Major Google Updates Documented

SEOmoz announced they have published the Google Algorithm Change document detailing all “major updates” that happened since the Boston update in 2003.

SEOmoz did it with style in this graphical document:

While I agree with a lot of the updates listed here, I had worked up a list of my own a few months ago. I was extremely selective and this it he list I came up with the list below.

My Google Update List:

• Fritz (Summer 2003)
• Florida (November 2003)
• Austin Update (Jan 2004)
• The Sandbox (April 2004)
• Bourbon (May 2005)
• Big Daddy (October 2005)
• Supplemental (Jan 2007)
• Paid Links (October 2007)
• Dewey Update (Mar 2008)
• Vince / Brand (March 2009)
• May Day (May 2010)
• Caffeine (June 2010)
• Scraper Filter (Jan. 2011)
• Panda (February 2011)

SEOmoz Google Update List:

• Google Toolbar – December 2000
• Boston – February 2003
• Cassandra – April 2003
• Dominic – May 2003
• Esmerelda – June 2003
• Fritz – July 2003
• Florida – November 2003
• Austin – January 2004
• Brandy – February 2004
• Google IPO – August 2004
• Nofollow – January 2005
• Allegra – February 2005
• Bourbon – May 2005
• XML Sitemaps – June 2005
• Personalized Search – June 2005
• Gilligan – September 2005
• Google Local/Maps – October 2005
• Jagger – October 2005
• Big Daddy – December 2005
• Supplemental Index – November 2006
• Universal Search – May 2007
• Buffy – June 2007
• Dewey – April 2008
• Google Suggest – August 2008
• Vince – February 2009
• Rel-canonical Tag – February 2009
• Caffeine – August 2009
• Real-time Search – December 2009
• Google Places – April 2010
• May Day – May 2010
• Brand Update – August 2010
• Google Instant – September 2010
• Instant Previews – November 2010
• Social Signals – December 2010
• Overstock.com Penalty – January 2011
• Panda/Farmer – February 23, 2011
• The +1 Button – March 30, 2011
• Panda 2.0 – April 11, 2011
• Panda 2.1 – May 9, 2011
• Schema.org – June 2, 2011
• Panda 2.2 – June 21, 2011
• Google+ – June 28, 2011
• Panda 2.3 – July 23, 2011

Both SEOmoz and I pulled a lot of this data from this WebmasterWorld thread, which has always done a great job of documenting Google updates. I supplemented my list above with the Google Updates category on the Search Engine Roundtable.

The main difference is that SEOmoz is also including major user interface changes and none specific algorithm changes, including specific penalties.

Overall, it is really good for SEOs and webmasters to get an idea of how Google has updated their index, algorithms and penalties over time so that you can better anticipate the future changes coming from Google.

Panda Update Must-Reads

• Google Forecloses On Content Farms With “Panda” Algorithm Update, Feb. 2011
• Your Site’s Traffic Has Plummeted Since Google’s Panda Update. Now What?, March 2011
• Google Speaks More About Panda Update, March 2011
• The Panda Update: New Information From Google and The Latest from SMX West, March 2011
• Lessons Learned at SMX West: Google’s Panda Update, White Hat Cloaking & Link Building, March 2011
• Panda 2.0: Google Rolls Out Panda Update Internationally & Incorporates Searcher Blocking Data, April 2011
• It’s Panda Update 2.1, Not Panda 3.0, Google Says, May 2011
• Impacted By Google’s Panda Update? Google Asks You To Consider This…, May 2011

More Panda News & Recovery Tips

• Google: We’ve Made No “Significant” Changes To The Panda Update, March 2011
• Google Forecloses On Content Farms With “Panda” Algorithm Update
• When Pandas Attack: Online Retailers Need To React, March 2011
• 5 New Tactics For SEO Post-Panda, April 2011

Panda Winners & Losers

• Number Crunchers: Who Lost In Google’s Panda Algorithm Change?, Feb. 26, 2011
• Winners & Losers As Panda 2.0 Goes Global? eHow, Bing’s Ciao.co.uk & More, April 2011
• New York Times: Yes, Google’s Panda Update Hit NYT-Owned About.com, April 2011
• Yellow Pages SEO In The Post-Panda World, April 2011
• Hitwise Data Pegs Panda Impact On Demand Media Sites At 40%, April 2011
• Panda Update: Google Lowers The Boom On eHow.com, April 2011
• Demand Media: Panda’s Impact On eHow.com “Significantly Overstated,” April 2011