Topic: Google Panda

Google: Panda 4.1 Still Rolling Out

Over the weekend, there was a tremendous amount of chatter within the SEO community, including discussion forums, social media and other channels. There were rumors that Google was pushing out a new algorithm, maybe the eagerly anticipated Penguin refresh which is expected really soon or maybe something else? Google told us just now that the […]

SearchCap: Google AdWords Automatic Item Updates, Google Smartphone Icons & More

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Introduces Automatic Item Updates For PLAs Up to now, Google has systematically disapproved product listing ads when retailers had price or inventory variances between their product feed and the microdata […]

Are Games & Lyrics Sites Google Panda 4.1’s Biggest Losers?

Google began rolling out Panda 4.1 last week, a process that continues into this week, but we already have the winners and losers report from SearchMetrics. The biggest winners for Panda 4.1 based on this early report are sites in the news, content and download portal realm. While the biggest losers are sites in the […]

Panda 4.1 — Google’s 28th Panda Update — Is Rolling Out

Google has announced that the latest version of its Panda Update — a filter designed to penalize “thin” or poor content from ranking well — has been released. Google said in a post on Google+ that a “slow rollout” began earlier this week and will continue into next week, before being complete. Google said that […]

SearchCap: Google EU Antitrust, Google Algorithms & Third-Party PLAs

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Brings PLAs To Third-Party Sites Like Walmart.com Today, Google announced it is extending its popular product listing ads (PLAs) to retail and e-commerce sites across the Google Search Network. The […]

The Confusion Over Google’s Algorithm Updates & Refreshes

I personally spend a lot of time within the SEO space investigating claims of Google algorithm updates; it is a fascinating topic because there are so many variables involved and a lot of secrecy on Google’s end around its search algorithms. Often, Google will not confirm updates or algorithm refreshes. Plus, with manual actions and link […]

Explainer: How Google’s New SSL / HTTPS Ranking Factor Works

Last Thursday, Google launched a new ranking signal to give HTTPS sites a ranking boost, a small ranking boost, to encourage webmasters to migrate their sites from HTTP to HTTPS. In our story from Thursday, we covered why Google is doing this and the concerns some SEOs had with the migration, as well as the […]

Panda Strikes Again: Yahoo Voices & The Yahoo Contributor Network Closing Down

Yahoo has announced another round of product cuts and changes, all part of what it calls a continued effort on “furthering our focus.” The most notable cut announced today is the upcoming closure of both Yahoo Voices (voices.yahoo.com) and the Yahoo Contributor Network (contributor.yahoo.com). The former is Yahoo’s home for user-generated articles; the latter is […]

SearchCap: Google Begins Right To Be Forgotten Removals, Google Analytics Branded Segregation & PR Newswire Fights Back

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Analytics Now Separates Brand And Non-Brand PPC Traffic Brand and non-brand paid search terms typically perform very differently and most paid search teams analyze these sets of keywords separately. To […]

SearchCap: Google Losing Mobile Ad Share, Google Sends Mobile URL Redirects Warnings & More

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Search Marketing Expo (SMX) Advanced Begins Next Week – Join us! SMX Advanced takes place next week, June 10-12 in Seattle. Learn actionable new tactics, find inspiration, discover solutions to your […]

Did Google Panda 4.0 Go After Press Release Sites?

Nine days ago when Google released Panda 4.0 — which aims to filter out “thin” content from top rankings — we focused our attention on the big Winners & Losers charts, Since then, some have noted that press releases may have also been hit big time. Using SearchMetrics, I looked at the top Press Release sites and […]

SearchCap: Suing SEOs, Googlebot Render Page & Top AdWords Impressions

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Adapting to Change, Harnessing New Trends, Eyeing the Future ­ Search Engine Land Summit You deliver results daily, but staying successful means identifying opportunities, implementing new technologies and processes, developing great […]

Google Hits eBay With Manual Penalty In Search Results

What really happened to eBay dropping in Google’s search results this week? A source familiar with the situation tells Search Engine Land that Google hit eBay with a manual penalty this week. A manual penalty is when a human being at Google reviews a site and decides that it deserves some type of slap. Previously, […]

RetailMeNot Says On Google Ranking Drop: The Reports “Greatly Overstate” Our Organic Search Impact

On Tuesday, Google pushed out their revised Panda Algorithm code-named Panda 4.0. Panda is designed to remove low-quality content from Google’s search results. Yesterday, we published an early Winners & Losers report on which large sites were impacted the most both in a positive and negative way. RetailMeNot was one of the larger sites on […]

On MetaFilter Being Penalized By Google: An Explainer

MetaFilter is a news and discussion site dating back to the early years of the web. Founded in 1999, it’s attracting attention this week after coming forward about how a Google penalty has severely harmed its business, to the degree of having to let staff go. It serves as a poster child of problems with […]

Google Begins Rolling Out Panda 4.0 Now

Google’s Matt Cutts announced on Twitter that they have released version 4.0 of the Google Panda algorithm. Google’s Panda algorithm is designed to prevent sites with poor quality content from working their way into Google’s top search results. But didn’t Google stop updating us on Panda refreshes and updates since they are monthly rolling updates? […]

Google Granted Patent For Panda Algorithm

Google’s Panda update has been one of the most talked about algorithmic updates by SEOs and webmasters since it launched in February 2011. Today is the day the patent document describing Panda was granted. It was written by Navneet Panda, which is why it was named Panda, and Vladimir Ofitserov of Google. The patent application […]