Google’s latest update looks to hold major changes for how consumers search.
Last month, Google announced it was releasing a new algorithm called RankBrain. It’s not a full-fledged update like Panda or Penguin, and as it stands right now, RankBrain hasn’t affected many business search ranks. Still, the SEO community is abuzz with how RankBrain is going to affect the search world—so what exactly is it, and how is it changing SEO?
RankBrain in a Nutshell
RankBrain isn’t about changing search ranks or authority measures, the way Panda and Penguin have been. Instead, it’s a modification on the Hummingbird update, which introduced the idea of semantic search to the algorithm. Semantic search reverses the old process of identifying and mapping keyword phrases, instead figuring out the intent behind a user’s query.
RankBrain aids in understanding user queries by reducing exceptionally complex or ambiguous queries into more manageable phrases. In effect, it’s an even more sophisticated version of semantic understanding in user queries. But here’s the twist—it’s an artificial intelligence algorithm that’s going to update itself as it learns more about user queries. Every time a user searches for something, RankBrain learns a little bit more, and can update itself to better serve the search community.
How It Could Affect SEO
When all’s said and done, RankBrain isn’t affecting SEO much—at least not right now. Because its job is to better understand user queries, most of its work happens on the query analysis side of things rather than the site evaluation or rank producing side of things. You won’t have to change your strategy much—if at all—now that RankBrain is active.
However, this forges a new path for Google—the path of automatic, self-regulating AI updates. No longer will big manual pushes be the norm in updating Google’s core algorithm. Instead, it will be updating itself, gradually and intelligently.
