Google search algorithm is a constant work in progress. It's developing and evolving all the time. In fact Google introduces over 400 changes and tweaks to its algorithm every year. Many of those updates go unnoticed; others are more significant and catch our attention. This time Google changed the way their rank sites for long tail keywords with what became known as Mayday update.

If you're closely watching your organic Google traffic you may have noticed some ups or downs recently, especially on long tail queries. SEOs and webmasters have been actively reporting significant drops in their search traffic. There were many speculations as to what the reason behind this might be. Some suggested that it was caused by changes in the way Google indexes sites. Others supposed it was related to Google Caffeine. Now we've got an official confirmation from Google as to what Mayday update really is and how it affects your site's rankings.

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You sure have already seen Google's new look-n-feel that was rolled out last week. Most of the changes Google makes to its search algorithm are quite subtle and go unnoticed by the majority of Internet users. This time it's different. The design update is very prominent and can significantly change the way people search the web. And when the searchers behavior changes, as SEOs we have to adapt to the new trends.

So let's take a closer look at the new Google as well as the challenges and opportunities it brings.

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Google's love affair with brands is well known. Ever since the Vince update Google has been giving the sites of well-known companies a preference in rankings, especially on generic keywords. It looks like they've just taken this trend a notch further with a new update to the search algorithm known as 'brand refinements'.

To help the users searching for broad product-related keywords Google decided to start showing links to some of the most popular manufacturers of these products. These 'brand links' appear on top of generic search results thus stealing the search traffic from organically ranked websites.

If you run a search on Google for sunglasses you'll notice a set of links entitled "Brands for sunglasses" on top of search results. The links lead to popular sunglasses manufacturers such as Oakley, Ray-Ban, SPY, Channel and Smith. If you follow the Oakley link (which many searchers will do) Google will take you to the search results page for 'oakley sunglasses' where oakley.com is the top result.

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Until now there was no accurate way to check how many people click on your organic listing in the search results. The closest we could get is dig the number of searches in Google AdWords Keyword tool (or whatever service you trust most), then check our analytics stats and estimate what percentage of searchers click through to our site. Obviously this is a very rough approximation you can't fully rely on.

Now there's a better way to check your organic Clickthrough Rate (CTR). Google recently rolled out a new feature at Webmaster Tools that shows you the CTR data for your site.

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Google announced months ago that they were going to introduce site speed as a ranking factor to their algorithm. This update has happened. Now your site's loading time is affecting your positions in the SERPs.

In their strive to make the web faster Google decided to give speedy websites a bit of a push in the rankings. So if you have a fast loading site you may get a little preference in the search results. Having a fast site is important not only for search engines but also for your users. If you haven't done it yet, you may want to test how fast your site is and improve your loading time if necessary.

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Google launched a new Google-labs-type area called Ad Innovations dedicated to all the latest developments in the advertising technology. There you can see and try out experimental features and tools that are being tested or have recently been rolled out.

Currently there are 11 tools in the labs that Google is experimenting with. Some of them (like Above the Fold Advertising) have already been made available to all advertisers, others (like Product Listing Ads are in limited beta).

There are a number of quite interesting tools in the labs which are not only useful for advertisers but can also be applied in SEO. Two of such tools are designed around video advertising on YouTube.

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We used to say the 'Big Three' when talking about the major search engines – Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Soon it's all gonna be about the big two – Google and Bing. In case you haven't heard it yet, Microsoft and Yahoo! got the green light on their search deal according to which Microsoft will be serving both organic and paid search results on Yahoo!

Here's what the new Yahoo!-powered-by-Bing will look like once the deal is implemented

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Google has been giving us a lot of news lately. New features and products are pouring down 24/7 as if someone forgot to turn off the innovation tap at Google's office. Maybe that Bing/Yahoo! deal did give the search giant a sense of competition, huh? Or maybe they're just not the kind to rest on laurels.

Anyway, we've got another piece of news: Google is taking a different approach to tackling synonyms in the search results. If you run a search on Google for say 'royalty free pictures' you'll notice an interesting thing:

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