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Google Redesigns Their Search Engine With the MUM Algorithm

  • Felix Rose-Collins
  • 3 min read
Google Redesigns Their Search Engine With the MUM Algorithm

Intro

Google’s recent announcement came as something of a shock to the SEO community, as their changes tend to. The company announced that it will start testing out its MUM algorithm to see if they can make it easier for searchers to uncover new topics.

By making their searches more intuitive, Google hopes to make it easier for people to find the answers they need using their search engine.

While Google has mentioned that these changes will be rolled out over the course of the next few months, they have already put a few of these changes into action. The goal of these changes is to ensure that specific searches provide more visual results.

What is the MUM Algorithm?

The MUM algorithm has actually already been developed, but it hasn’t seen widespread release on Google. It’s goal is to make it easier to answer difficult questions by conducting searches across languages and even images.

MUM stands for the Multitask Unified Model, and it’s plain to see why it’s called that.

The most notable feature of the MUM algorithm is that you’ll be able to search not only with text but also with images.

Google has also mentioned that the Google Lens app will feature MUM integration very soon.

How is Google’s MUM Algorithm Going to Change Searches?

When Google’s MUM algorithm is eventually released, it is going to result in widespread changes to how searches are conducted.

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For example, when someone looks for an answer, the MUM algorithm will allow them to figure out answers to more complex questions. This is largely due to the integrations of images in the MUM algorithm.

This is designed to ensure that searching is easier for the average person and so that they can get the answers they need with ease.

How Will Search Results Change?

Google has already mentioned that this innovation will dramatically change how search results are presented.

There are a few ways that the MUM algorithm change will impact Google search results and allow you to get better answers to your questions.

The Three Changes

These are the three major alterations to the Google search algorithm that will come with the release of MUM:

  • Things to know
  • Visual browsing of search results
  • Topic zoom

Things to Know

The Things to Know feature is one of the most dramatic changes to Google’s search algorithm. Whereas most people currently find related topics from suggested searches at the end of a SERP, this promises to change things around.

For example, if you search for a particular keyword phrase, Google will automatically start figuring out what people search that’s related to that phrase. This means that Google will display more content that’s directly related to the search phrase on its SERPs.

For example, if Google sees that people commonly search for a particular string of keywords after conducting a search for something tangentially related, it will include those tangential search results on the SERP.

Visual Browsing of Search Results

Visual browsing is the second major change to Google’s search results, and it allows you to learn more about a topic by looking at it visually.

Even though this is not designed to work on all kinds of searches, Google is trying to ensure that visual browsing appears for some of their most popular ones. The main goal is to show images to people who are trying to be inspired by their search results, such as artists and other creatives.

Topic Zoom

Topic Zoom is another feature that is being added to Google with this change, and it essentially allows you to figure out more about a particular topic by diving into it more deeply. You can then look at a topic on a deeper level or even zoom out a bit to see more broadly related topics.

How is Google’s MUM Algorithm Going to Impact Searches?

The end goal of the new algorithm is to allow people to find more web pages when they conduct their searches.

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Instead of people being stuck with what Google traditionally presents them with when they make searches, Google’s goal is to get people to look at the content on a wider range of websites.

SEO is certainly going to change because of this algorithm change, as it has many times in the past.

As we’ve seen from the past few years of development, Google is moving away from using H1s, H2s, and H3s to determine what shows up on a SERP.

To ensure that these sites appear when working with the new algorithm, it’s essential that your content is legible and that people know what you’re talking about.

Felix Rose-Collins

Felix Rose-Collins

Ranktracker's CEO/CMO & Co-founder

Felix Rose-Collins is the Co-founder and CEO/CMO of Ranktracker. With over 15 years of SEO experience, he has single-handedly scaled the Ranktracker site to over 500,000 monthly visits, with 390,000 of these stemming from organic searches each month.

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