Yes, fine, same schedule, yada yada. But its not the trademarked ghost dataset that went missing, and it wasn't a rebuild like the halloween update. Also, this has lasted quite a bit longer than the 5 days of halloween.
You'll notice most of the calmer heads have been saying "sit it out" all along, or at least haven't been panicing. That Google was in the middle of something was obvious- they certainly weren't going to stay with these results forever.
None of which is especially interesting.
Identifying (a) WHAT HAS BEEN REMOVED/ADDED, (b) WHAT HAS BEEN SUBSEQUENTLY AFFECTED, and (c) HOW WILL THIS IMPACT THE NEW SERPS are the key questions.
"The results are crap but they are about to normalise" is commentary, not analysis.
To my eyes, very little is directly comparable to November, starting with the fact that this has not affected sites, it has affected search terms.
I realise it will be easier to see what has happened after SERPs settle down. However, I find making predictions results in more insightful conclusions- even when the predictions are wrong. Explanations after the event become more like narratives- as long as the story sounds plausible, you can believe it. Predicions require critical thought, not skilled rhetoric.
ADDED-
whitenight, my observations suggest the slow-fold means total resolution will take longer than you anticipated (not to undermine the fact you correctly called the end-game). I mention it because alot of people may panic if their rankings do not return as per your Tuesday schedule, which is now being taken as read. I'm thinking Wednesday or even Thursday before it completes. Agree?
