Google’s Hummingbird

Google has rolled out an update called “Hummingbird”.  In the US, Google fields about two of out every three search requests in the US and handles an even larger volume in part of Europe. Google celebrates its corporate birthday on September 27 each year, even though the company was incorporated a few weeks earlier. The company is now based in Mountain View, Calif. at a sprawling complex located about seven miles from the 173-square-metre home where Page and Brin paid $1700 per month to rent the garage and a bedroom. 

Though Google declined to discuss the technology underlying the algorithm –” Hummingbird” it did tell us that Hummingbird “makes results more useful and relevant, especially when you ask Google long, complex questions.”

According to Google, as time has gone on we have used more sophisticated, conversational queries, and moved away from short directed terms. 

Just as we’ve  we moved from lower-level programming languages up to more abstract, expressive ones. If  the old Google was like C, Hummingbird is like Python or Ruby.

“Hummingbird pays more attention to each word in the query, ensuring the whole query is taken into account – so if a resulting page is a bit less strong in general, but it’s the most relevant to your search terms, that’s the result you’ll get,” Hummingbird does a better job picking the strongest page for you.”The algorithm was deployed several weeks ago and is involved in 90 per cent of Google’s search queries.

In addition, Google has added features to its “Knowledge Graph” technology, allowing the search engine to deliver results directly on the query page and more voice features to its apps for mobile devices. You can instruct Google to add a reminder to your calendar for when you walk into the office without touching the device.