Google Introduces the BERT Update

Google has introduced the BERT update to its Search ranking system. The addition of this new algorithm is a significant change. It is designed to better understand what’s important in natural language queries. Google has stated that it impacts 1 in 10 queries.

Many SEO experts, building backlinks and niche edits, and many of the tracking tools haven’t noticed any massive changes in the Google search results while this algorithm rolled out in Search over the last week. People are still able to study and apply niche edits for link building. Click here to check more about these niche edits.

Google wrote in its blog post that it is so because this particular BERT update was around understanding longer & more conversational queries. The tracking tools like Mozcast and others track shorter queries. Thus BERT’s impact is less likely to be visible to these tools.

When the site owners look at their rankings they will realise they are likely to not track a lot of long-tail queries. They primarily track queries that send higher volumes of traffic to their web site and those are short-tail queries. Pete Meyers of Moz has said that the MozCast tool tracks shorter head terms and not the types of phrases that are likely to require the natural language processing (NLP) of BERT. While another tool set provider RankRanger has said that over all the company hasn’t seen a real impact but only a few days of slightly increased rank fluctuations.

Virtually, overall tracking tools on BERT showed a smaller level of fluctuation on the days BERT was rolling out compared to what they have shown for past Google algorithm updates such as core search algorithm updates, or the Panda and Penguin updates.