Google Penalization Methods & Algorithms updates:
1. Panda Update – February 2011 (Content Spamming or
Duplication)
Panda was launched in February 24th 2011. It was aimed at
dealing with quality and optimization issues that the search
engine identified in a number of websites indexed at the time. It
assigns a quality score to webpages which is then used as a
ranking factor. The Panda Update is also known as the Farmer
Update. When this update was implemented, it had a huge
impact on a broad range of companies that operated online.
Panda was introduced to improve search quality by eliminating
prevailing content farms as well as spam sites that were
designed to take advantage of Google’s vulnerabilities.
Panda has great at cleaning up low-quality sites that occupy
valuable SERP real estate. The update did not come without it
share of problems, especially for companies with e-commerce
initiatives. Sites both big and small started disappearing from
their usual keyword ranks they had previously owned for years.
Lots of companies were impacted negatively and were
completely unable to recover traffic.
Numerous updates have been made to the Panda Update, with
most of them focusing on eliminating obstructive spam sites.
These Panda updates have focused on getting advertisers to
achieve their maximum search potential.
2. Penguin Update – April 2012 (Over Optimization)
This was launched on April 24th 2012. This update specifically
targeted link spam as well as manipulative link building
practices. Matt Cutts, head of the Google web spam team
officially announced the update via Twitter as the Penguin
Algorithm Update. It was an extension to the Panda Update
and was Google’s response to the increasing practice of black
hat search engine optimization techniques which are used to
gain higher search rankings in ways that violate search engine
guidelines. A number of updates were made to the Penguin
algorithm since its launch in 2012 including;
Google Penguin 1.1(May 26, 2012)
Google Penguin 1.2 (October 5, 2012)
Google Penguin 2.0 (May 22, 2013)
Google Penguin 2.1 (October 4, 2013)
Google Penguin3.0 (October 17, 2014)
Google Penguin 4.O (September 23, 2016)
With the last update, Penguin became a part of the core
algorithm, meaning it evaluates websites and links in real-time.
3. Hummingbird Update – August 2013 (Keyword Stuffing
& Cloaking)
After Keywords Search in Google, the goal is that pages
matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching
just a few words.
This was launched on August 22nd 2013. The name
Hummingbird came from the speed and precision of the
update. This new algorithm allows Google to better understand
phrases, providing precise results to complex search queries. It
expands brand content strategy so as to have more
informational content on their site. In addition, it gives
substitutions as a user enters the query. It also brings out
results far more complex search queries. Google’s knowledge
graph also appears more often than it did previously giving
more direct answers in search results.
4. Pigeon Update – July 2014 (More Local Search Results
on basis of website Location)
Launched on July 24, 2014 for U.S. English results, the
“Pigeon Update” is a new algorithm to provide more
useful, relevant and accurate local search results that
are tied more closely to traditional web search ranking
signals. Google stated that this new algorithm improves
their distance and location ranking parameters.
5. Mobile Update – April 2015 (Encourages Mobile
Friendly Websites)
This was launched on April 21st 2015. This update ensures
that when users use the search engine on their mobile phones,
mobile-friendly pages rank closer to the top. This is to ensure
optimum usability and speed.
6. Rank Brain Updates – October 2015 (FAQs)
These updates were launched on October 26th 2015. It
worked like a refresh to Google’s Hummingbird algorithm. It
helped Google to understand user queries better.
7. Possum Updates – September 2016 (Maps)
It was launched on September 1st 2016. It basically helped to
ensure that locations given to the users were as accurate to the
users’ current location as possible.
8. Fred Update – March 2017 (Black-hat tactics tied to
aggressive monetization, Eg. Ads dominating Content
of website)
This was launched on March 8th 2017 and is one of the latest
of Google’s major confirmed updates. It basically helps to
ensure that Google’s webmaster guidelines are adhered to by
targeting violations.
Google Fred is an algorithm update that targets black-hat
tactics tied to aggressive monetization. This includes an
overload on ads, low-value content, and little added user
benefits.
9. Core Update – June 2019 (News sites and Video
Channels)
In a rare move, Google announced they would be releasing a
new update prior to rolling it out. The update is thought to have
affected low-quality news sites while boosting trusted
aggregator sites. It may have also affected video carousels,
with many YouTube channels seeing 25% increases in traffic.
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