Google Panda 4.0
- May 24, 2014
- Bradley Taylor
The latest Google analytic update is a dual update and they are named Panda 4.0 and Payday Loans 2.0. They are both aimed at reducing the amount of spammy content on their search results. Google tends to keep the minute details of their updates secret so SEO watchers are tasked with dissecting the updates after they are rolled out.
All we get from Google is that the updates are aimed at reducing spammy sites from their top pages on search results. The Payday Loans update is a little more specific in that it is designed to target the very spammy queries like payday loan ads and insurance ads.
It is estimated that the roll-outs affect less than 1% of English language websites but it does appear that the updates are affecting other countries more-so. Search results in Turkey, for instance, have changed by as much as 4%.
Ebay claims to have been affected by the updates. Their search position has decreased by as much as 80% in some areas. Experts relegate this to the fact that many of their sellers use copy and paste text and have repetitive ads for a multitude of a similar product. In other words Ebay lacks original content for the amount of pages they have.
What can you do to protect against any changes? Our advice is always to just practice “white hat” SEO. Use sound and logical tactics when optimizing your site. If you do this then the Panda updates should help you, in theory anyways.
Apparently this is the last update that Google will officially announce. So stay tuned to the saga that is Matt Cutts’ very own soap opera.
