The Hummingbird Update: A Deeper Analysis

Hummingbird was the new buzzword in the online world when Google released it, with multiple explanations floating around the web about what it meant, and every niche watching closely to see how it would affect them. Here's what the buzz was all about.

What Is a Search Algorithm?

Google uses a program to sort through innumerable webpages and find information stored in its data centers, to provide the best and most relevant results to a user. The search algorithm is updated regularly.

A search algorithm does three things:

1. Crawling — gets information from websites

2. Indexing — gathers that information

3. Display Results — sorts of information for relevance

When the algorithm is updated, the display order, importance, and relevance of search results change. This is called a "search rank change."

How Often Does the Algorithm Update?

There's no set frequency. Google makes almost 2,000 changes to its algorithms and tests them with real-time data every month, and roughly 40% of total updates make it into the live algorithm.

Why Does Google Change the Algorithm?

Websites try to take advantage of Google by using black-hat techniques to cheat the search engine algorithm. Google releases algorithm updates to eradicate these techniques and to roll out newer technologies.

Black-hat techniques are aggressive tactics targeted at search engines rather than users, and they blatantly defy search engine guidelines. Keyword stuffing — putting a keyword 15 times on a page to artificially influence relevance — is a classic example.

For more than three years, Google had been naming and versioning its updates:

• Panda

• Caffeine

• Penguin

• Hummingbird

The Hummingbird Update: A Deeper Look

Hummingbird was an iconic update because it changed Google's algorithmic core for the first time in 15 years. It was released on September 26, 2013, at the garage where Google first started operations. Google described the update as "precise and fast."

What changed in the core? The old algorithm considered individual keywords or phrases to display relevant results. Hummingbird looks at the query as a whole instead, considering the full sentence and its meaning, rather than isolating particular words. Conversational search is what the update was built to focus on.

An example: For the search query "What's the closest place to my house to buy the iPhone 5s?" —

• A traditional search would display results based on "buy" and "iPhone 5s" individually.

• Hummingbird would understand the intent as a whole: location = "house," place = physical store, device = iPhone 5s.

Do Panda and Penguin Still Apply?

Yes. Panda targeted content-spamming websites, and Penguin penalised sites with dubious backlinks. Both were part of the older algorithm and continued to apply under Hummingbird.

Encrypted Keywords

Google began encrypting keywords for logged-in users in October 2011, stating privacy, and blocking NSA spying activity, as the reason. On September 21, 2013, Google extended encryption to all search activities, just ahead of the Hummingbird release.

Is SEO "blind" without keyword data? Partially. Keywords no longer show in Analytics, which is a real drawback. The workaround: pages can be themed, and traffic to a page can be measured to understand relevance. Google AdWords data can also help identify patterns and targeted keywords.

Long-Tail Keywords and Conversational Queries

Keywords with more than two words in the phrase are called long-tail keywords (for example, "iPhone 5s Sydney"). Users rely on them to refine searches, and they've always converted well because of how targeted the resulting traffic is.

Hummingbird looks at search strings of three, four, five, or more words, rather than breaking them down. Long-tail keywords, which naturally appear during the process of writing high-quality content, were expected to generate more traffic going forward.

Page Authority vs. Homepage

Hummingbird was built to ensure Google displays the most appropriate page of a website to a user, rather than defaulting to the homepage or a top-level page. Every page becomes a potential entry point, improving both conversion rates and the traffic driven to individual pages through search results.

Quality of Content

Hummingbird represented a significant effort by Google to prioritise good-quality, relevant search results. On a website built around quality content, the expectation was that bounce rates would drop, and average sales value would increase.

Is SEO Dead?

An emphatic no. High-quality content and a well-rounded content marketing plan are what win. Websites need to cover the different aspects of the topics they're related to, and regularly add new content in a way that builds authority with readers, users, and search engines alike.

I've Lost Traffic — What Do I Do?

Hummingbird might be one reason, but it's worth considering other possibilities too. Algorithm releases are often followed by smaller tweaks and improvements, rolled out as data-refresh updates.

The Future of SEO

Technical SEO elements still matter, but the focus was expected to shift from business-centric to customer-centric, moving away from raw keywords and link-building, toward themed content and earned links. Following Google's Webmaster guidelines remains the foundation for long-term strategy, with the underlying goal being to make everything "easier to find online."