40. What is Google Panda update ?
Google Panda is the name given to the change in Google's search results ranking algorithm. The panda update was first released in February 2011 with an aim of lowering the rank of "low-quality sites", provide search users with higher-quality websites near the top of the search results. Popular website CNET reported a surge in the rankings of news and social networking websites, and a drop in rankings for websites containing large amounts of advertising.
Google's Panda update was followed by many updates since the original roll out. The panda update took effect globally in April 2011. To help affected publishers, Google published an advisory on its blog, thus giving some direction for self-evaluation of a website's quality.
While the update has had its benefits, it also seems to have affected good quality websites. Google Panda v3.8 was implemented on June 25, 2012.
One of the key elements of the panda update was an over-optimization penalty. Seems this was done to create a level playing field.
The panda update hit numerous websites with penalties of lower search rankings and many owners have received messages through Google webmaster tools, declaring their tactics are outside the range of google's guidelines etc.
What the panda update asks for is that SEO's and webmasters follow ethical SEO tactics and create web properties which are user friendly with high degree of relevant and unique content and a lower advertising ratio on the pages.
