Google Payday Algorithm Update: What It Is and Why It Still Matters
1 Payday (2013–2014)
The Google Payday Algorithm Update was first launched in 2013, with further refinements rolled out in 2014. Its main goal was to target highly spammy search queries.
These queries often appeared in industries such as:
- Payday loans
- Online gambling
- Adult content
- Pharmaceuticals
- Get-rich-quick schemes
These niches were notorious for aggressive black-hat SEO techniques, keyword stuffing, and low-quality backlinks.
Google introduced the Payday update to ensure that trusted, authoritative websites ranked higher than spam-filled pages.
2 Big Daddy (2005–2006)
The Google Big Daddy Update was one of Google’s most important infrastructure updates, even though it didn’t directly change rankings in the traditional way.
Unlike other algorithm updates focused on content or links, Big Daddy was mainly a technical and infrastructure update.
Its goal was to improve how Google crawled, indexed, and handled websites, especially when it came to:
- Duplicate content
- URL canonicalisation
- Redirects (301 vs 302)
- Low-quality and spammy pages
Big Daddy helped Google understand which version of a page should rank.
3 Pigeon (2014)
Google’s search algorithm has evolved to deliver more accurate and relevant results, especially for local searches. One of the most important updates in this area is the Google Pigeon Algorithm Update.
The Google Pigeon Update was designed to improve local search results by making them more closely aligned with Google’s core ranking signals.
In simple words, Pigeon helped Google deliver more accurate, location-based search results for users.
Example searches:
- “Digital marketing agency near me”
- “Best café in Kozhikode”
- “SEO services in Bangalore”
4 Vince (2009)
As Google continued to improve search quality, it began placing greater emphasis on brand trust and authority. One of the earliest updates to reflect this shift was the Google Vince Algorithm Update.
The Vince Update focused on improving rankings for strong, authoritative brands, especially for competitive, short-tail keywords.
After this update, users noticed that big brands started ranking higher for popular search terms.
Example:
- “Shoes”
- “Insurance”
- “Travel booking”
Well-known, trusted brands began to dominate these results.
5 Jagger (2005)
As Google continued its fight against web spam, one of the most important early link-focused updates was the Google Jagger Algorithm Update. This update reshaped how Google evaluated backlinks and manipulative SEO practices.
The Jagger Update primarily targeted unnatural link-building techniques and spammy backlink profiles.
It was one of the first updates to seriously crack down on:
- Paid links
- Link farms
- Reciprocal link schemes
- Irrelevant backlinks