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Google has announced a number of new updates for search, which provide different levels of functionality for brands, and are worth mentioning within their approach to SEO.
The main focus, of course, is to help people find the information they need, so that they are not specifically aligned with brand inquiries. But some of those will be search considerations – here’s a look at each new item and what it might mean for marketers.
1. Improvements in spelling recommendations
Typing your query correctly will help you get more accurate search results, and Google says it has improved its spelling predictions to help users find better matches.
As Google explains:
“We continue to improve our ability to understand misspelled words, and for good reason: one in 10 daily queries is misspelled. Today, we introduce a new spelling algorithm that uses a deep neural network to significantly improve our ability to decipher spelling errors In fact, this single change improves spelling more than all of our improvements in the last five years. “
From an SEO point of view, this will not be an important consideration as it will only help users find the right query for their search. But of course you need to make sure your web pages are spell-checked.
It won’t be a deal breaker, but incorrect spelling could cause you to miss out on search opportunities.
2. Identify passages of text
Google’s search algorithm will now also be able to index individual passages of text within web pages, in order to locate more specific information on a site in relation to a user’s query.
Google has been moving in this direction for a while, highlighting specific text matches in featured snippets, and even video segments, within some search queries. Now this will be available more widely.
“By better understanding the relevance of specific passages, not just the page at large, we can find the information you are looking for. This technology will improve 7% of search queries in all languages as we publish it. Globally “.
Again, this is probably not an important SEO consideration, as it will be relative to each query; You must answer the common questions to the best of your ability in hopes of meeting the demand of the audience. But it could change where your pages are ranked for each query, which could subsequently affect your performance stats.
And as Search Engine Land pointed out earlier in the year, it can also have an impact on ad placement.
“With this, search engines can skip past announcements and / or calls to action to jump directly to relevant content. SEOs should take steps to track whether your site is doing this in Google search and possibly replace your ads / calls to action in a more appropriate location. “
That would be particularly relevant for high-volume pages that see the impacts of this update.
3. Hum to search
Google is also trying to do a little Shazam-like trick, with its audio algorithms now capable of identifying popular songs based on people humming or whistling in the search app.
As Google explains:
“Starting today, you can hum, whistle, or sing a tune to Google to fix your problem. On your mobile device, open the latest version of the Google application, tap the microphone icon and say “What is this song?” or click the “Find a song” button. Then start humming for 10-15 seconds. In the Google Assistant, it’s just as simple. Say “Ok Google, what is this song?” and then hum the tune. “
Google’s algorithm then Identify possible song matches, based on their melody.
The SEO value of this one is very limited, although those in the music industry may find some interesting data based on buzz / hiss-based searches. Perhaps, if people search a lot for humming a certain track, they may need to consider renaming the track so that it can be discovered, which has already happened with some songs due to TikTok inquiries.
4. Subtopics in search queries
Google is also adding subtopics for search queries, although exactly how they will appear at this stage is unclear.
“We have applied neural networks to understand the subtopics related to an interest, which helps to offer a greater diversity of content when you search for something broad. For example, if you search for ‘home exercise equipment’, we can now understand the relevant subtopics, such as inexpensive kits, premium picks, or tight space ideas, and we will display a broader range of content on the search results page. We will begin implementing this later this year. “
Based on this, it appears that Google will show users more subtopics as clickable options within search results, which could be an important SEO consideration as you will need to match your listings to each category. relevant, based on commonly used filters. terms, etc.
As Google points out, we’ll get more information on this soon, and it could be a key element to keep in mind.
5. Key moments in videos
As noted, Google has been working on indexing certain sections of YouTube videos for some time, and is now looking to make this a more accessible option within search queries.
“With a new approach powered by artificial intelligence, we can now understand the deep semantics of a video and automatically identify key moments. This allows us to tag those moments in the video, so you can navigate through them like chapters in a book. Whether you’re looking for that step in a recipe tutorial or the game-winning home run on a reel of highlights, you can easily find those moments. We started testing this technology this year and, by the end of 2020, we expect 10% of searches on Google to use this new technology. “
This aligns with YouTube video chapters, which rolled out to all creators in May. With video chapters, creators can add descriptions for each segment of their video via timestamps, which could help provide Google with more context regarding the content of each part.
While this also takes that ability a step further, as Google points out, it is also using artificial intelligence to automatically identify video segments, so in combination, it could develop a meaningful database of video segments for query.
Even with Google’s artificial intelligence doing its part, I’d suggest that adding your own segment tags would be beneficial; you can learn how to do it here.
In addition to these five major updates, Google is also adding new COVID-19 tools for businesses, which will display more specific information on opening hours, updated requirements, etc., as well as improved statistical searches, new tools for journalists, and perhaps de Of particular interest to marketers: new AR search capabilities for products, which are still in their early stages.
As noted, most of these won’t have a significant impact on overall SEO approaches, although that depends on how specific you’re targeting and how sensitive your results are to variation. For some, these changes will impact ranking, which may influence traffic flow, but apparently will not lead to major performance changes.
But it will all come down to your own monitoring – if you’re keeping a close eye on your search results, it will be worth concentrating on the variations over the next several months to determine the specific cause and whether and how you can do it. better align your pages as a result.
You can read more about the latest Google search updates here.
