Google Panda is an algorithm update introduced by Google in February 2011. This significant update was designed to decrease the visibility of low-quality websites in Google’s search result rankings and increase the ranking of high-quality websites that offer user-friendly experience, unique and relevant content.
Initially, the Panda update affected almost 12% of all search results. It aimed to eliminate websites with duplicate content, plagiarized material, and poor user interaction. Low-quality websites were hit hardly by this update, leading to a considerable shift in the rankings of many of these sites.
Official Google Search Central Blog announced the Panda update as a move towards providing the most relevant and highest-quality sites in search results. This change was a response to concerns regarding the increasing presence of “content farms,” which were simply sites filled with poor quality articles of dubious value.
Panda algorithm works by assigning a “quality score” to web pages, which is then used as a ranking factor. Google came up with machine learning algorithms for this purpose. Google’s team first used human quality testers to manually rate thousands of websites based on measures of quality, including design, trustworthiness, speed, and whether or not they would return to the website. This data was then used to “teach” the Panda algorithm to rate websites similarly to human raters.
For example, if a website ‘A’ has a large amount of duplicate content and a high bounce rate compared to another website ‘B’ with unique content and better user interactions, then according to Panda’s algorithm, website ‘A’ will get a low-quality score, and its visibility in Google’s search results rankings will decline. At the same time, the ranking of website ‘B’ will improve due to its high-quality score.
Several versions of Panda have been released since it was first launched. Google at regular intervals rolled out updates to the Panda algorithm, making occasional tweaks and changes, with the latest being the incorporation of Panda algorithm into Google’s core algorithm in 2016.
Google Panda has implications for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Webmasters and SEO experts need to focus on creating high-quality, unique content and improving user interaction on their websites to rank better in Google’s search results. For websites hit by Google Panda, removing or improving low-quality content and avoiding duplicate content can help in recovery.
The information above comes from reputable sources like Google Search Central Blog, Moz, and Search Engine Land.
Sources:
1. Official Google Search Central Blog (2011, Feb 24), Google Algorithm Change Announced.
2. Moz (2015, Jan 11), Google Algorithm Change History.
3. Search Engine Land (2016, Jan 12), Google Updates Panda, Penguin Now Real-Time As Part Of The Core Algorithm.
