In response to what some webmasters believe was a major Google algorithm update yesterday, Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller took the opportunity to remind everyone that “we make changes almost every day.”
As search evolves, dips and swings in rankings should be expected. Hoping things stay the way they are, or the way they always have been, is a sure recipe for disappointment. Yet Google has to reiterate time and again that changes occur on a near-daily basis.
Google’s Gary Illyes expressed similar sentiments in a tweet stating, “we have 3 updates a day on average. I think it’s pretty safe to assume there was one recently…”
Illyes also broached the subject with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor stating all updates will be named “Fred,” unless stated otherwise. Here’s hoping the SEO industry doesn’t take that too seriously by naming updates Fred V1.0, Fred V2.0, and so on.
So, yes, there was probably an update yesterday. Maybe even 3 updates. Those who have done their due diligence believe the changes from yesterday’s update(s) are likely the result of low-quality inbound links.
If that’s the case, Google’s recommended course of action is to attempt to get the links removed naturally. If that fails, or if the number of low-quality inbound links is too large to get each one removed individually, the next recommended step is to look into disavowing backlinks.
