Google Panda 3.6…3.5…Penguin Update… Err… Can Someone Tell Me What Hit Me?

There were updates before the Panda and there has been one after the Panda, but nothing can match the enormous impact caused by this seemingly harmless animal. The algo update was just one of the 500 updates that are launched every year, but it shook the SEO industry by its core.
The latest 3.6 version hit webmasters on the 27th of April. However, search rankings weren’t really affected asthis was a minor update. In fact, it went unnoticed until it came up for discussion on the Webmasters Forum. But why did Google launch another update just 3 days after the Penguin or just eight days after the Panda 3.5 update?

Well, to make things clear, the Penguin update isn’t about duplicate or unworthy content (like the Panda) – it’s a webspam update with its focus on unnatural link building processes and keyword stuffing. As for the changes to the 3.5 update, no much is known about the reason behind such a quick succession of updates. Perhaps, there was a mistake and this was an attempt at correcting it, or maybe this is one of the many minor tweaks…who knows?

So what was the 3.5 Update all about?

The 3.5 update wasn’t really noticed until Matt Cutts chose to comment on a Search Metric stat that listed out the winners and losers of the Penguin update. It was released on the 19th of April and was confused by many with the Webspam update.

Okay…. So what’s the Penguin Update About?

This one was surely the first of its kind…and something tells me it isn’t a onetime update. There are going to be further tweaks. It hits out at the core of certain grey hat practices where webmasters indulge in unnatural link building practices or stuff their content with keywords.

So far So Good…But Did They Really Manage to Tackle Webspam?

Initial results don’t really prove this. For instance, a quick search on the internet for the keyword Viagra threw up an array of results. There’s a site that Google openly declares to be compromised! Looks like the best of intentions were lost… The Internet is full of such examples where webmasters have found serious glitches. In fact, there’s even an online petition that asks Google to roll back the Webspam update.

Will Google Roll Back its Update?

Most certainly not! Gone are the days when search algos were based on a primitive method where search results were decided on the number of backlinks and the density of keywords in a page. But today, results are now refined. Informative content now weighs more than anything else.