Google Hummingbird is essentially the overall algorithm that Google uses for its search engine. Introduced in 2013, it represents a significant update that Google made to its core algorithm. This update drastically changed the way Google deciphered search queries. While the prior algorithm, Pagerank, focused primarily on individual words in search queries, Hummingbird looks at the context of a search to better understand the searcher’s intent.
The Hummingbird update was a response to the trends in search behavior, where users were increasingly entering full questions into the Google search bar rather than just a string of keywords. Hummingbird aims to better understand these complex search queries and return more accurate results. Searchmetrics (2013) explains that “Hummingbird makes it possible for a page to rank for a query, even if it doesn’t contain the exact words the searcher entered.”
Google Hummingbird involves semantic search, which is focused on the meaning behind the words. For example, if you were to type ‘closest place to get an oil change’ into Google, Hummingbird’s semantic search ability would understand that you are looking for places near your current location where you can get an oil change, rather than simply looking for web pages that contain the exact phrase ‘closest place to get an oil change’. This update in the algorithm allows Google to return web pages that are likely to answer the user’s intent, even if they don’t necessarily contain all the keywords in the search phrase. Source: Forbes, Harner (2013).
Hummingbird also allows Google to better understand long-tail queries, or queries that are longer and often more specific. For instance, while a short-tail query might be “Italian restaurants,” a long-tail query might be “what is the best Italian restaurant downtown that serves gluten-free pasta.” Because of Hummingbird, Google is better able to understand these longer, more specific queries, and return more relevant results.
There’s a significant emphasis on what’s known as ‘conversational search’ with Hummingbird, meaning it’s constantly evolving to better understand searchers’ intent and the contextual meaning of terms. For example, before Google Hummingbird, if you searched for ‘weather,’ you’d receive a list of weather-related websites. Now, Google understands that your query is more likely to mean ‘what’s the current weather’ and will provide you with current conditions or a forecast (source: SearchEngineJournal, Motoko Hunt, 2019).
In conclusion, Google Hummingbird is a critical component of Google’s search engine platform, representing a considerable shift in how Google understands and responds to search queries. The introduction of Hummingbird has allowed Google to significantly improve how it processes and delivers search results, providing users with more accurate and contextual answers to their queries.
Sources:
- Harner, S. (2013). What Google’s Hummingbird Update Really Means. Forbes.
- Hunt, M. (2019). Google’s Search Evolution. SearchEngineJournal.
- Searchmetrics. (2013). The Google Hummingbird Update and What it Means for Marketers.
