Do You Know Your Penguins from Your Pandas? Google Updates

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There has been a lot of upheaval in the world of SEO over the last month or so.  Google has continued to roll-out Panda, its search quality update but has also announced an “over-optimization” update that has site owners panicking all over the web.  If you have lost search rankings in the last couple of weeks, then now is the time to learn to tell your Pandas from your Penguins.

PandaPenquin

oopsilon – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 xrayspx – CC BY-SA 2.0

Penguin is the codename given to the over-optimization update (which many are calling a penalty).

Timeline on Recent Google Algorithm Updates

  • March 23rd – Panda Rollout
  • April 19th – Panda Rollout (which everyone seems to have missed)
  • April 24th – Penguin Update (over-optimization)

If you have lost lots of rankings or think you may be hit by an over-optimization penalty from Google, the place to start is to look at the timing of the drop.  Does it coincide with the dates of any of the updates?  Because which update it coincides with will give you great clues as to what caused the drop and what you need to fix.

Panda has been rolling out for over a year now so there is plenty of information on the kinds of sites that are getting hit.  The over-optimization penalty, which has had everyone in uproar is, according to Google, only affecting 3.1% of sites but you wouldn’t know it by the reaction.  Matt Cutts was at pains to re-focus coverage of this update and point out that they are targeting web spam rather than SEO.

Initial indications are that Penguin is hitting sites with poor link profiles.  You know those scalable, low quality, easy to get links we’ve been railing against?

We’ll try and post an analysis of the factors being targeted on Monday.

Related posts:

  1. Online Marketing News this Week – 26th Apr 2012

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2 Responses to “Do You Know Your Penguins from Your Pandas? Google Updates”

  1. Charles says:

    According to NY times, Google will be reviewed by the FTC

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/technology/google-antitrust-inquiry-advances.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp

    For those who suffered dearly on this update – business wrecked, site missing from listing, loss in revenue, you should know that you can report this to the FTC.

    Here goes

    https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

    The complaints will carry weight if it’s done in bulk.

    LET’S REPORT THIS TO THE FTC!

    PASS THIS MESSAGE AROUND!!

    QUOTE FROM FTC WEBSITE:

    The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, collects complaints about companies, business practices, identity theft, and episodes of violence in the media.

    Why: Your complaints can help us detect patterns of wrong-doing, and lead to investigations and prosecutions. The FTC enters all complaints it receives into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database that is used by thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement authorities worldwide. The FTC does not resolve individual consumer complaints.

    Please note the last line: “The FTC does not resolve individual consumer complaints.” – like I have mentioned before, the complaints will carry weight if it’s done in bulk.

    SO PASS THE MESSAGE AROUND!!

  2. BizSugar.com says:

    Do You Know Your Penguins from Your Pandas? Google Updates…

    Google has rolled out several updates over the past month or so, including one targeting over-optimization. If search rankings are important to your site, here is what you need to know……