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A little over three weeks ago, Google's Gary Illyes said on stage at SMX Advanced that the Panda data refresh is coming soon. He said, somewhere around 2, 3, or 4 weeks.


So as the fourth week approaches, SEOs and Webmasters are getting anxious - which is why Gary didn't want to mention how soon. Google needs to approve and push the change and that might take a week or it might be postponed for weeks on end.

Gary replied to questions about it on Twitter today saying, "And that's kids, why I should stop giving timeframes." He added, "yes, it's coming soon as far as I know."

This is in regards to Panda.
I currently do not see any signs of Panda rolling out today, but that might change later on today or next week. But at this moment, I see no Panda update signs. But do not worry, it is coming soon.

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On June 17th, we reported about a Google update, Google later confirmed the update as being part of their core algorithm and not related to Panda or Penguin or even HTTPS.


Marcus Tober provided some really interesting insight into this update basically showing how sites with news or fresh content seemed to see the biggest lift from this update. He showed how the Wall Street Journal saw a 19% lift in search visibility in Google, USA Today saw an 11% climb, Business Insider saw a 20% climb. Heck, this site saw a 134% increase according to SearchMetrics.



I am no where near pre Panda 4.1 days but it was a nice uptick. Referrals from Google jumped 25% overall as well.

The interesting part, which may just be coincidence, is that the Google Trends relaunch. Google Trends is now run in almost real-time, which may have given Google better data for their core search feature?

Again, pure speculation on Marcus' part, but could be true.

Take a look at his post over here.

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Yesterday we reported about weekend chatter that was so low that I called it the Google cricket update. But starting yesterday afternoon, that chatter in the SEO community spiked significantly.

Meaning, I am seeing signs of a possible Google update based on the vast number of webmasters and SEOs saying the rankings have changed. But I honestly don't think it is Panda. My Panda expert sources (I have a few) are telling me they see no movement, plus the forum chatter doesn't really show Panda yet.

The folks at WebmasterWorld in two different threads and the folks at Black Hat Forums in two different threads are discussing a possible update. Some are saying Panda, but others are saying not so. Some are seeing ranking changes, some are seeing huge shifts in crawl rates.
Here are some quotes:

We are observing some ranking movement across a wide range of our client base. Some more violent than others. I am, as of yet, not found a common denominator for the most unsettles sites. I think it may be a tad too early to point fingers at any Pandas just yet but with the recent chatter its a strong possibility.

I'm seeing shifting that smells like a panda.

I have been noticing the same. Maybe it is the panda update we heard about a while back?

I know we are expecting a Panda update soon but if this was it, I'd expect it to be way larger. So maybe Google is testing something or not? I am not sure.

The Google tracking tools like Mozcast, SERP Metrics, Algoroo and a new one named SERP Watch show changes - mostly yesterday. SERPs.com hasn't updated for yesterday yet, although neither has Mozcast.

One thinks it might be mobile related only but I am not sure.

Normally Panda updates don't happen until Fridays based on my experience.

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The local SEOs are buzzing big time right now. It seems like over the past few days, Google has done a major algorithmic change that has shifted how the local results rank in both Google Maps and the local packs in web search.

It is believed that the Google Maps Googlebomb fix led to this and I actually said then "expect the traffic change some for many local businesses in the near future."

It seems to be related, although Mozcast features shows the shift on the 15th. I cannot find any serious discussion around changes in local results as early as the 15th, only shortly after the Google apology after the 22nd.

The Local Search Forums has tons of local SEO experts documenting the change. You have Mike Blumenthal calling the location results screwy and the forums are simply lighting up around this.



I find it hard to believe it is not around the change Google made for the Google Maps bomb.

It seems like something went wrong with location detection and ranking of local results. It is almost believed to be a bug with Google's location detection systems. But it is awkwardly around the same time of the Googlebomb fix.

I'll try to find out more from the source, Google.

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Danny Sullivan posted that Google's Matt Cutts, the face behind Google's search team, the head of web spam, has officially been replaced at Google with an unnamed Googler. The new head of web spam is not revealing himself.

Matt Cutts has not officially left Google, he is still on leave and with the company. But he has been replaced, in terms of his title and day to day activities. That should come as no surprise, as Matt went on leave almost a year ago and decided to extend the leave longer. We have not heard about the status of his leave since.The majority of the readers here feel Matt won't return to Google.

Who has taken Matt's role? Several Googlers. But his official position, as the head of web spam, that person is not ready to make an appearance or be known to the SEO world. Instead, Google has people like John Mueller, Gary Illyes and many other Googlers who will be the face and bridge between Google and the webmaster community.

When someone asked Matt about this, he said on Twitter "I'm still around. :)"



I suspect within a month or two, we will hear the official word from Google on Matt's future with the company.

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In the responsive design hangout, Google's John Mueller was sharing his browser and one of his most recent tabs in the Chrome browser has the title tag "Penalty Server."

You can see a screen shot of it below, where it shows a Google search box but the title of the page is "Penalty Server." It can be seen at the 12:36 mark of the Google+ Hangout. Here is a screen capture:



I assume this is where Googlers like John and others can go to quickly see if a site was hit by a manual action and/or Google algorithmic penalty such as Panda or Penguin. Which leads up back to the automated action viewer which is not coming any time soon.

Wouldn't you love 5 minutes with this Google Penalty Server bookmark. :)

This was first spotted in my comments by Han.

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I know, we just covered huge chatter around a Google update last Friday but there is no doubt in my mind, Google is testing algorithms maybe around Panda or Penguin or the doorway algorithm is being released or maybe a whole new beast.



This morning the WebmasterWorld thread started heating up again. Plus I received emails, social media mentions and more around major changes in the Google search results. Here are some quotes from the thread:

Definitely movement here and not for the good. Another 3-4 spots lost on all main keywords.

Today I see penguin related movement.

Today I see movement (further shuffling similar to yesterday). Why do you think it is Penguin-related?

Lots of SERP movements in Google Australia, seeing a lot of new sites showing up on page 1 for root keyword searches but not city based (ie: keyword sydney), not much changes there. Most of the fluctuations are from money keywords or root keywords search results. That's my observation so far.

One of the tracking tools said on Google+ that they saw the largest shift in a long time:

We've recorded a sudden jump in SERP flux today. Volatility was above 2 roos which is the most turbulent day since the mystery update on the 5th of February.

The only tools that were updated this morning so far were SERP Metrics, Algoroo and Advanced Web Ranking and they all show more activity in changes in the Google search results compared to the norm. Mozcast and SERPs.com should update soon. Update, Mozcast is also showing major volatility in the search results at Google.

Either way, I think Google has been heavily testing something but I am not sure if today is the day it is released or not.

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Google announced they are releasing a new “ranking adjustment” to their doorway page classifier to better handle doorway pages in the search results.


In short, Google does not want to rank doorway pages in their search results. The purpose behind many of these doorway pages is to maximize their search footprint by creating pages both externally on the web or internally on their existing web site, with the goal of ranking multiple pages in the search results, all leading to the same destination.

Google’s Brian White said:

Over time, we’ve seen sites try to maximize their “search footprint” without adding clear, unique value. These doorway campaigns manifest themselves as pages on a site, as a number of domains, or a combination thereof. To improve the quality of search results for our users, we’ll soon launch a ranking adjustment to better address these types of pages. Sites with large and well-established doorway campaigns might see a broad impact from this change.
Google will be launching over this new ranking adjustment shortly and those who have created doorway pages may see them really soon.

How do you know if your web pages are classified as a “doorway page?” Google said asked yourself these questions:

Is the purpose to optimize for search engines and funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site, or are they an integral part of your site’s user experience?

Are the pages intended to rank on generic terms yet the content presented on the page is very specific?
Do the pages duplicate useful aggregations of items (locations, products, etc.) that already exist on the site for the purpose of capturing more search traffic?

Are these pages made solely for drawing affiliate traffic and sending users along without creating unique value in content or functionality?

Do these pages exist as an “island?” Are they difficult or impossible to navigate to from other parts of your site? Are links to such pages from other pages within the site or network of sites created just for search engines?

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Last time there was a big Penguin update by Google, i.e. Penguin 3.0, Google did not announce that it happened but they confirmed it after we asked about it.

Google's John Mueller implied they would do the same thing next time a Penguin algorithm is updated or refreshed.

He said in a Google+ hangout at 1:17 in to the video when someone asked about Google announcing the next Penguin update. John said:

I don’t think we'd pre-announce it but if this is something bigger that happens that people have been waiting for we will try to confirm it.

According to my records, there has not been a Penguin update since early December and it is unclear when the next one will happen. So we know Penguin is not running monthly or regularly yet but it is a goal they set out with. Although, at one point Panda was and maybe it stopped?

But when it does, I am sure we will report it quickly and get Google to confirm it.

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Last night at SMX West during the Meet The Search Engines panel, Google's Gary Illyes was supposedly quoted as saying that Panda, the Google algorithm, is constantly running, instantly.


Rae posted on Twitter, "@methode (who is Gary Illyes of Google) says panda happens "pretty much instantly":
Eric Wu, who was there, added that he said only after the pages are processed:

But what does processed mean? After they are crawled by Google?

We do know that Panda is a rolling update now but it has been over four months since a Panda update, at least based on my records. By update I mean, Panda sites seeing any ranking benefit or decline in over four months.

So it is possible that Panda is no longer a rolling update, no longer running instantly or so. Truth is, I am confused by the quote, I was not there, I am not sure if this is what Gary meant exactly or if it was misinterpreted. I am trying to get more details for a bigger story, probably at Search Engine Land.

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