'Google is broken': How an algorithm tweak cost livelihoods

Google made major changes to its search algorithm and spam filters earlier this year to get rid of low-quality content—but the effects have proved devastating to some smaller websites.

Online businesses have been left considering layoffs and even site closures after Google's massive upgrade in March and April caused catastrophic drops in traffic.

The US firm is notoriously secretive about its algorithms—so much so that an entire industry known as "search engine optimization" has grown up trying to game the algorithm to get more clicks.

The latest update sent SEO experts into a tailspin, desperately trying to unpack why some sites were boosted and others getting downranked.

Google told AFP in an email that its update was designed specifically to give users "fewer results that feel made for search engines".