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Google Penguin
Google Penguin is a codename for a Google algorithm update that was first announced on April 24, 2012. The update was aimed at decreasing search engine rankings of websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines by using now declared Grey Hat SEM techniques involved in increasing artificially the ranking of a webpage by manipulating the number of links pointing to the page. Such tactics are commonly described as link schemes. According to Google's John Mueller, as of 2013, Google announced all updates to the Penguin filter to the public.
By Google's estimates, Penguin affected approximately 3.1% of search queries in English, about 3% of queries in languages like German, Chinese, and Arabic, and an even greater percentage of them in "highly spammed" languages. On May 25, 2012, Google unveiled another Penguin update, called Penguin 1.1. This update, according to Matt Cutts, former head of webspam at Google, was supposed to affect less than one-tenth of a percent of English searches. The guiding principle for the update was to penalize websites that were using manipulative techniques to achieve high rankings. Pre-Penguin sites commonly used negative link building techniques to rank highly and get traffic. Once Penguin was rolled out, it meant that content was key, and those with great content would be recognised and those with little or spammy content would be penalised and receive no ranking benefits. The purpose according to Google was to catch excessive spammers. Allegedly, few websites lost search rankings on Google for specific keywords during the Panda and Penguin rollouts. Google specifically mentions that doorway pages, which are only built to attract search engine traffic, are against their webmaster guidelines.
In January 2012, the so-called Page Layout Algorithm Update (also known as the Top Heavy Update) was released, which targeted websites with too many ads, or too little content above the fold.
Penguin 3 was released October 5, 2012, and affected 0.3% of queries. Penguin 4 (also known as Penguin 2.0) was released on May 22, 2013, and affected 2.3% of queries. Penguin 5 (also known as Penguin 2.1) was released on October 4, 2013, affected around 1% of queries, and has been the most recent of the Google Penguin algorithm updates.
Google was reported to have released Penguin 3.0 on October 18, 2014.
On October 21, 2014, Google's Pierre Farr confirmed that Penguin 3.0 was an algorithm "refresh", with no new signals added.
On April 7, 2015, Google's John Mueller said in a Google+ hangout that both Penguin and Panda "currently are not updating the data regularly" and that updates must be pushed out manually. This confirms that the algorithm is not updated continuously which was believed to be the case earlier on in the year.
The strategic goal that Panda, Penguin, and the page layout update share is to display higher quality websites at the top of Google's search results. However, sites that were downranked as the result of these updates have different sets of characteristics. The main target of Google Penguin is to focus on The so-called "black-hat" link-building strategies, such as link buying, link farming, automated links, PBNs, and others.
Hub AI
Google Penguin AI simulator
(@Google Penguin_simulator)
Google Penguin
Google Penguin is a codename for a Google algorithm update that was first announced on April 24, 2012. The update was aimed at decreasing search engine rankings of websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines by using now declared Grey Hat SEM techniques involved in increasing artificially the ranking of a webpage by manipulating the number of links pointing to the page. Such tactics are commonly described as link schemes. According to Google's John Mueller, as of 2013, Google announced all updates to the Penguin filter to the public.
By Google's estimates, Penguin affected approximately 3.1% of search queries in English, about 3% of queries in languages like German, Chinese, and Arabic, and an even greater percentage of them in "highly spammed" languages. On May 25, 2012, Google unveiled another Penguin update, called Penguin 1.1. This update, according to Matt Cutts, former head of webspam at Google, was supposed to affect less than one-tenth of a percent of English searches. The guiding principle for the update was to penalize websites that were using manipulative techniques to achieve high rankings. Pre-Penguin sites commonly used negative link building techniques to rank highly and get traffic. Once Penguin was rolled out, it meant that content was key, and those with great content would be recognised and those with little or spammy content would be penalised and receive no ranking benefits. The purpose according to Google was to catch excessive spammers. Allegedly, few websites lost search rankings on Google for specific keywords during the Panda and Penguin rollouts. Google specifically mentions that doorway pages, which are only built to attract search engine traffic, are against their webmaster guidelines.
In January 2012, the so-called Page Layout Algorithm Update (also known as the Top Heavy Update) was released, which targeted websites with too many ads, or too little content above the fold.
Penguin 3 was released October 5, 2012, and affected 0.3% of queries. Penguin 4 (also known as Penguin 2.0) was released on May 22, 2013, and affected 2.3% of queries. Penguin 5 (also known as Penguin 2.1) was released on October 4, 2013, affected around 1% of queries, and has been the most recent of the Google Penguin algorithm updates.
Google was reported to have released Penguin 3.0 on October 18, 2014.
On October 21, 2014, Google's Pierre Farr confirmed that Penguin 3.0 was an algorithm "refresh", with no new signals added.
On April 7, 2015, Google's John Mueller said in a Google+ hangout that both Penguin and Panda "currently are not updating the data regularly" and that updates must be pushed out manually. This confirms that the algorithm is not updated continuously which was believed to be the case earlier on in the year.
The strategic goal that Panda, Penguin, and the page layout update share is to display higher quality websites at the top of Google's search results. However, sites that were downranked as the result of these updates have different sets of characteristics. The main target of Google Penguin is to focus on The so-called "black-hat" link-building strategies, such as link buying, link farming, automated links, PBNs, and others.