What is Google EMD Update?
November 22, 2012
Sarvesh Bagla
Google recently announced the EMD update. EMD stands for Exact Match Domains. The exact match domains update is a new filter aimed at ensuring that low-quality websites do not attain a high Page Rank (PR) and rise high in Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages) just because such websites have the relevant search term in the domain names. Google states that EMD, like the other filters (Google Panda and Google Penguin), will be updated regularly.
Additional Read: Latest Penguin Update
The updates are important because they fix bugs that might not have been anticipated by Google in previous releases. They also try to catch pages that were not caught before. The update may even free pages that might have been mistakenly caught.
There is a common misconception that EMD updates mean websites that have domain names that are search terms will no longer rank well. There is no evidence of discrimination. Another misconception is that Google is favoring itself. This is not so since Google did not wipe out the likes of cars.com, usedcars.com, and movies.com. What will be targeted are websites like ‘online-learning-institutes.com’ that are hoping to take advantage of the domain name even with substandard content.
The EMD update is meant to target websites that have ‘scraped’ content from others and sites that are ‘packed’ with ads (that do not have any content). The update also seems to target websites that have ‘spun’ content.
Google Panda punishes websites that have bad content, but it was not doing a good job when it came to exact match domains. The new EMD update is meant to filter out what Google Panda does not get.
Additional Read: Google Panda 4.0 Update
If your domain name includes a search term, take preemptive action today! Hire an SEO company to ensure that the new exact match domains update does not affect your search rankings. If you’ve already noticed a drop in your rankings, you know you shouldn’t wait. Search for an SEO company that understands the Google updates and helped other sites recover lost rankings.
Read also How to Recover from Google Phantom 2 Update
-
Do exact match domains still work?
They work if they are high-quality, valuable domains. Google initially had used the EMD update to regulate spam and clean up the SERPs.
By the end of 2012, Google realized some valuable exact-match domain holders had been penalized simply for having a catchy EMD, but they issued an update to the algorithm that improved the value of these domains and punished the sites that were low-quality EMDs.
-
What is an exact match domain?
EMD or exact match domain was a filter launched by Google in 2012 to ensure that low-quality websites that had domain names which matched with search terms do not attain a high page-rank or advance in the SERPs.
-
What is the difference between phrase match and exact match?
When you are setting ads in AdWords, match types determine when your ad will be triggered. Exact match is very controlled and shows ads when your exact keywords are searched for. Phrase match is a little less controlled and Phrase match keywords must be present in the search query in the same order as mentioned by you.
-
What is the new update of Google?
Every few months, Google comes up with official algorithm updates announcement. In June 2019, Google issued the Diversity update – designed to curb multiple search results from the same website from appearing on Page 1 of the SERPs.
In an update in 2018 – hailed as a milestone for security, after warning users of unsecured (non-HTTPS) forms months earlier, Chrome 68 began marking all non-HTTPS sites as “not secure.”