Google Panda, one of Google’s most significant spam-fighting algorithms, launched in February 2011, is officially part of Google’s core ranking algorithm. It is unclear exactly when this happened; we at Search Engine Land are trying to find out.
Jennifer Slegg posted a Panda guide that was vetted by Google’s PR team, and part of that included a statement that said Panda is now part of Google’s core ranking algorithm. Here is that statement:
Panda is an algorithm that’s applied to sites overall and has become one of our core ranking signals. It measures the quality of a site, which you can read more about in our guidelines. Panda allows Google to take quality into account and adjust ranking accordingly. Gary Illyes from Google confirmed the authenticity of this quote.
For one thing, this means Google will likely never confirm another Panda update for us in the future. The last confirmed Panda update was Panda 4.2, which was expected to roll out over “several months.”
Well, now that algorithm is baked into their main algorithm.
We still have a lot of questions around what this means. Is the core ranking algorithm updating in real time? It doesn’t seem so, as we just reported this morning on a new core ranking algorithm update that ran over the weekend. That update seems to have had some Panda signals in it, based on my analysis of the reports in the SEO community.
We are also trying to find out approximately when Google incorporated Panda into their core algorithm and what that means. I estimate that it happened in late 2015, but I am trying to get something on the record from Google.
As we hear more, we will update you.
Postscript: Just to be clear, Gary Illyes from Google updated us on Twitter saying the Panda/Core update stuff here is not real time.
Source : https://searchengineland.com/google-panda-is-now-part-of-googles-core-ranking-signals-240069
The second major Google algorithm is Penguin. Penguin deals solely with link quality and nothing else. Sites that have purchased links or have acquired low-quality links through places such as low-quality directories, blog spam, or link badges and infographics could find their sites no longer ranking for search terms.
Who Should Worry about Penguin?
Most sites do not need to worry about Penguin unless they have done some sketchy link building in the past or have hired an SEO who might have engaged in those tactics. Even if the site owner was not aware of what an SEO was doing, the owner is still ultimately responsible for those links. That is why site owners should always research an SEO or SEO agency before hiring.
If you have done link building in the past while tactics were accepted, but which are now against Google’s webmaster guidelines, you could be impacted by Penguin. For example, guest blogging was fine years ago, but is not a great way to build links now unless you are choosing your sites well. Likewise, asking site visitors or members to post badges that linked to your site was also fine previously, but will now definitely result in Penguin or a link manual action.
Algorithmic Penguin and Link Manual Actions
Penguin is strictly algorithmic in nature. It cannot be lifted by Google manually, regardless of the reason why those links might be pointing to a website.
Confusing the issue slightly is that there is a separate manual action for low-quality links and that one can be lifted by Google once the links have been cleaned up. This is done with a reconsideration request in Google Search Console. And sites can be impacted by both a linking manual action and Penguin at the same time.
Source : https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-guide/panda-penguin-hummingbird/
Google Hummingbird is part of the main Google search algorithm and was the first major change to their algorithm since 2001. But what is different about Hummingbird is that this one is not specifically a spam targeting algorithm, but instead an algorithm to ensure they are serving the best results for specific queries. Hummingbird is more about being able to understand search queries better, particularly with the rise of conversational search.
It is believed that Hummingbird is positively impacting the types of sites that are providing high-quality content that reads well to the searcher and is providing answers to the question the searcher is asking, whether it is implied or not.
Hummingbird also impacts long-tailed search queries, similarly to how Rank Brain is also helping those types of queries. Google wants to ensure that they can provide high-quality results for the longer queries. For example, instead of sending a specific question related to a company to the company’s homepage, Google will try to serve an internal page on the site about that specific topic or issue instead.
Humming bird cannot be optimized for, outside of optimizing for the rise of conversational search. Longer search queries, such as what we see with voice search, and the types of queries that searchers tend to do on mobile are often highlighted with a conversational search. And optimizing for conversational search is easier than it sounds. Make sure your content is highly readable and can answer those longer tail queries as well as shorter tail ones.
Like Rank Brain, Hummingbird had been released for a period before it was announced, and SEOs did not particularly notice anything different regarding the rankings. It is not known how often Hummingbird is updated or changed by Google.
Source : https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-guide/panda-penguin-hummingbird/
Google’s local algorithm update, “Pigeon,” took flight around July 24, 2014, affecting U.S. English queries. Local businesses have been scrambling to adjust, as some deal with the fact that they’re no longer showing in the seven-pack local results at all.
Indeed, some are referring to Pigeon as the biggest Google update to the local search results since the Venice update in 2012. Google said the latest update would make local search more closely mimic traditional organic rankings.
Early reports showed consistent feedback that specific queries and sectors had been impacted, like real estate, and that directories were now being favored in the results above local businesses (possibly due to the authority of a directory site like Yelp over a local business’s site).
And while the latest local algorithm update fixes the problem for Yelp, many businesses have experienced a loss from Pigeon. New data coming from BrightEdge’s Data Cube analysis reveals more about what businesses have been impacted – both positively and negatively.
Source : https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2363063/how-google-pigeon-impacted-local-queries-and-what-you-can-do
