tedster - 8:12 pm on Jan 21, 2012 (gmt 0)

but one layout gets punished and the other doesn't? its nuts. google are punishing the design, not the content.

They are trying to address poor user experience, and it seems to me like it's been done with a very gentle touch.

When it comes to the web, layout and content have a potent interaction.

how can they not lose a few good sites along the way?

That certainly might happen - always a chance with any automated algo. But so far it doesn't seem like false positives to any noticeable degree.

I think it's really important not to borrow trouble here - we're mostly fine with just filing this information in the "no action needed" box. Except for sites that intentionally bury their content toward the bottom of the page, of course. Those folks may need to do some redesigning in the direction of helping their visitors rather than playing "hide the content".