Catalyst Patent Watch On Google Hummingbird

transcript

HummingbirdPatent Watch – Nov 2013

Dan CristoDirector of SEO Innovation

What is Patent Watch?

Quarterly webinar that analyzes and interprets the patents of Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other internet giants.

Past Patent Watches:• AdHeat Advertising (Paid)• Social Search (Google+)- Personalized Search (organic)- Freshness algorithm (organic)

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Led SEO Strategy for:P&G, VW, Audi, Pfizer, Hard Rock Hotel, Revlon, Almay, Jurlique, Barclays, iHeartRadio, Sony Music, Pep Boys, Morgans Hotel Group, Kaplan, Prudential, Century21, Novartis, GSK

Co-authored:Mastering the Art of Social SEO

Featured Author:Search Engine LandSearch Engine JournalSearch Marketing Standard

Featured Speaker:SES: NYC, Chi, SFNYU LecturerNYC SEO Meetup

@dancristo

Dan CristoDirector of SEO InnovationCatalyst

The Patent behind Hummingbird

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What is this patent?

Searches are getting more complex, especially voice searches on mobile devices.

To serve more relevant results, search engines must understand the “meaning” behind a string of words.

This patent shows how Google tries to determine a word’s meaning.

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Why Is This Patent Interesting?Answers the questions:• Which webpages are relevant for a

keyword?• Which ads appear on a website?• How will keyword research change?

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Google wants to know how closely related two things are to

each other

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The Old world

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Relevance used to be based on text matches

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But one word might have multiple meanings

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Google uses information within the knowledge unit (this case a query) to derive meaning

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How does Google calculate item relationships?

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“Calories” is a property of apple the fruit, not Apple the company

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“Nutrition” is a closely related concept to food, so Google will rewrite the query

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How this changes keyword research

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Google cares less about the words on the page, and more about how closely related the concept of the page is to a query

To rank well for, [Apple Nutrition] I don’t optimize for the keyphase [Apple Nutrition] but rather for the nutritional attributes of an apple

Calories is a nutritional attribute of an apple

To rank well for, [luxury cars] I write about attributes of car closely related to luxury

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Jay Leno is a well known collector of luxury cars. I

should write content about Jay Leno.

How is Google using Hummingbird to improve voice search?

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“People don’t want to think about keywords.

Over time we’ll get better at understanding

their intent.”

Patentwrap up

Summary

• Hummingbird helps Google determine the meaning behind words in a query

• A knowledge unit contains information relevant to other knowledge units

• Hummingbird changes the way we think about “relevancy”. It’s not about exact match, but rather concept relationships and item properties

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Recommendations

• Keyword research– Use freebase and the knowledge graph to see properties– Keyword research should look more like a visual map of

word relationships as opposed to a list of keyword and query volumes

• Link Building– Look to get links from content about related knowledge

units– Exact anchor text is out – related anchor text is in

• Influencers– Look to get social engagement from Influencers

relevant to related knowledge units

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Questions?

Stay Connected!

• Join the conversation at #SEOPub Twitter Chat

• Learn more and join our invite list at www.catalystsearchmarketing.com/Hummingbird-Patent-Watch

• Save the Date: Our Next Patent Watch will be in February 2014

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Thank You

www.catalystsearchmarketing.com/patent-watch

Catalyst Patent Watch On Google Hummingbird

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