The Google algorithm in 2012

The search engine Google wants to be more efficient and more accurate than ever by starting 2012 with some significant changes and so far almost a quarter of the way through 2012, this trend has certainly continued. Indeed, the firm said it had made some changes in their algorithm planned this year and some of the experts in the field are set to see this being one of the busiest years for search ever. In total, Google has made 30 major improvements to optimize the search. Here are some important changes in the Google algorithm:

Enhanced image search: the search engine places more importance to the relevance of the photo and other images. It also takes into account the quality and source of the page image. The principle is that Google looks out for different signals to subsequently deliver even more relevant results.
Site links most relevant: Google has improved its algorithm to optimize the results to have site links and they are more relevant than before.
Soft detection 404: web servers typically display the error code 404 when the page is clicked by the user does not exist. However, some sites are configured to return other error codes. They pose problems for search engines. Indeed, they do not know whether to ignore these pages or not. Improved algorithm allows spiders to better detect these pages especially in German, Spanish and Russian.
The search results are more focused on the country of research. With the improvement of the algorithm, the user can thus have first results in their country.
More rich snippets: the rich or enriched extracts of snippets result is information that allow users to decide if the page better suits him or not. Google has improved its algorithm to display more content-rich sites in the results (especially for ecommerce sites and lighter content sites such as those that show cooking recipes)
An improvement for the automatic entry into the search bar
Improved Spam Detection in Google Image results
Better accuracy of the dates of documents in search results
The results for the initial search were reviewed and improved
Better results for searches for song lyrics
The display of a button has been changed: the button is displayed only when the user rolls over a result.
In research results, the images of large sizes will be more highlighted.
Safe Search: Safe Search improved to better filter the results. The parental control filter is more efficient.
Ability to encrypt search queries on some regional areas. Now users in the UK, Germany and France can search by browsing directly on encrypted SSL version of a Google search on their respective regional areas (google.fr, Google. From …)
Mobile browsing is faster: the mobile version of a site is displayed directly, bypassing any redirects. This allows the target page to load faster.
Looking at these changes, the algorithm refinements on a local level and for vertical search, specifically images so far have been a priority. Keep an eye out for predicted changes coming over the next few months. SEO is very much a changing arena at the moment.