Last month, Google announced a tweak to their search algorithm in a bid to return timelier search results to users and, some say, better compete with sites like Twitter and Facebook. In its blog announcement, Google admitted that stale search results were behind its new “freshness algorithm,” which now “noticeably impacts” 6-35% of its searches.

According to Google, the algorithm builds on its faster Caffeine web indexing system to identify search terms that require timelier results versus those for which older results are still relevant. For example, it will return links that are only seconds old for a search related to breaking news, but knows that for some topics, such as political campaigns, instructions or recipes, week-old or even years-old links are relevant.

Either way, Google says the improvement, which also incorporates Google+ and other social media feeds, will show the best results. It will also impact SEO strategies. While analysts continue to track the specifics of this impact, initial assessments showed businesses with a variety of news, social media updates and other fresh content did benefit from the new algorithm.

Altogether, experts say, the revision should help Google keep up with user demand for second-by-second news and updates. As expert Danny Sullivan told the New York Times, “It does help with the issue of people thinking, ‘Wow, if I need to find out about something breaking, I’ll go to Facebook or Twitter for that.’”