THE HISTORY OF SEO

1991
The World Wide Web is created by Tim
Berners-Lee.

1993
The first search engine, called Archie, is
launched.

1994
Yahoo! is launched as a web directory.

1995
AltaVista, Excite, and Lycos are launched as
search engines.

1996
Google is founded by Larry Page and
Sergey Brin.

1997
The first SEO tactics are developed,
including keyword stuffing and hidden
text.

1998
Google introduces PageRank, which
revolutionizes the way search engines rank
web pages.

Google AdWords is launched, which

allows businesses to advertise on

2000
Google's search results pages.
 THE HISTORY OF SEO

2003
Google introduces the "nofollow" attribute
to combat spammy links.

2005
Google introduces personalized search
results and the rel="canonical" tag to
address duplicate content issues.

2008
Google launches Google Suggest, which
suggests search queries as users type.

2009
Google introduces the "nofollow" attribute
for use with paid links and launches Google
Real-Time Search, which includes real-time
social media updates in search results.

2010
Google launches Google Instant, which
displays search results as users type.

2011
Google introduces the Panda algorithm
update, which penalizes low-quality
content.

2012
Google launches the Penguin algorithm
update, which penalizes sites with spammy
links.

Google introduces the Hummingbird

algorithm update, which focuses on

2013
understanding the meaning behind
search queries rather than just matching
keywords.
THE HISTORY OF SEO

2015
Google introduces the Mobilegeddon
algorithm update, which penalizes sites
that are not mobile-friendly.

2016
Google launches the Possum algorithm
update, which improves local search
results.

2019
Google introduces the BERT algorithm
update, which improves natural language
processing in search results.

2020
Google announces the Page Experience
update, which considers user experience
factors such as page speed and mobile
responsiveness in search rankings.