core algorithm update that may power changes to semantic search and the Knowledge Graph for months to come.
