Google Cleans Up Search Results, Weeds Out Poor Content

Google hasn’t been the same for some time now. Back when it first launched, it was like Google was reading your mind, taking you to exactly where you wanted to be. Then there was a problem: other websites and companies began reading your mind too, and Google’s. They tried to figure out every possible search that you’d ever have and design their content in such a way that it’d flood the front pages of Google, draw in hoards of visits and generate dollar upon dollar of ad revenue.

Great for them, not so good for you. Not if you wanted to actually search and find valuable results, anyway.

Well Google’s addressing the situation.

Following up on last week’s optional Chrome extension that allowed users to block certain sites, Google announced a change to its algorithm that’s expected to have a big impact on content mills. According to Google, the algorithm change will affect 12 percent of U.S. searches and bears some resemblance to the list of most-blocked sites from the new Chrome extension, though Google says it is not based on those blocked sites.

Google isn’t specific about what sites are being targeted, outside of saying “low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful.” We’re thinking we’ll be seeing a lot less of the likes of Associated Content, Yahoo answers, etc. At least we’re hoping. [Google Blog via Search Engine Land]