Fifteen Years In, Google Revamps Its Search Algorithm and Celebrates Its Roots

Google has “changed engines midflight,” search leader Amit Singhal announced. Not that anyone noticed, or that Google can even describe what changed in layman’s terms. But recently, the company swapped out its search-ranking algorithm for a new one, code-named Hummingbird that can handle more complex queries faster.

“People are trusting search more,” Singhal explained at an event at the original Google worldwide headquarters in Menlo Park, CA. That trust, Singhal went on to say, results in Google users asking longer and more complicated queries. Where the Boolean this-or-that style of search used to work fine with words and documents, it deteriorated with concepts and relationships, Singhal said. For instance, users will now be able to enter queries like “compare Earth and Neptune” and get structured charts about the various measurements and features of the planets. Or “compare coconut oil and olive oil” and see their relative nutritional information.