Oh! Now comes Google’s other giant update for the year 2012- Google Penguin Update. The update affected several websites. This particular update was intended to punch webspam. At present, the Penguin update is considered as a part of the core algorithm of the Google search engine. Penguin algorithm encounters updates persistently and is not manual any more.
Series of Penguin update:
-
The first Penguin update was termed as Penguin 1.0. Around two data refresh occurred in the same year.
-
The next Penguin update happened in Penguin 2.0 in 2013.
-
In 2014, Google rolled out the Penguin 3.0 update. Till then all updates were manually executed.
-
While in 2016, Penguin 4.0 update was declared as a part of the Google core algorithm.
Certain consequences followed the algorithm adjustment for webmasters.
Websites that fail to abide by webmaster guidelines of Google are impacted by the Penguin update. Previously, the Penguin update belittled the entire domain if webspam was discovered. Today, the update filter operates on a URL basis, in case the filter encounters webspam, this may eventually cause a ranking loss for particular sub-pages.
Webspam forms that Penguin update fight:
Google believes that webspam is present in several forms. For say:
-
Unnatural links: These sorts of backlinks, for instance, can be produced through link purchases or rent links from link farms.
-
Artificial linking: If only keyword links are set on a website, it’s most probably considered as a webspam.
-
Instant link development: If a website succeeds in attaining multiple incoming links instantly, Google terms it as webspam.
-
Stuffing keywords: Stuffing a webpage with keywords or repeating keywords to influence rank through the advent of relevance to particular search phrases.
How can webmasters and SEOs recover:
If webmasters or SEOs discover that their website has been affected by Penguin, then they must work on scrutinizing the link structure. Links attained from web catalogs or incoming links from link farms may result in devaluation.
Webmasters can write to the linking websites and request for the elimination of the backlinks. Besides, Google also provided the Disavow Tool. This tool straight-away promulgate backlinks as invalid.
Advice: The web has shown remarkable development over a period of time. But Google suggests webmasters focus more on creating staggering, engrossing websites. Remember, the Penguin update is just one of 200 signals that are being used to stimulate rank.
