Thu 28th of July 2011, filed under SEO
More changes for Panda
Reports of a new version of the Panda algorithm update have been confirmed by Google.
It is believed the change was implemented on 22 July 2011, with confirmation received by Search Engine Land this week. A Google spokesperson said: "We're continuing to iterate on our Panda algorithm as part of our commitment to returning high-quality sites to Google users. This update incorporates some new signals that help differentiate between higher- and lower-quality sites. As a result, some sites are ranking higher after this most recent update."
Version 2.3 is the fourth revision since the initial Panda algorithm update in February. It is one of "roughly 500 changes" Google makes each year. However, Panda in particular has attracted the attention of the SEO industry due to its potentially significant impact, with Google estimating almost 12 per cent of queries would return different results. Some sites have reported a dramatic drop in rankings – and consequently a huge decrease in traffic – immediately after each version went live. On the other hand, many sites have seen improvements following updates.
Quality control
The driving force behind these changes to the algorithm is Google's desire to improve the quality of search results. The intention was to make sites with low-quality content less successful; "sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful". Coupled with the introduction of the +1 button, this indicates a real commitment on Google's part to high quality content being rewarded in SERPs. However, the SEO impact of Google +1s is yet to be confirmed by the company.
Daniel Nolan, general manager of theEword, commented: "Google is doing everything it can to replicate human behaviour and values in its algorithm. It knows that people prefer web pages with useful, unique, high quality content so the Panda update – and subsequent revisions – are all geared towards rewarding sites with valuable content.
"Businesses and other site owners can actually benefit from the Google Panda update by making sure their sites are populated with high quality, informative content that isn't too salesy. As a rule of thumb, if you think your words will be useful and relevant to a human audience, chances are Google will view them in the same way."
Posted by Rachel Hand
