A new article on Search Engine Journal reports Google has always focused on searcher experience. Here's a short timeline of Google algorithm updates designed to improve user experience.



Google has prioritized user experience for years, and this article looks at a combination of some (not all) Google updates and upgrades that significantly reflect the search engine's focus on users and their online experiences:

• Google Panda was launched in 2011, and targeted sites with low-quality content.
• Google Hummingbird came in 2013, straight after the introduction of Knowledge Graph. Hummingbird focused on semantic search and was designed to help Google understand the intent and context behind searches.
• E-A-T happened in 2014 and advised marketers to focus on content that could potentially impact their readers' future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
• Mobile Update arrived in 2015 and was the first time Google gave marketers a heads-up (or a warning, for many) that an update was coming. It concentrated on user experience on mobile.
• RankBrain occurred in 2015 and was more of a change to the algorithm than anything else. It heralded the rising importance of machine learning in powering search results based on an even better understanding of users' intent.
• Google Mobile-First Indexing arrived in 2018 and meant that Google would now use the mobile version of a webpage for indexation and ranking.
• Broad Core Algorithm Updates came the same year. Google's Danny Sullivan offered the following advice at the time:

• BERT happened in 2019 and developed on RankBrain, using natural language processing to help Google understand conversational queries.
• COVID-19 Pandemic, March 2020: This unprecedented period saw Google continue to focus on E-A-T signals in the context of a global pandemic. This is how Google announced the update back in May 2020: