Confirmed: Google Panda 2.5 Update Arrived This Week

Google has confirmed that the latest iteration of its Panda algorithm update is live. Based on our tracking of the algorithm changes, this is Panda Update 2.5.

Google declined to share any specifics about what types of sites, pages or content this update targeted, instead only sharing the company’s default statement:

We’re continuing to iterate on our Panda algorithm as part of our commitment to returning high-quality sites to Google users. This most recent update is one of the roughly 500 changes we make to our ranking algorithms each year.

WebProNews reported this morning that the update rolled out on Wednesday, September 28. We’ve heard from other sources that it rolled out on Tuesday. It’s the longest gap between Panda updates since April.

Previous Panda Updates

Here’s the Panda update schedule so far, as we’ve tracked and had confirmed by Google:

• Panda Update 1.0: Feb. 24, 2011
• Panda Update 2.0: April 11, 2011 (about 7 week gap)
• Panda Update 2.1: May 10, 2011 (about  4 week gap)
• Panda Update 2.2: June 16, 2011 (about 5 week gap)
• Panda Update 2.3: July 23, 2011 (about 5 week gap)
• Panda Update 2.4: August 12, 2011 (about 3 week gap)
• Panda Update 2.5: September 28, 2011 (about 7 week gap)

Note that previously, we’d reported that this current update was Panda 2.4. We missed one in our counting and now have updated the story.

For more background, see the related stories below.

Postscript: See our follow-up story, Google Panda 2.5: Losers Include Today Show, The Next Web; Winners Include YouTube, Fox News.