Google Caffeine: Fresher Results

Yesterday, Google posted on their blog that the new Caffeine indexing system was completed. This is Google's first major change to their indexing techniques in about four years and will likely have a significant impact on search results for the average user.

The point of the upgrade is to provide, in Google's words, "fresher" search results. The idea is that content on the web is changing so quickly that the search index was not keeping up. The old way of indexing in large batches meant there were delays between content being posted and it appearing in the index. The new system is an attempt to alleviate this bottleneck and provide near-instant indexing.

One point of note is that Google's actual search algorithm hasn't changed at all. The Caffeine system is focused solely on providing updated results sooner after content is posted. On one hand, this is good news for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) implementers, since the fundamental rules for achieving high page ranks haven't changed. On the other hand, the index will shift much faster than it has been which will require increased attention to keep on top of the competition. Only a bit of time will tell how much of an impact this will have; Google has long stated that sites with content that updates more frequently get indexed more frequently, and now that concept is on steroids.