Earlier today Google announced that they had rolled out the next generation of their algorithm in a release called Penguin 2.0. Matt Cutts, Google’s ‘Distinguished Engineer’, was interviewed yesterday during the ‘This Week in Google’ netcast and announced that Google would be releasing Penguin 2.0 today. Matt stated that the release would have a ‘pretty big impact on web spam’ and that while the previous Penguin release only looked at a website homepage this update would dive deeper into website’s interior pages and other areas.
So what does it all mean? I’ve listed some FAQ and answers below to try to help you make sense of it all…
What is the purpose of the Google Penguin 2.0 release?
The intended purpose for this release is to further catch and penalize web spammers and website that are using spamming techniques. Since Google’s objective to rank websites and pages based upon their content and relevance to a search term, Google is looking to penalize or demote websites that are using techniques that don’t benefit users and are only in place to gain higher search engine results page (SERP) rankings. This type of webspam is frequently referred to as ‘Black Hat’ SEO and violates Google’s quality guidelines.
Did the Penguin 2.0 update actually change the Google algorithm?
Yes the Google Penguin 2.0 release is actually a full ‘algorithm update’ as compared to just a ‘data refresh’. The difference between the two is that an algorithm update occurs less frequently and typically has a greater impact on search results that yields noticeable changes.
How will Penguin 2.0 affected my website?
According to Google, about 2.3% of English-US searches will be affected to a degree that a normal user will notice. If you are using webspam techniques, there is a high degree of probability that your website will be demoted due to this update. Currently we have not seen any negative affects to our client’s websites which is the expected result since we do not ever intentionally employ techniques that could be consider webspam or black hat SEO. However in a few cases we have seen improved results for our clients probably do to the web spammers being penalized!
What do I need to do to my website now that the Penguin 2.0 update is live?
If you are running a quality website that does not use webspam or black hat SEO techniques, you should not need to do anything to your website. If you are noticing any negative effects of the Google Penguin 2.0 release please let us know and we would be happy to review your website.
Google did not catch a website that is still using webspam and ranking higher than me even after the Penguin release. What can I do?
Google has created a special spam report that allows users to submit websites that you believe are still employing webspam and were not detected by Penguin 2.0. You can report these websites at http://bit.ly/penguinspamreport.
If you have any comments or questions please feel free to leave them below or contact us directly at info@ennovationmarketing.com. Also if you have been affected by the Penguin 2.0 update either positively or negatively we would love to hear from you.
Thanks so much for this!! It was very informative and will be helpful in my business!
Thanks Jill!!! Glad you found it helpful.
Can I simply say how refreshing to find someone who actually is aware of what they’re talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to write about a difficult topic and make it clear. More folks need to read this and understand the details of the post. I cant believe you’re not more widespread since you definitely have the gift.