This phrase struck fear into the minds and hearts of webmasters and SEO firms around the world for years. It was the time of the month when Google would perform a major index update.
It was the time of the month when coffee sales would skyrocket in delis closest to the web firm's offices. And thankfully it's a time long past.
But that doesn't mean that Google has stopped updating; Far from it, in fact. It just means that the updates are smaller and less noticeable.
And it's been that way for about a year and a half now - the smaller but more frequent updates noticed at Google. There haven't really been the major shakeups we were used to seeing - at least until now.
That's because a new system that Google has been testing is starting to rear its head in the regular index.
The new system - codenamed Big Daddy - was
first mentioned in Matt Cutts' blog as a follow up to a post which was made. He then went into more detail in a
following blog entry. Essentially the new system is not an algorithm update but an infrastructure change which will allow Google to improve in the coming years.
I guess it's similar to this: The Google updates we're used to seeing are akin to adding a new car stereo to your vehicle. It's not a major change, just an improvement. Subsequent changes would be similar to a wax job or new tires.
Big Daddy is similar to putting a new motor under the hood of your vehicle - it will give you more power and better fuel efficiency.
There aren't too many details about Big Daddy yet, but we did write an article about it a few weeks ago.
Even though this isn't an algorithm change like we are used to, the same rules apply. That is, when (and likely if) you see your site getting hit with less indexed pages and a drop in rankings don't panic. Just give it a few days to level out.
I know that's hard to do - especially if your bottom line is dependant on those rankings - but you have to.
This is because at this early stage we don't know what will or won't affect your rankings, or even if it will.
Remember that Google is a moving target. It doesn't update the index wholesale. It does it in increments which means while it may have applied the new rules to your site, it may not have affected other sites that compete with you. Therefore if you react too soon you could cause more problems than you solve.
Also remember that the results you may be seeing haven't yet spread across all the Google datacenters. That means while you may have seen a drop, what you are seeing could be limited to your geographic area. In other words, the change may not yet have affected the other datacenters.
I guess what I'm saying is that Big Daddy is here to stay. If you haven't felt its effects yet, just wait because you will. And a new infrastructure like this doesn't always mean bad things. It's true that some sites are taking a hit, but there are also some that are gaining at this time.
Rob Sullivan
Head Organic Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service
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