The Biggest Change to Google Search Since 2001

Within the last month or so, Google launched what Wired has called “the biggest change to Google search since 2001.” The so-called Hummingbird project is a completely new search algorithm that affects 90% of all searches. The biggest improvements revolve around longer, natural-language search queries. So when you ask Siri to “Google what is the best seafood restaurant around here,” Google will not just match the characters in your search to web pages but instead attempt to understand the meaning of your search and return results accordingly. The average Google searcher may not notice the change, but it represents the confluence of a number of different trends in information seeking and retrieval, including linked data, natural language searching, personalized search, mobile devices, and wearable technology. In addition to the Wired article above, Forbes’ “What Google’s Hummingbird Update Means For You” is a good read. It explains how Google is incorporating its Knowledge Graph scheme into Hummingbird and provides a neat example of query sequence, where Google remembers the context for a series of searches.