For some, it was noticeable: a supposed Google update brought new momentum to search results pages. Now the volatility in the search results is increasing again.
Towards the 14th of February, the movements on Google’s search results pages picked up again, raising the question of a Google update among some. Likewise, a connection with the currently rolled out Passage Ranking is conceivable.
Passage-Based Indexing in the USA
Many things point to a Google update, especially in the WebmasterWorld forum there are posts for the past few days about the change in search traffic, which point to a continuing or renewed update.
A connection with the passage ranking rolled out in the USA is also conceivable: passage-based indexing is intended to enable Google to index extensive content on individual web pages better and in a more targeted manner. The goal is that Google can thus better distinguish individual topics. Currently, the rollout is only used for longer English language websites in the US. In addition, Google emphasizes that the update will not lead to a different appearance of the search results, but it is definitely considered a ranking factor.