Official Google Update Thread - April 2015

[HTMLBasicTutor]

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Do you have a speculation about when Google will update?

• Do you think there has been a backlinks update?
• Do you think there has been a PR update?
• Are you seeing Google fluctuations?
• Do you think there has been an algorithm update?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Jup5R1MGY

You may want to start with a basic understanding about Google updates before posting in this thread.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/whats-an-update/

ADMIN NOTE: Please keep in mind that this is a DISCUSSION thread. It is NOT a debate thread.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Although not really an update, this is more of a clarification:

...The algorithm will only impact searches done on smartphones - only. This does not impact desktop searches and it does not impact tablet searches...

Google Mobile-Friendly Algorithm Will Not Impact Tablet Searches
Apr 3, 2015

[almaideen]

I already made my site mobile friendly..

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Anyone noticed this?

Google is now bolding the answers in the search results when quick answers are displayed at the top of the page, in the knowledge graph box area.

Google Bolding Answers In Search Results
Apr 7, 2015

[HTMLBasicTutor]

You would think that brands would be on the mobile band wagon even it there wasn't a Google algorithm change...

So a question many folks have been thinking about in regards to the April 21st mobile-friendly Google algorithm was what if a brand is not mobile-friendly and someone searches for them after April 21st on their mobile device, will the brand still rank in the number one spot or will the mobile-friendly algorithm rank a mobile-friendly site higher, such as the brand's Wikipedia profile or something else?

John Mueller of Google said, while there will be slight ranking demotion for the brand, since the brand page is the most relevant result, it is unlikely that the brand page will not rank number one in the search results.

Continued: Google: Brand Searches Unlikely Impacted By Mobile-Friendly Algorithm
Apr 8, 2015

Interested tidbit of info at the end of the article.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Read the whole article, straight from the horse's mouth:

So we know Google News ranking is unaffected by the upcoming mobile friendly ranking algorithm. But we wanted to know if the In The News box that shows both news publishers and non-news publishers would be impacted.

Google has finally sent me a statement saying the In The News box will be impacted by the mobile-friendly algorithm and...

Read more: Google: In The News Box Will Be Impacted By The Mobile-Friendly Algorithm
Apr 9, 2015

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Official announcement about the mobile friendly update from Google (which they had already announced it was coming)

We’ve all been there: you’re on your phone and click through to a website, only to find it’s hard to read or burdensome to navigate because it isn’t formatted for a mobile screen. With mobile phones increasingly becoming the primary way for people to search the Internet, we want to ensure that when you search on Google you find content that is not just relevant and timely, but also easy to read and interact with on smaller mobile screens.

A lack of mobile friendliness is also a problem for web publishers: visitors abandon websites that aren’t mobile friendly at higher rates. And research shows 74% of users say they are more likely to return to a mobile-friendly site.

That’s why we’ve been encouraging webmasters to create sites that avoid the pitfalls of small text and hard to navigate formatting in order to provide a great experience for mobile visitors to their pages. Back in November, we introduced a “mobile-friendly badge” to notify users when a link in search results led to a mobile friendly-page, and provided resources to help webmasters become mobile-friendly. And today we’re starting to roll out a change that we announced two months ago to take into account whether a site is mobile-friendly when we rank search results on mobile phones.

Continued: Inside Search: Ranking change to help you find mobile-friendly sites rolling out today
4/21/15

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Did anyone notice any changes over the weekend?

...lots of questions from webmasters if I noticed a Google update starting late Friday into Saturday and Sunday...

Did Google Update Their Search Algorithm Over The Weekend?
Apr 27, 2015

I did see Dr Pete's tweet on Saturday:

Hotter algo temps across both desktop and mobile (~79 deg. F), but no real difference and no new signs of #Mobilegeddon.

https://twitter.com/dr_pete/status/591970894181863424

[HTMLBasicTutor]

New month = New Google Updates thread over here: Official Google Update Thread - May 2015