Google’s ‘Speed Update’ Has Minimal Impact on Search Results

Google’s latest mobile search algorithm update, called the “Speed Update,” has reportedly had little-to-no impact on search results.

A test conducted by Link Assistant before and after the Speed Update analyzed the top 30 positions for 33,500 queries across 1 million URLs.

According to Link Assistant’s findings, the speed optimization of a page has a high correlation to its position in the SERPs.

However, the correlation was found to be exactly the same before and after the Speed Update.

Link Assistant’s data before and after Google’s mobile search algorithm update shows that there is still no correlation between ranking position and FCP (First Contentful Paint) & DCL (DOM Content Loaded) metrics.

“The growth of average FCP/DCL metrics before and after the Page Speed Update has been minor: 0.030 seconds and 0.028 seconds respectively. Thus, there has hardly been any impact on search results a week after the Page Speed Update.”

One thing that has changed across the board is the performance of web pages, as measured by Link Assistant’s optimization score.

“Improving the performance of web pages is on the rise industry-wise. For 3 months only, an average web page, ranking on positions 1-30 in mobile search, has been improved by 0.83 Optimization Score points. In other words, the standards are increasing, and the time to join the race is now.”

While search results have not measurably changed following the Speed Update, the level of optimization of pages that continue to rank in the top 30 positions has been going up.