Menlo Park, Calif.—Google Inc. is tweaking its search algorithm to better filter out low-quality search query results that it calls “webspam.”
In its official blog, Google said its new filtering process would screen for websites that are “over-optimized” by employing a number of techniques intended to return prominent search page placements without truly offering quality answers to queries.
These sites use such techniques as “stuffing” pages with multiple keywords, adding excessive linking exchanges and purposely duplicating content to attract more Web traffic. These and other practices violate Google's “quality guidelines,” the company said.
Google said the new search algorithmic changes would affect about 3% of all search queries.
