Google "BERT" Update

Google released one of the biggest updates according to them in the last 5 years. But…SEO’s weren’t feeling it this time. This update deals with the way Google decides the context of a keyword or keyword phrase. It’s actually quite interesting. Google is getting smarter at what searchers actually mean when they are searching for different things.

Example? An easy funny one would be this, for all your Simpson’s fans. A person does a search for “Don’t Have a Cow” in Google. In the past, Google might have displayed results about livestock or the benefits of not owning cows. But with this new change, Google would know that you are talking about an emotion or “To tell someone not to have a cow, then, is to tell someone to relax or calm down.”

Now this is a very simple example of what this change means. Google is just getting better at doing much more complex cases of this.

So why didn’t SEO’s see the effects of this update. Because it wasn’t as much a SERP’s change as a different way of Google looking at language usage. Now this update happened the week of Oct 21-25, 2019. I checked all my client’s websites and no dramatic changes whatsoever. So while it may have been the biggest change Google has done with their algorithm in years, most people and companies will never be able to tell it happened.

Did you notice a change that week? If so, let us know about it. We would love to see it!