A large backlink update is underway at the datacenters used by Google Search. As per usual, when big updates occur in Google or any other search engine, the effects are normally seen in the search results.
Google Undergoes Backlink Update
Google is currently undergoing a backlink update. Have you experienced any changes since the update began? Discuss the Google backlink update at WebProWorld.
To the uninitiated, a backlink update is where a search engine essentially checks sites within their index to see how many links they have pointing to a particular site. Because search engines give ranking weight to relevant backlinks, when an update occurs, the changes can have varying results on users and results alike depending on whether or not they gained or lost links.
Because backlinks are an important aspect for determining search engine rankings, updates of this kind can also have rippling affects on search results. When a search engine initiates an update that can influence SERPs, two things normally happen: some sites lose ground and some sites increase their ranking.
Another interesting side-effect concerning result altering updates is the temporary variations in search results updates produce. Because large engines use multiple datacenters to provide their search services, when a backlink update is going on, search results will normally vary from center to center. For an example of these variations, visit the following Google datacenters:
216.239.37.147
216.239.39.104
216.239.37.105
64.233.161.104
64.233.161.147
With the search engine industry driving a large aspect of Internet commerce, when an update occurs, many search-savvy online business owners watch the search results with keen interest. Because search engine rankings are in no way written in stone, updates that give or remove recognition for the number of backlinks (in this case) pointing to a site, even the slightest changes can mean the difference between first page position and being further down in the results.
When an update occurs, because they can cause dramatic alterations, it’s not hard to find a forum conversation where posters are discussing the changes and how they were affected. Within these discussions you can’t help but notice the joy of those who benefited and the pain from those who lost rankings or worse, like discovering their entire site has been removed from the search index.
When a backlink update occurs, it usually indicates more updates are on the way. Because Google also uses relevant backlinks to help determine PageRank scores, a backlink update is normally followed by a PageRank update.
Of course, PageRank updates normally cause their own brand of diverse reactions as well.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
