Google did an update and introduced a new algorithm called the Penguin Algorithm. Penguin algorithm was used to identify spam links. In fact, this algorithm detects abnormal link building and makes SEO of such sites difficult.
In 2012, Google officially launched the WebSpam Algorithm Update, which specifically targets spam links and methods such as manipulated link building.
The web spam algorithm (officially) was introduced via a tweet from Matt Cutts, then head of Google’s web spam team, and the Penguin algorithm was updated. While Google has officially named the algorithm Penguin, there is no official reason as to where the name comes from.
Before the Penguin algorithm, the volume of links and links played a major role in determining the ranking of a web page when crawled, indexed, and analyzed by Google. This means that when it came to ranking websites with these scores for search results pages, some websites with low quality content appeared in more prominent positions than organic search results.
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What is a Penguin Algorithm?
Google’s fight with low quality started with the Panda algorithm, and Penguin was an add-on to fight this war. Penguin was Google’s response to the increasing trend of manipulating search results (and rankings) through black hat link building techniques. Speaking at the SMX Advanced 2012 conference, Cutts said:
These types of algorithms are designed to deal with poor quality content. It started with the Panda algorithm and then we realized that there is still a lot of spam, so the Penguin algorithm is designed to deal with it.
By better understanding and processing the types of links that websites get, Penguin strives to ensure that natural and credible links are accurate and rewarding; While manipulated links and spam drop in rank and are brought down. Penguin only deals with inbound links to a site. Google also only shows links that point to the site in question and does not check outbound links from that site at all.
Setting up a penguin algorithm
When Penguin was first launched in April 2012, Google estimated that it affected more than 3% of search results.
Original Google Penguin updates
Since the Penguin algorithm was launched in 2012, there have been several new updates, and there may be other modifications that have been recorded as unknown algorithm updates.
Penguin Algorithm Update in March 2012 (Version 1.1)
This update was not actually about the Penguin algorithm itself, but more about the data in the algorithm. With the advent of the Penguin algorithm, many websites quickly began deleting their spam links and were able to maintain their position and ranking. However, there were many websites that did not take any special action to eliminate spam in their links in the first stage of publishing this algorithm, and thus were caught.
Penguin Algorithm Update October 2012 (Version 1.2)
With this update, all sites in any language were affected by the Penguin algorithm. Previously, only English language websites were considered by the algorithm.
Penguin Algorithm Update May 2013 (Version 2.0)
This update affected 2/3 of the websites in addition to the previous updates. According to this update, the Penguin algorithm put all pages in the scope of its reviews and was not satisfied only with the websites of the main and important pages.
Penguin Algorithm Update October 2013 (Version 2.1)
In this version of the algorithm, another 1% of websites were examined by this algorithm.
Penguin Algorithm Update October 17, 2014 (Version 3.0)
This update, which is also considered an extensive update, was done in the field of information. According to this update, many of the websites that had improved their performance were forgiven by Google, and on the other hand, many websites were targeted by the Penguin algorithm.
Last Updated Penguin Algorithm September 2016 (version 4.0)
With the latest update of the Penguin algorithm, other sites were not penalized and only this algorithm will disable their spam links.
Penguin algorithm fight with repetitive keywords
Soon after the introduction of the Penguin algorithm, webmasters saw the rankings they made from the techniques of making manipulative links and spam or poor quality link building, reduced their traffic and rankings.
The Penguin algorithm also came in with its next keyword updates, identifying keywords that were too repetitive and opaque in the content text, which dropped the ranking of sites where the words The key was spam.
Can we regain our ranking after losing our ranking in Google?
The answer to this question depends on several factors:
- If you still get a negative rating from Google, it means that your whole link building method is wrong and you are still linking abnormally.
- Another reason could be that not enough spam links have been deleted yet and your site still gets a negative rating from Google.
- By deleting abnormal links on your site, you have not taken any action to create natural links.
- And finally, if you are still experiencing a drop in your site’s ranking from Google, you should look for the reasons for this drop in other cases.
Given the above, one should not expect to return to the previous rank soon or to get an even better rank, you should spend a little in this area to be able to get a good position again.
Note the following about the Penguin algorithm
If you have a severe downgrade from Google, you should not expect Google to let you know why. Even a search console does not give you this information (the reason for your downgrade by the Penguin algorithm).
Some SEOs and webmasters believe that the Penguin algorithm is a penalty for sites, while this belief is wrong, the Penguin algorithm is the same as other Google algorithms.
Disavow is a method by which malicious links can be neutralized.
But in order to get a good position again, even using this method, you have to wait.