Google’s Matt Cutts spoke at the Search Marketing Expo on Thursday, and reportedly said that the search team is working on the “next generation” of the controversial Panda update, which will be softer and more friendly to small sites and businesses.
Do you expect Google to really be more friendly to small sites? Let us know in the comments.
Barry Schwartz at SMX sister site Search Engine Land, who was in attendance at the session, has the report. Here’s an excerpt:
Cutts explained that this new Panda update should have a direct impact on helping small businesses do better.
One Googler on his team is specifically working on ways to help small web sites and businesses do better in the Google search results. This next generation update to Panda is one specific algorithmic change that should have a positive impact on the smaller businesses.
Video of the session is not up yet on the SMX YouTube channel as of the time of this writing.
Related tweets out of the conference:
#smx #takeaways the next panda will be so soft even charmin will like it
— [email protected] (@margoschloss) March 14, 2014
“Panda will be so soft, even Charmin will cry.” – @MediaTechGuy quoting @dannysullivan #smx #SEO #takeaways
— Matt Dimock (@Matt_Dimock) March 14, 2014
Among the many takeaways from Q&A at #SMX was @mattcutts pointing to an upcoming Panda update which should be "gentler" on small biz.
— Andrew Goodman (@andrew_goodman) March 13, 2014
Apparently Cutts also said that Panda updates are monthly, and Penguin updates are up to six months between roll-outs:
Panda updates are monthly, Penguin updates are up to 6 months between rollouts. -Matt Cutts
#SMX #Webfor #Penguin #Panda
— Michael Rough (@WebforMichael) March 13, 2014
@mattcutts says that @google #panda updates are rolling out slowly & regularly every month over a series of days #smx pic.twitter.com/fgz3z3PqQX
— Jeff Brewer (@Jeff_Brew) March 13, 2014
And you should be able to recover in two to three months:
Panda changes ~1x/mo, unannounced, if 2-3 months after link cleanup you're not back, you didn’t fix probs or weren’t hit by panda #smx
— jessicabowman (@jessicabowman) March 13, 2014
MT @GregGifford: if you get hit by Panda, you must wait until next rollout to get out. those come about once a month @mattcutts #SMX #seo
— Evy Schwartz (@evyschwartz) March 13, 2014
And here’s the apparent reason they don’t announce them anymore:
Google: we don't tell you about Panda because it stresses you out and you can't appeal it with reconsideration, spammers could game. #smx
— Keri Morgret (@KeriMorgret) March 13, 2014
It’s unclear when this “next generation” Panda will start taking effect. Schwartz thinks it will be at least two or three months, but he admits that is only speculation. Chances are we won’t know about it, since Google isn’t announcing them anymore and they happen so frequently.
Too bad the “world got bored” with those monthly lists of algorithm changes Google used to put out. Otherwise, maybe we would get a clue.
Last month, the Panda update turned three years old. Nice to know it’s getting softer in its old age. Still, it’s not stopping businesses from building Google-proof models. Even Demand Media, which recently suffered again from Google’s algorithm, has found a new way to monetize its army of writers.
Do you think the Panda update can help your site going forward? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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