Google launched the Penguin Update in April 2012 to better
catch sites deemed to be spamming its search results, in particular those doing
so by buying links or obtaining them through link networks designed primarily
to boost Google rankings. When a new Penguin Update is released, sites that
have taken action to remove bad links (such as through the Google disavow links
tool or to remove spam may regain rankings. New sites not previously caught
might get trapped by Penguin. “False positives,” sites that were caught by
mistake, may escape. Our latest news about Penguin is below.
The fifth confirmed release of Google's "Penguin"
spam fighting algorithm is live. That makes it Penguin 5 by our count. But
since this Penguin update is using a slightly improved version of Google's
"Penguin 2" second-generation technology, Google itself is calling it
"Penguin 2.1."
Google has said before that search engine optimization, or
SEO, can be positive and constructive—and we're not the only ones. Effective
search engine optimization can make a site more crawlable and make individual
pages more accessible and easier to find. Search engine optimization includes
things as simple as keyword research to ensure that the right words are on the
page, not just industry jargon that normal people will never type.
“White hat” search engine optimizers often improve the
usability of a site, help create great content, or make sites faster, which is
good for both users and search engines. Good search engine optimization can
also mean good marketing: thinking about creative ways to make a site more
compelling, which can help with search engines as well as social media. The net
result of making a great site is often greater awareness of that site on the
web, which can translate into more people linking to or visiting a site.
The opposite of “white hat” SEO is something called “black
hat webspam” (we say “webspam” to distinguish it from email spam). In the
pursuit of higher rankings or traffic, a few sites use techniques that don’t
benefit users, where the intent is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that
would rank pages higher than they deserve to be ranked. We see all sorts of
webspam techniques every day, from keyword stuffing to link schemes that
attempt to propel sites higher in rankings.
The goal of many of our ranking changes is to help searchers
find sites that provide a great user experience and fulfill their information
needs. We also want the “good guys” making great sites for users, not just
algorithms, to see their effort rewarded. To that end we’ve launched Panda
changes that successfully returned higher-quality sites in search results. And
earlier this year we launched a page layout algorithm that reduces rankings for
sites that don’t make much content available “above the fold.”
