google continuous update, of what?

[guang]

I've read a lot that Google has changed to continuous update, but not sure what is being continuously updated. I have noticed some sites in SERP of the keyword I've been watching went on maintenance with a splash page for a few days. The Google cache/description does show the content from the "under maintenance" page, which means google is actually doing the continuous update, but their position in SERP remains the same. Does that mean SERP position is NOT being continuously updated? To test this theory, I brought down one of my site and put a "under maintenance" page, after a few days, google cache updated with that page, but the SERP position of the site remains the same.

Another somewhat related (or unrelated) fact: one of the site that I've been watching has been down (with "back online soon" page) for 3 years, but it is still in top 10 of SERP. The only things I can think of are: backlinks may still be there, domain still has the keyword. I hate to say, but does the "content" really not matter?

[g1smd]

New pages and new sites get in quicker and stick in the listings more easily.

Changes to existing pages are respidered and recached more quickly.

Old system was a fresh listing that dropped in and out for a few weeks and then finally stuck at the time of the big monthly update.

Other stuff. No idea. But backlinks and PR and so on are not updated as often.

[glengara]

Well one of my sites went down for 21/2 days, and lost positions dramatically.