What is Google Panda
Google launched Panda in February 2011, mainly as a change in its search results ranking algorithm. The main purpose of the update was just to keep those low quality and low content sites away from the top ranking results and give the actual quality sites their due.
As an obvious result, many websites with huge amount of advertising, or those with low quality content, saw a huge decline in the rankings. Ever since Panda was launched, there have been many updates to it ranging to over 22 in total.
What is Google Penguin
Google Penguin refers to a set of algorithm updates and data refreshes for the Google search engine that the company periodically initiates to help enhance the value of its search query results for users.
The Google Penguin updates primarily seek to prevent various types of search engine spam (also known as spamdexing or Black Hat SEO) from being successfully rewarded in the form of higher-placed search engine results. Search engine spam can include activities such as keyword stuffing, link spamming, the use of invisible text on web pages, duplication of copyrighted content from high-ranking web sites and more.
How Often Are Google Penguin Updates Rolled Out?
Google rolled out the first Penguin update in April 2012, and the search company estimated it affected 3% of all English-language web sites. Google doesn’t always announce changes for Penguin, but there have been at least five Google Penguin updates, including a major update, Penguin 2.0, in May 2013 and the most recent, Penguin 2.1, later that year in October.
Major updates between this period include the following:
• Panda Update 1: Feb. 24, 2011 (11.8% of queries; announced; English in US only)
• Panda Update 2: April 11, 2011 (2% of queries; announced; rolled out in English internationally)
• Panda Update 3: May 10, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 4: June 16, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 5: July 23, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 6: Aug. 12, 2011 (6-9% of queries in many non-English languages; announced)
• Panda Update 7: Sept. 28, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 8: Oct. 19, 2011 (about 2% of queries; belatedly confirmed)
• Panda Update 9: Nov. 18, 2011: (less than 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 10:, Jan. 18, 2012 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 11: Feb. 27, 2012 (no change given; announced)
• Panda Update 12: March 23, 2012 (about 1.6% of queries impacted; announced)
• Panda Update 13: April 19, 2012 (no change given; belatedly revealed)
• Panda Update 14: April 27, 2012: (no change given; confirmed; first update within days of another)
• Panda Update 15: June 9, 2012: (1% of queries; belatedly announced)
• Panda Update 16: June 25, 2012: (about 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 17: July 24, 2012:(about 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 18: Aug. 20, 2012: (about 1% of queries; belatedly announced)
• Panda Update 19: Sept. 18, 2012: (less than 0.7% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 20: Sep. 27, 2012 (2.4% English queries, impacted, belatedly announced
• Panda Update 21: Nov. 5, 2012 (1.1% of English-language queries in US; 0.4% worldwide; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 22: Nov. 21, 2012 (0.8% of English queries were affected; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 23: Dec. 21, 2012 (1.3% of English queries were affected; confirmed, announced)
• Panda Update 24: Jan. 22, 2013 (1.2% of English queries were affected; confirmed, announced)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Panda
Difference between Google Panda and Google Penguin
For those who deal with SEO and blogging, Google panda and Google penguin should not be something new to them. Ever since these updates were introduced, there has been strong buzz on how to develop the perfect search engine optimization plan, so that websites have their dues in rankings. Moving forward, here is a close take Panda and penguin, the two most discussed Google updates, and the difference between the two.
