Google Panda was a major algorithm update that impacted search rankings for 11.8% of queries in the U.S. Google said Panda was designed to reduce the rankings for low-quality sites (“sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful”) and reward better rankings to high-quality sites (“sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on”).
The algorithm officially started rolling out on Feb. 23, 2011, but it wasn’t until Feb. 24, 2011, that we learned about it.
Panda didn’t only impact content farms. Websites of all sizes, across industries, felt the wrath of Panda. There were multiple reports of companies going out of business because they had relied on Google traffic for years. Once that traffic was gone, so was their business.
After its initial launch, Google announced several refreshes and updates to Panda on a near-monthly basis for the next two years (9 in 2011 and 14 in 2012). You will find a complete timeline and our coverage of those updates at the bottom of this guide.
One thing Google Panda was not: a penalty. Websites impacted by the Google Panda Update were downgraded algorithmically. This means no Google employee took manual action to cause the lower rankings. For anyone hit by Panda, it probably felt like a penalty. But Google doesn’t consider downgrading rankings for a website algorithmically as a “penalty.”
How does Panda work?
Recognizing shallow content and bad quality sites might be simple for a client, however for search engines it’s an exceptionally process, particularly on the immense, varied web. Amit Singhal, Vice President of Search at Google, advised Wired magazine that to address this complicated issue, the cycle must be all around as logical and numerical as could be expected. Google analysts then, at that point, formulated a thorough arrangement of inquiries (some of which are recorded here) for site analyzers to audit a determination of areas. From these inquiries and audits, the Google group formulated a bunch of positioning signs which shaped the meaning of what might be viewed as bad quality content.
Google is continually changing and propelling the signs and measurements it utilizations to decide a site’s worth. This empowers Google to keep steady over what is viewed as great and bad content, and continuously give phenomenal client experience.
What Does Panda Target?
The Google Panda update targets sites with the following:
- Thin onsite content – Domains lacking quality content across many pages tend not to give an important client experience. This could mean pages with only a couple of sentences or pages with an awkward mass of words. Spelling and language structure matter!
- Duplicate content: – If there is a high volume of Duplicate content — pages with basically the same or the very same content — then this might be a sign of search engine manipulation. Previously, areas might have attempted to duplicate pages that designated a specific same keyword to attempt to expand their possibilities positioning for this term.
- Machine-generated content – Also known as ‘spun content’, this is duplicate naturally delivered by programming to fill pages with keyword rich, in any case, low-quality, data.
- Excessive onsite adverts – Pages that are immersed with adverts compromise client experience.
