Google Hummingbird is the biggest algorithm change ever with 90% of all search queries affected. Search marketers are still trying to wrap their heads around Hummingbird's long-term implications, but there's enough known already to start developing strategies that work for both search and social media. Twin Cities marketers Jeff Sauer and Josh Braaten presented "Google Hummingbird in a Social Media World" for the Twin Cities Social Media Breakfast on January 31, 2014.

1. Search and Social
Inside Google’s New Hummingbird Algorithm
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

2. Who are These Guys?
Josh Braaten
Jeff Sauer
• Director of Inbound
Marketing, Collegis Education
• 8 years of experience
• Web Analytics and SEO
Entrepreneur
• 15 years in Digital
• Winner, Best In-House Search
Team, 2013 US Search Awards
• Serial blogger, speaker and online
marketer
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

3. What is Google Hummingbird?
1. It’s a big question—let’s start with a quick
refresher on how Google search works
2. Next, we need to understand how Google has
evolved as a search engine to get how big Hummingbird
actually is for Google
3. Only then will we be able to define Hummingbird
4. And we’ll give you five steps to succeed with Google’s most
comprehensive algorithm update ever
5. Finally, we’ll leave you with some thoughts on where Google
might take Hummingbird in the future
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

4. How Google Works
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

5. How Google Works, Basically
• Robots crawl
the web
• Data is sent to
the index
Crawl
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

6. How Google Works, Basically
• Robots crawl the
web
• Data is sent to
the index
Index
• A huge snapshot
of the web
• A database and
directory
Crawl
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

7. How Google Works, Basically
• Robots crawl the
web
• Data is sent to
the index
Crawl
Index
• A huge snapshot
of the web
• A database and
directory
• 100’s of factors
• Tweaked and
tuned for your
searches
Algorithm
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

8. How Google Works, Basically
• Robots crawl the
web
• Data is sent to
the index
Crawl
Index
• A huge snapshot
of the web
• A database and
directory
• 100’s of factors
• Tweaked and
tuned for your
searches
Results
• What we see
• Dynamic and fluid
based on your
liking
Algorithm
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

9. A Brief History of Google Search
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

10. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

11. 1998: Google launches
With new PageRank technology, which determines a website’s
relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages,
that link back to the website.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

12. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

13. 1999-2002: Improving the Basics
Google spent the first few years improving the core search product’s
ability to understand human language better, from synonyms to ngrams.
They also launched a small product called AdWords
.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

14. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

15. November 2003: Florida Update
Google’s first big update, Florida, kills spammy tactics such as meta tag
stuffing and on-page keyword stuffing
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

16. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

17. 2004: Austin, Brandy & Bourbon
Austin targeted on-page spam tactics like white text on a white
background.
Brandy introduced latent semantics abilities such as anchor text
relevance and “link neighborhoods”
Bourbon affected duplicate content
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

18. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

19. 2005: NoFollow, Local & Personal
Google introduced the NoFollow link attribute to indicate when links
don’t count.
Local results and personalized results introduce new dimensions of
relevance. Google will continue to build out vertical search into 2006
with movies, flights weather, sports and more.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

20. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

21. 2007-2008: Broadening Search
Google releases Universal Search, which sees the end of the “10 blue
links” search results.
They release the Google Search App and introduce voice search.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

22. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

23. 2009: Vince, Caffeine and Instant
Google introduces major update Vince that sees huge and ongoing
impact for brands.
Caffeine update helps Google crawl, index the web and integrate with
results more quickly. Google considered Caffeine a complete overhaul
and iteration on the original PageRank.
Google Instant allows users to get search results before they’re even
.
done typing a query
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

24. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

25. 2010: The Dawn of the Modern
Google
Mayday Update was the first major update targeting content quality
and a precursor to Panda.
Brand update allows domains to show up more than once in the
search results.
Social signals from Twitter and Facebook are used for the first time as
a supplemental proxy for links in Google’s ranking algorithms.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

26. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

27. 2011: The Year of the Panda
Overstock.com penalized for link-building scheme while JCPenney is
outed and penalized for buying links. Google starts enforcing link
ethics.
Google rolls out Panda, the most profound update ever related to
content quality. Over two dozen iterations of Panda have since been
released.
The hits kept coming with the introduction of +1 and Google+, Schema,
authorship markup encrypted search and Freshness update.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

28. What Was Panda, Again?
• Major update focused on website quality
• Low-quality and thin-content sites were
heavily filtered from
the search results
• Well-known brands with rich, exceptional
content were
the big winners while content farms such as About.com, eHow.com and Mahalo.com saw crippling losses
• Website quality extends to on-page factors, domain
factors, page speed and content engagement
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

29. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

30. 2012: The Year of the Penguin
Penguin is the other shoe for black-hat SEO. Whereas Panda focused
on content quality, Penguin decimated most shady link building
practices. Five updates have been made to Penguin since.
Google also rolled out Knowledge Graph, one of its first major uses of
Schema.org markup.
Search+ Your World and the Venice update, which affected local
search queries, round out 2012.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

31. What Was Penguin, Again?
• Major update focused on backlinks
• Google wages war on “Black Hat” SEOs
• Link-building schemes such as link networks, paid linking, link
directories and low-quality link acquisition dry up
• Google stresses earning links naturally through earning
attention of the voices that matter in your space
• The era of high-quality content marketing and Inbound
Marketing begins
• Great search now all but demands social collaboration
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

32. #SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

33. 2013: The Year of the Hummingbird
Google Hummingbird is the capstone algorithm for search creates a
faster, more contextual and more relevant experience.
Hummingbird is the third major version of the Google algorithm.
Seemingly unrelated advancement to Hummingbird include
Conversational Search, fine-tuning of Authorship and Google Now
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

34. What, Exactly, Is Google Hummingbird?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

35. What is Google Hummingbird?
• Modern-day PageRank with link, social and
other non-link “popularity” signals
• Contextual understanding of what searchers
search
for: Entities & Concepts —things, not strings
• Advanced personalization that includes who you are, what
you’ve searched for and when you searched for it
• Quality algorithms and filters (e.g., Penguin and Panda) rolled
into the main algorithm
• Hummingbird is Google’s third major iteration of its core
algorithm after Caffeine and PageRank.
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

36. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

37. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
Links
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

38. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
Links
Social Signals
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

39. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
Links
Social Signals
Co-Occurrence
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

40. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
Links
Social Signals
Co-Occurrence
Ratings
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

41. Hummingbird’s PageRank-like Signals
Authority
Links
Social Signals
Co-Occurrence
Ratings
Reviews
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

42. Contextual Understanding, You Say?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

43. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

44. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

45. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

46. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

47. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

48. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

49. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

50. Things, Not Strings: Entities & Concepts
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

51. An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

52. An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

53. An Example of Personalized Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

54. Personalized Context in Mobile
“Show Me” Indicates a Map and a Video
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

55. Personalized Context in Mobile
Location Retained from
Previous search for Budapest
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

56. Personalized Context in Mobile
We know “There” is Budapest
using Previous Search
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

57. Personalized Context in Mobile
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

58. Personalized Context in Mobile
Travel Guides Highlighted
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

59. Context is Retained Both Ways
“Show Me” Restaurants shows local restaurants
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

60. Context is Retained Both Ways
Searching for Budapest shows
Restaurants in Budapest
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

61. Penguin and Panda are Baked Right In
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

62. 5 Ways Social Media Marketers Can Win with
Hummingbird
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

63. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Mapping the College Decision Process
Enroll
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

64. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Understand Where Location Plays a Factor
Enroll
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

65. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Events are Needed to Form Connections
Enroll
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

66. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Sometimes they Need Time
Enroll
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

67. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Context is Key!
Enroll
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

68. 1. Map Your Personas, Concepts and Entities
Researches
career
path
Experience
need for a
better life
Inquiries
at school
Decides
upon a
career
Verifies
school
qualitatively
Degree
seen as a
means to
career
Learns
about
enrollment
path
Looks to
sources of
inspiration
Researches
career
options
Verifies
school
quantitatively
Researches
degree
options
Career
seen as a
means to
better life
Enroll
Verifies
financials
and
logistics
Researches
schools
with
degree
Borrow and Build Influence to Reach Personas
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

69. 2. Structure Data to Understand Context
Schema.org
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

70. 2. Structure Data to Understand Context
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

71. 3. The Right Content Feeds the Hummingbird
Research
Write
Topics
Persona
Competition
Outreach
Publish
Measure
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

72. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

73. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

74. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

75. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

76. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

77. 3. The Right Tools Feed the Hummingbird
Tools of the Trade for Building Search Relevancy
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

78. 4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
Advanced Segments in Google Analytics
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

79. 4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
Understand Device Distribution
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

80. 4. Build and Measure Segments for Concepts
All of this is FREE in Google Analytics
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

81. 5. Help Your Brand See and Change Reality
Why Can’t I Cancel My
Account Online?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

82. 5. Help Your Brand See and Change Reality
My House is Freezing,
Please Send Help!
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

83. Hummingbird is Google Search
“Hummingbird makes results even more
useful and relevant, especially when you
ask Google long complex questions. And it
affects about 90% of our searches
worldwide. Yes, Hummingbird affects about
90% of our searches worldwide.”
-Amit Singhal, SVP and head of Google’s core search ranking team
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

84. What Will Hummingbird Bring in the Future?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

85. Google GLASS Indexing the World Around Us?
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

86. Self Driving Cars
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

87. Robots Crawling the Web and the World
Photo Credit BostonDynamics.com
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

88. Google in the Home
Photo Credit: Nest
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

89. Cat Videos
Photo Credit: Urs Watcher via Compfight
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer

90. Thank You
#SMBMSP62 – @JLBraaten – @JeffSauer