GOOGLE ROLLS OUT ANOTHER PANDA REFRESH: Google launched another update to its Panda algorithm, an enhancement that was expected to affect less than 0.7 percent of queries.

GOOGLE ROLLS OUT ANOTHER PANDA REFRESH

On September 18, Google launched another update to its Panda algorithm, an enhancement that was expected to affect less than 0.7 percent of queries. Was your site affected? One way to find out is to check your analytics around the week of September 18. If you notice a change in ranking or traffic drops, then you were most likely affected by the latest Panda refresh. 

According to Google, the Panda algorithm is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites, such as sites with plagiarized content or sites that are not very useful. At the same time, Panda has the power to give better rankings to high-quality sites, "such as sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis, and so on." 

Since its initial launch in February 2011, the Panda algorithm has seen nearly 20 updates, although the exact number is unknown because Google does not announce every update or warn site owners before every tweak. What does this mean for site owners? Continue creating sites with high-quality content.