1. Google’s “Vince” Update – The Brand Push
Google has changed. As a result of a change in the algorithm, we believe
there is an opportunity for our clients to gain a competitive advantage.
At the end of February 2009, webmasters in the US began commenting on
what appeared to be a “brand push” within Google’s organic search results.
Brands which have benefited from this now have an opportunity to make long
terms gains before the algorithm changes again. For those that did not
benefit, there is an equally large opportunity to gain additional value add on all
media spend by undertaking an integrated SEO approach.
What is “The Vince Update”?
In essence, Google has rolled out an algorithm update, which has affected the
UK search results. They are using the wealth of data that they have access to,
in order to identify which brand is the most relevant result for generic
searches. The update now appears to have been rolled out across sites
Google considers as UK specific, evidence of which we will show below.
The update name comes from the Google engineer that worked on the
algorithm/index update. Vince was identified by Google Webspam Engineer
Matt Cutts in a video response to a public question from SEObook’s Aaron
Wall. The SEO industry then began to refer to the update by this name.
In the video Matt Cutts stated that the “simple change” is not so much about
brands, but about elements that go into a brand, including “trust, authority,
reputation, PageRank, high quality.”
“The net upshot of this change is pretty simple. We try to return high-quality
results, we think a lot about trust, reputation, authority, PageRank. And so,
what you should be doing doesn’t change: try to make a great site. Try to
make it a site that is so fantastic that you become known as an authority in
your niche,” Cutts said.
How can a brand benefit from this?
This Google update makes integrating SEO into your media strategy even
more important,
Applying an understanding of the various factors that Google use in their
algorithm will allow a tailored media plan to be created. The integration and
application of SEO will generate increased return on all online spend, as the
Google makes the brand association, plus bring direct value add through SEO
in its own right.
MG OMD have seen evidence of the Google ‘Vince’ update’s effect
Through June, Virgin Media’s ranking’s for the search term [broadband] on
Google.co.uk have varied between position 27 and 61, with the page returned
being http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/service.do?id=2

2. The search results for 30th
June are shown below:
On 1st
July Google started returning the www.virginmedia.com as the top
organic search result for [broadband].
Summary
Through an integrated SEO approach, we believe media can help generate
the “trust, authority, reputation, PageRank, and high quality” that are key
factors in Google’s algorithm.
Once this has been achieved, strategic and tactical SEO can take place to
ensure the equity gained through high volume generic search results is
passed to deeper pages, either to improve the rankings and authority of
converting product pages, or to direct users to previously undiscovered
information and engagement opportunities.
If you have any questions about the Google ‘Vince’ update, or integrated
media SEO, please contact Jason Woolley (Associate Director, SEO)
jason.woolley@omd.com