Optimize My Website - Update: Big Daddy

Bigdaddy: Big changes on Google to come

Google has announced a major update that will affect the ranking of web pages in Google's index. In contrast to the usual algorithm updates, this update will be much bigger because it changes the way Google works behind the scenes. Google has given the update the name Bigdaddy.

What is Google's Bigdaddy update?

Network Servers

Google uses a network of data centers with different IP addresses to answer search queries. These decentralized servers share the workload of indexing web sites.

The upcoming Bigdaddy update is not an algorithm update but a change in Google's data center infrastructure. It contains new code for sorting and examining web pages. According to Google's search engineer Matt Cutts, the update will be live in February or March.

Canonical Issues

Canonicalization issues have been big with Google and really all the engines. Canonical issues are ones where the engines can't tell that:

www.yourdomain.com
yourdomain.com
yourdomain.com/index.html
www.yourdomain.com/index.html

Are in fact all the same site.

You see, search engines look at every URL as unique. That means that even though the above 4 pages are the same to humans, the engines see them as different.

So what Google has set out to do with BigDaddy is work towards solving the issue so that even if it comes across these 4 URLs it will know that they are the same and will attribute all factors to one URL.

301 & 302 Redirects

The new datacenter format will also be better able to handle 301 and 302 redirects.

301's haven't necessarily been an issue in that Google has been able to follow them and associate the 301 properly, however there have been issues with 302 redirects. In particular there have been documented cases where some sites are using 302s to hijack other sites.

Domains would use a 302 redirect to grab content from other sites and associate it with their own.

For example, if you were to put up a site and put a 302 redirect on it to www.google.com your site would actually pull the homepage from Google.com and display it as if it were your own. Some unscrupulous site owners would use such a tactic to pull good content from other sites and claim ownership of it (via the 302) and in some cases they'd even outrank the owner of the content!

Google's new infrastructure is supposed to be able to deal with these issues better, understanding when a 302 is used for hijacking purposes versus other legitimate reasons.

Less spam, more content and a new Google spider?

Google is updating the data center infrastructure to handle potential spam problems such as 302 redirections or canonical URLs more efficiently. In addition, the new infrastructure will allow Google to develop more advanced algorithms and larger databases.

Another reason for the new data center infrastructure is that Google wants to be able to index different content types. Google is now testing a new search engine spider that is based on the Mozilla browser.

The new spider should be able to index more than traditional search engine spiders, possibly links within images, JavaScripts or Flash files.

How can you test how Bigdaddy will affect your rankings?

Some Google data centers that use the new Bigdaddy system are already online. For example, if you go to 66.249.93.104 you can test Google's new data center.

Google even wants your feedback. Click the Dissatisfied? Help us improve link at the bottom right of the result page. Enter your feedback and use the keyword bigdaddy so that Google knows that your feedback is about the new data center.

It's hard to tell how the Bigdaddy update will affect your web page rankings. If you have a spam free web site with good content and many incoming links, the update should have a positive effect on your Google rankings.

Written by Administrator
Wednesday, 01 August 2007
Bigdaddy: Big changes on Google to come Google has announced a major update that will affect the ranking of web pages in Google's index. In contrast to the usual algorithm updates, this update will be much bigger because it changes the way Google works behind the scenes. Google has given the update the name Bigdaddy. What is Google's Bigdaddy update? Network Servers Google uses a network of data centers with different IP addresses to answer search queries. These decentralized servers share the workload of indexing web sites. The upcoming Bigdaddy update is not an algorithm update but a change in Google's data center infrastructure. It contains new code for sorting and examining web pages. According to Google's search engineer Matt Cutts, the update will be live in February or March. Canonical Issues Canonicalization issues have been big with Google and really all the engines. Canonical issues are ones where the engines can't tell that: www.yourdomain.com yourdomain.com yourdomain.com/index.html www.yourdomain.com/index.html Are in fact all the same site. You see, search engines look at every URL as unique. That means that even though the above 4 pages are the same to humans, the engines see them as different. So what Google has set out to do with BigDaddy is work towards solving the issue so that even if it comes across these 4 URLs it will know that they are the same and will attribute all factors to one URL. 301 & 302 Redirects The new datacenter format will also be better able to handle 301 and 302 redirects. 301's haven't necessarily been an issue in that Google has been able to follow them and associate the 301 properly, however there have been issues with 302 redirects. In particular there have been documented cases where some sites are using 302s to hijack other sites. Domains would use a 302 redirect to grab content from other sites and associate it with their own. For example, if you were to put up a site and put a 302 redirect on it to www.google.com your site would actually pull the homepage from Google.com and display it as if it were your own. Some unscrupulous site owners would use such a tactic to pull good content from other sites and claim ownership of it (via the 302) and in some cases they'd even outrank the owner of the content! Google's new infrastructure is supposed to be able to deal with these issues better, understanding when a 302 is used for hijacking purposes versus other legitimate reasons. Less spam, more content and a new Google spider? Google is updating the data center infrastructure to handle potential spam problems such as 302 redirections or canonical URLs more efficiently. In addition, the new infrastructure will allow Google to develop more advanced algorithms and larger databases. Another reason for the new data center infrastructure is that Google wants to be able to index different content types. Google is now testing a new search engine spider that is based on the Mozilla browser. The new spider should be able to index more than traditional search engine spiders, possibly links within images, JavaScripts or Flash files. How can you test how Bigdaddy will affect your rankings? Some Google data centers that use the new Bigdaddy system are already online. For example, if you go to 66.249.93.104 you can test Google's new data center. Google even wants your feedback. Click the Dissatisfied? Help us improve link at the bottom right of the result page. Enter your feedback and use the keyword bigdaddy so that Google knows that your feedback is about the new data center. It's hard to tell how the Bigdaddy update will affect your web page rankings. If you have a spam free web site with good content and many incoming links, the update should have a positive effect on your Google rankings.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 August 2007 )