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On Tuesday I reported how the Google Panda 2.5.2 tweak was more than just a "minor" update.
There were just too many complaints in the forums for it to appear to be really that "minor."
So I decided to run a poll, where we have well over 400 responses. The responses were overwhelming against the notion that this was a minor update or tweak to the Panda algorithm. Almost 80% of those who responded said this was a "somewhat significant" or "very significant" update. Under 15% said this update was not significant, which is very low.
I am a bit surprised by these numbers. I was hoping what I saw in the forums was just a loud minority but it seems like a lot of people would classify this minor update as more major and more hurtful than maybe Google would have considered?
For more on Panda, see our Google Panda category.
Forum discussion continued at Google Webmaster Help Forums, HighRankings Forums and WebmasterWorld.
Note: This story was written earlier this week and scheduled to be published today.
Comments:
Etexbiz
10/21/2011 01:24 pm
This thing seems to have done quite a bit of damage. The Google forum page where most of the posting is going on is full of wild speculation and a lot of heat with very little light. Most of the speculation seems to be coming from a few Google "wannabees" who are systematically insulting troubled webmasters. It would be nice if Google would say something. There does not seem to be a method to this madness.
Larry Page
10/21/2011 01:59 pm
This was very significant but in a positive way...to my bottom line. All ur money are belong to me.
Larry Page
10/21/2011 02:10 pm
Don't go crazy with theories. Listen to Matt Cutts, the used car salesman from Kentucky, he tells the truth. Panda 2.52 is very good and you will see when we announce our 4th qt earnings.
Fedor
10/21/2011 03:06 pm
Not impacted by panda directly. Rankings and revenue up since panda started. Up again with this update. To me it looks good, but I know people are suffering. Hope I don't get hit with future changes. I guess my philosophy of not over-optimizing and keeping shit simple worked out long term.
joshua
10/21/2011 04:19 pm
Of course latest Panda produced "significant" change. Think of it like a programmer - you do things on live data in minute stages. They are now honing their knife to more mercilessly cut off the spam. Every iteration of the algo will have a greater, more drastic, effect on a smaller percentage of sites (supposedly "spammy" sites) as they "perfect" their algo.
Nathan
10/21/2011 05:36 pm
Supposing a site caters to Google's new algo, when can one expect a change in the rankings? I got hit hard, losing a lot of traffic in a competitive industry. Now, that I'm practically back to square one, I'm not sure how I'll be able to compete. Assuming I make my pages more quality, and do other stuff (decrease load times, increase social media presence, time on site, etc). When can I expect to start climbing back in the results? Until the next update or immediately?
Seo Lair
10/21/2011 07:19 pm
So basically less than 15% surveyed are using solid SEO tactics :)
Etexbiz
10/21/2011 08:19 pm
I've been doing a lot of random searching today, and I am beginning to wonder if Google is bringing all the bad stuff to the surface to skim it off. I see more mfa scraper sites at the top, with the sources they scraped on the second page, or the bottom of the first. I am not searching any major keyword phrases, just stuff that people use when they are looking for everyday things.
emory @ clickfire
10/21/2011 10:13 pm
There's nothing "minor" about the panda.
Fedor
10/21/2011 10:55 pm
You're better off comparing your site to your competitors and do some hard research into why they didn't get slammed. Evaluate your site from ground up, start with the basics, if you're in doubt, take it out.
Brad Dalton
10/22/2011 05:21 am
My traffic got absolutely hammered but then bounced back 3 weeks later and is now booming. Weird!
tennis livescore
10/22/2011 10:19 am
Yes this time its indeed significant. My site also got some better ranking this time.
Matt Bessent
10/23/2011 12:28 pm
From what I can gather there has been a lot of affiliates that have lost positions and traffic since the last update. At the A4U conference last week in London, during a session with Pierre Far from Google, the main thing was that these updates are going to keep on coming and webmasters are going to experience a number of fluctuations in the coming weeks/months.
Dental Tourism
10/23/2011 02:17 pm
Google Panda has to my experience not worked except for a handful of high traffic sites. I keep visiting a number of sites which are still ranked high and have either low quality or no content at all just because either they have a exact keyword domain or they are a part of a high pr link farm . Google has a long way to go . This update is hardly of any use to common browsers.
Nathan
10/23/2011 09:23 pm
What do you mean "take it out"?
Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
10/24/2011 03:00 pm
Our websites remains at the same rankings as Google panda minor updates strikes the internet. I find it good but not better, i am now seeking for a better rankings for our website. Congratulations to other website that increased in rankings.
Guest
10/25/2011 12:44 pm
Panda 2.5.2 actually helped our site and we're even back to pre-panda days - if not better!
Angus kinloch
10/27/2011 04:43 pm
My web site is all about skiing holidays, that's what we sell, I spotted a very small site that never had a listing before appear on page one for the term "ski chalet" the site in question has 2 chalets in a ski resort called Chamonix, while searching again I spotted they had a position for the term ski chalet in Val d'Isere, when I clicked it was a basic page with 3 lines of copy saying "more details will follow soon! Now how can that site be more relevant that mine, I have 248 ski chalets listed in Val d'Isere. I've lost nearly 60% of my traffic and its killing my business I've spend 16 years building...
Tiffiney
10/30/2011 11:55 pm
I'm a ghostwriter with clients who pay $50/page and I find myself wondering how to help them leverage my work in light of these new changes. Your post made me wonder: When you have a high ranking site that suddenly gets bumped, don't you still have your base of subscribers/customers to build from? (Obviously, being above the fold pg1 is best from a high profile standpoint.) And then there are other tools like Twitter, G+, etc.... I'm not trying to sound flipant. I genuinely want to know: Is there a way to continue strong even in light of Google changes? It seems more than annoying that one search engine can have such a devestating impact on businesses.
Andy
11/05/2011 12:19 am
from another angle, I have been searching for various 'normal' things these last two weeks as a user, not as a webmarketer. And the result? I have been receiving nothing but dross and irrelevance. I live in the uk, and have had endless American information thrown at me, even when I click 'pages from the UK.' It's madness.
Arthur laurensius
11/09/2011 07:04 pm
btw its google dance effect
Football Highlights
11/23/2011 01:19 pm
Panda 2 is significant and I know a lot of people who got struck by it and have lost almost 80% of their Traffic from Google and lost almost 95% of their First page rankings.