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As you know, Google pushed out a new Panda update last week, that was "more finely targeted." I suggested this was the softer Panda release that we've been expecting but Google didn't use those words.
That being said, it was indeed one of those updates that has shown a huge cheer from SEOs and webmasters where they noticed their Panda sites that were impacted were not no longer impacted. At least, I've never seen so many happy SEOs and Webmasters after a Panda release. In fact, we even covered some recovery charts. Of course, that doesn't mean there are many still impacted or new sites impacted by this release.
My question to you all, did you recover? Take the poll and share it with friends:
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Image credit to ShutterStock for pandas.
Comments:
Helen Baker
07/22/2013 02:20 pm
There are so many people who have 100% recovered and that is a very good new. Can you guys please contact me, show your websites and share experience. my email is SEO the at sign profcopy dot com Thanks, Helen
romanUK
07/22/2013 02:53 pm
Do you really think that there are many that are back where they were in Sept 2012? Hmmm...
John
07/22/2013 03:15 pm
panda has always been lovely to us. So no reason for recovery. Only penguin 2.0 bitchslapped us due to negative Seo from competitors. We managed to get most links removed. Hopefully Google will refresh penguin soon, too.
Durant Imboden
07/22/2013 03:20 pm
I haven't seen any significant change. But then, our site was never mauled by Panda; it was just clawed down far enough in the rankings (say, half a dozen to a dozen places for many queries) to affect clickthroughs. And it's possible that we weren't even clawed: It could be that we've seen modest drops in rankings, with a resulting loss of traffic, because Panda has given a boost to UGC megasites, EMDs, etc. over the last 2+ years.
Sam Fletcher
07/22/2013 05:07 pm
We actually saw our ranking go down a whole page, and looking at others we compete with, they seem to have moved around a bit since last week. We are dealing with a clean up situation from a previous mess caused by a pretty dishonest SEO "consultant" so we are expecting to move back up in a few months after get rid of some pretty obvious problem areas. What this indicates to me is that if you do have problems from black hat SEO then the latest update will still penalize you.
Durant Imboden
07/22/2013 06:05 pm
"Do you really think that there are many that are back where they were in Sept 2012? " Or in February, 2011, before Panda emerged from his den.
Jeremy Myers
07/22/2013 08:25 pm
Not only recovered, but am higher than I was before. Thanks, Google! But holding my breath until the next update....
sestuff
07/22/2013 10:23 pm
It likely depends on the vertical but from what I've read, many large UGC sites have been hit by Panda. Just read reviewcentre.com and daniweb.com recovery attempts stories. Those site owners are actually saying the opposite of what you're saying - they believe UGC sites are heavily penalized. I also remember you mentioning that you are in the travel niche. From what I've read, that particular niche is heavily targeted by Google's panda. I honestly hope that panda is fair and that the playing field is level in all niches but evidence shows the opposite to be true.
Durant Imboden
07/23/2013 12:49 am
UGC covers a lot of territory, but when I said "UGC megasites," I was referring to giant corporate sites like TripAdvisor and Wikitravel, which were doing extremely well for a long time--although both had slipped (at least for the terms that I watch) before this latest version of Panda came along. As far as the playing field goes, I think Google's introduction of Authorship and Matt Cutts' references on May 13 to rewarding "authority" (maybe a precursor to AuthorRank?) are positive signs. It isn't in Google's interests for the SERPs to be taken over completely by Amazon, eBay, TripAdvisor, Wikipedia, etc. If Google's users become trained to look for a static set of megabrands when searching for X or another static set of megabrands when searching for Y, Google will have far less flexibility and influence than it does now.
sestuff
07/23/2013 01:56 am
Some would argue that the sites I mentioned are pretty popular - I'd say more popular than my site is (don't want to speak on your behalf) but maybe they're not classified as megabrands so you might have a point there. As for megabrands not being in the best interest of Google... I've been saying that it's bad for Google to show megabrands at the top of all searches all along but Google loves them and I believe they want megabrands at the top position. In the past they just couldn't patch up all the holes in the algo to keep them there. But don't take my word for it - take Google's word. Eric Schmidt once said: "Brands are the solution, not the problem," "Brands are how you sort out the cesspool." In addition to this, I believe that AuthorRank will continue to benefit megabrands - more than it will mom and pops - because they have well known and well respected writers. Don't forget that megabrands do have blogs and they do embrace all types of marketing - again more than mom and pops do. AuthorRank will be seen in many ways like links - the more connections you have, the better you rank. AuthorRank will also use external factors to distinguish which author ranks highest. I won't argue with you because only time will tell, but I strongly believe in what I'm saying. Of course I'd love to be proven WRONG.
Craig
07/23/2013 03:59 am
I dropped a few spots but a few competitors who were never there skyrocketed past me which is disappointing.
Anmol Andore
07/23/2013 04:57 am
Still trying hard to get rid of this Panda… but no success
Arpit Agarwal
07/23/2013 05:11 am
It is very hard to tell that how much we recover from Panda. But it is enough now, I can not tolerate any more.
Kamaldeep Singh SEO
07/23/2013 07:47 am
It's very Hard to recover from Panda But we can just do Quality work let see what will happened What you think sir @Barry Schwartz
Jerry Kidd
07/23/2013 09:37 am
Not sure is this is it, but I definitely got some kind of recovery yesterday. I was penalized on July 8th. Since then I did absolutely nothing with my site. Yesterday I've noticed traffic increase. I entered Webmaster Tools and here what I saw. I hope this is recovery because during last week I was very sad.
Graham Ginsberg
07/23/2013 12:41 pm
Yes RECOVERY - More and more hits from Yahoo and Bing. WOOO HOOO
Sanket Patel
07/23/2013 01:01 pm
Don't try hard! Try smart..:) you know the behavior of big G!
Anmol Andore
07/23/2013 01:19 pm
yup!
Sanket Patel
07/23/2013 01:25 pm
If that site violates the guidelines then submit the spam reports as it is the last weapon for you!
Faizan Khamisani
07/23/2013 01:38 pm
Hey Jerry, Congo on your recovery :) Your a lucky men. Faizan
romanUK
07/23/2013 03:16 pm
Of course, Durant :-)...it's just that Panda 20 was the one hitting us the worst...that's why this date is ingrained!
Durant Imboden
07/23/2013 03:43 pm
"I believe that AuthorRank will continue to benefit megabrands - more than it will mom and pops - because they have well known and well respected writers. " I don't see how AuthorRank can "continue to benefit" anybody, since it hasn't yet been deployed. But I feel compelled to point out that, in my sector, megabrands don't have "well known and respected writers." Most of them rely on user-generated content.
steve
07/23/2013 03:50 pm
Looks like a slight increase in traffic so far. I also noticed over the last few months that my competitors have slowly been dropping off the front page. I've been posting fresh content on my site few times a week and adding some local landing pages with the google author snippet code.
Helen Baker
07/23/2013 04:07 pm
Well, I just try to collect as much information as possible. Personally I haven't heard a single recovery story that was supported by sound evidence. :( pity
Steve Sims - Web designer
07/27/2013 08:21 pm
When is the next update....Is it done on a monthly basis/Is there of schedule of sorts that we can view to work towards re our link pruning, link building etc. so we can measure it's success?