Google Dance or Google Dancing?
Can Google dance? Have you heard of Google dancing? What does Google Dance really mean?
This might be the first time you would be reading stuffs like this. If Google were to be a human, I’m sure you won’t be surprised. However, Google is a search engine. This term should not be new to Digital Marketers and most especially SEO experts. If you are just an average internet user who loves to learn new things, ensure you read to the end.
What is Google Dance?
Google Dance is the period when Google is rebuilding its rankings. So results fluctuate widely for a 3 to 5 days period. It is a term also used to describe the period that a major index update of the Google Search engine are being implemented.
How Often Does It Happen and Why Am I Just Hearing About Google Dance?
Back then (till around 2003), it occurs every 36 days or 10 times in a year or per year.
At any time during index update on Google servers, they will display sometime widely different results. Thus, they are said to be “dancing” and hence the name “Google Dance.”
Since August 2003, Google Dance has become less dramatic. Technology has evolved. There are easier means to get things done. Google now performs update every week with movements occurring on Mondays. These updates feature mostly minor algorithm and index updates.
How To Know If Google Dance is Taking Place
All Google servers will display widely differing results during Google Dance.
The following process will guide you to determine if Google Dance is taking place;
- Go to google.com and do a search
- Look at the blue bar at the top of the page. It would have the results 1 – 10 of about 626,000 pages. Search took 0.43 seconds (may not be exactly).
- Then check the same search on www2.google.com and www3.google.com
- If results are different from the one on google.com, then Google Dance is on.
Why is Google Dance Still Important Today?
For anyone in Search Engine Optimisation industry, Google Dance is a period of note. Highly ranked pages gets temporarily dropped. It could last for a day or more and these can make people (especially SEO experts) panicked.
At the end of Google Dance, a site rank could increase or decrease, depending on changes made. Hence SEO experts have to stay updated to changes made to search engines.
