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It seems like some folks missed it but in my May 2011 Google Webmaster Report I spoke about some webmasters and SEOs asking if Google was updating the Panda algorithm once more. Some were coining this update Panda 3.0 or 2.1.
There are many SEOs and Webmasters at WebmasterWorld discussing this update to Panda. Google did not confirm any Panda update but it seems like many webmasters are suggesting this is the 3rd major update to Panda.
The first one was Panda released in February and then the international rollout in April, where some SEOs saw incremental returns. And now, early May, webmasters and SEOs are saying Panda has shifted a bit.
One webmaster said:
Is it possible that Panda 3.0 just rolled out (as of May 6, 2011)? Perhaps it's in the process of rolling out? I'm seeing a massive shake up in the search niches that I monitor, results are bouncing all over the place. My websites seem to be slipping again to a new all time Google referral low.
In the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread, people are talking about two shifts to this Panda 3.0 update. Anyway, if you are seeing similar changes, you may want to check out the threads.
Our ongoing coverage and stories on the Content Farmer/Panda update:
- Google's Second Attempt At Panda Relief Advice
- Google's Panda Update Hopes To Curate An Apple-Like Web
- eHow Hit Hard By Google Panda Update
- Incremental Returns After Latest Google Panda Update
- Many Webmasters Devastated: Google Panda Rolled Out Worldwide
- Google Update Underway? Farmer/Panda Hits Again?
- Google Smacks Down Webmaster Over Panda Update
- Google Mocking Those Impacted By Farmer/Panda Update?
- Is Google Rolling Out A Farmer / Panda Update?
- Status Check: Google Panda / Farmer Rebounds & UK Migration
- Coming Soon: Panda/Farmer Update At Google UK
- Being Rescued From The Google Panda / Farmer Update
- When To Use 404, NoIndex & 301 Redirects In Farmer/Panda Fix
- 40% Of SEOs Say Farmer/Panda Hurt Their Sites In Google
- Google: Remove Low Quality Content If You Were Impacted By Farmer/Panda
- I'm Hit! Get Your Google Rankings Back After Farmer/Panda
- How to Regain Your Rankings After the Farmer Update
- SEOs Chew On Wired's Interview With Cutts & Singhal On Farmer Update
- What's Your Name? Farmer Or Panda?
- Was Google Too Hasty with the Farmer Update? SEO's Discuss Good & Bad
- Google Accidentally Label Your Site As A Content Farm? Get Help Here
- Shocking: Google To Tweak Content Farm Algorithm
- Poll: Were You Impacted By The Google Farmer Update?
- Google Farmer Update Support Groups
- Google's Farmer Update Live: 12% Of Google's Results Forever Changed
- Google Warns Of "Big Changes Here Very Shortly"
- Correction: Google's Scraper Algorithm Now Live, Not Content Farms
- Google's Content Farm Algorithm Harm You? Categorize Your Site To Fix It.
- Confirmed: Google's Content Farm Algorithm Live! Sites Are Dropping!
- Google's Next Target: Content Farms & On Page Spam
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Update: This is official, well not the 3.0, but as Danny put it, Panda 2.1 with a very small update to the Panda algorithm released around this time.
Comments:
Michael Martinez
05/09/2011 05:49 pm
Panda is becoming the new SEO bogeyman. Every untoward development is going to be labeled "Panda X.0". That really doesn't work for me. I think that is what Amit was trying to discourage in his Friday blog post, which appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
Ben Pfeiffer
05/09/2011 06:01 pm
Agree with Michael. Google engineers have mentioned that they are rolling out countless updates after Panda in the coming weeks and months. This is probably just one of them affecting some and not others.
Barry Schwartz
05/09/2011 06:07 pm
What he likely did was fuel the fire.
AJ Kohn
05/09/2011 06:42 pm
What makes anyone think this isn't just the original Panda rolling out to more sites? Go look at what happened in October of 2010 with the additional roll out of the 'May Day' algorithm. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=61b28e6184e66255&hl=en From John Mueller: "Various parts of our algorithms can apply to sites at different times, depending on what our algorithms find. While we initially rolled out this change earlier this year, the web changes, sites change, and with that, our algorithms will continually adapt to the current state on the web, on those sites." The idea that algorithms are applied evenly or to the entire index is a very big assumption.
AJ Kohn
05/09/2011 06:47 pm
Completely agree. Amit's Panda Questions post didn't quell the tide of speculation. It actually revived a meme that was slowly started to recede. Though perhaps that's a US centric observation, our colleagues 'across the pond' have been dealing with Panda for much less time.
Vivek Parmar
05/09/2011 06:57 pm
Did not think that Google so easily update Panda again. Yep there are variations in SERP for some and even though i have lost many things but still did not think that it needs any changes
Mme
05/09/2011 07:13 pm
Panda was run on 2/24 and it stayed there. Other changes are different algo tweaks or changes. That's what Amit Singhal said
Brandignity
05/09/2011 09:48 pm
I can see Google doing this update in stages. With the vast amount of content out there lingering in the search space it will probably take a few attempts to make it work exactly how they want.
Michael Martinez
05/09/2011 11:45 pm
I think the new round of speculation is less helpful than the first round of speculation. I don't believe people really get what Google is trying to do. They're trying to develop a set of algorithms to accomplish tasks no team of humans can attempt with any hope of success. Second-guessing that kind of complexity is not nearly as simple as compiling lists of possible ranking factors.
Barry Schwartz
05/09/2011 11:48 pm
Michael, Just wait a bit longer, it will all be good.
AJ Kohn
05/10/2011 12:03 am
I don't mind the speculation and actually partake in it myself. The list of questions is an interesting insight into Google's thinking, whether you try to read something into each question or take it all as a whole. Something as subtle as the keyword spam they use in their 'original' content question shows a clear priority. And some of the questions are likely those used with the mysterious 'panel' that was used to round out the Panda algorithm. It's not about cracking the Panda algorithm as much as it is understanding Google's current and future preferences, priorities and peccadilloes.
Coupon Offers
05/10/2011 09:23 am
Best of luck to everyone specially the one who works in affiliate market
Barry Schwartz
05/10/2011 05:34 pm
It is official now. Danny got a statement from Google saying they did indeed update Panda. They don't want to name it 3.0, but more like a 2.1. So good catch all!
Chavi
05/10/2011 06:15 pm
As an SEO, I see two reactions to Panda: 1. Keep improving the quality of your site, with the hope that it'll pan out in the long run, but as Google says, you won't know for a while if that was why you were slashed to begin with. 2. Get traffic from sources outside of Google. Probaly best to do both. What I find interesting is that, while being a bit passive aggressive, option 1 will end up creating a lot more quality on the web.
Chavi
05/10/2011 06:16 pm
As an SEO, I see two reactions to Panda: 1. Keep improving the quality of your site, with the hope that it'll pan out in the long run, but as Google says, you won't know for a while if that was why you were slashed to begin with. 2. Get traffic from sources outside of Google. Probably best to do both. What I find interesting is that, while being a bit passive aggressive, option 1 will end up creating a lot more quality on the web.
Michael Martinez
05/10/2011 07:30 pm
So I guess Danny has cleared up the mystery of whether it IS or IS NOT a Panda update: http://searchengineland.com/its-panda-update-2-not-3-google-says-76508 2.1 not 3.0
Mme
05/10/2011 10:45 pm
Google talking out of both sides of their mouth again: "Some publishers have fixated on our prior Panda algorithm change , but Panda was just one of roughly 500 search improvements we expect to roll out to search this year. In fact, since we launched Panda, we've rolled out over a dozen additional tweaks to our ranking algorithms, and some sites have incorrectly assumed that changes in their rankings were related to Panda." So are new updates Panda or what?
Stefan
06/22/2011 09:23 pm
Exactly, #2 has been neglected by many webmasters. Not only that this will make you less dependent on Google for traffic but if you get lots of natural traffic from all kids of sources this tells Google that you are legit and popular site. (Yes, Google does monitor visitors and traffic sources of websites - this is what their Google Analytics is for:-)
Transcribe
10/04/2011 06:17 am
That's why I have seen many changes inpage rank, backlinks etc. in sites. Is this over now?
Abhshektch
03/14/2012 10:37 am
If you remove duplicate content from your site then google will not penalize your website.