Panda 4.1 Rolling Out

[netmeg]

Based on user (and webmaster!) feedback, we’ve been able to discover a few more signals to help Panda identify low-quality content more precisely. This results in a greater diversity of high-quality small- and medium-sized sites ranking higher, which is nice.

Depending on the locale, around 3-5% of queries are affected.

Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+PierreFar/posts/7CWs3a3yoeY [plus.google.com]

(sorry, it's https so it won't link)

Searchengineland:

http://searchengineland.com/panda-update-rolling-204313 [searchengineland.com]

[edited by: aakk9999 at 11:40 pm (utc) on Sep 25, 2014]
[edit reason] Made link clickable [/edit]

[rish3]

This results in a greater diversity of high-quality small- and medium-sized sites ranking higher, which is nice.

I'm pleasantly surprised by this quote from Google, especially the last three words.

[Zivush]

Hey, timing fits with what G announced.
I am the one who told back in Sep 23 that I noticed something rolling out starting at Sep 19 see [webmasterworld.com...]
I wrote :

I am sure that there was a substantial update starting Sept 19 to Sept 21.
MozCast and SerpMetrics are seeing the update too.
I can tell that one of my sites went from 43K sessions per day to 55K sessions(this Monday).
Anyone else see an impact?

Then later:

Actually, I was waiting for more messages from webmasters about the last update (September 19) and how it affected their sites.

My site is getting now 58.2K sessions per day.
+1 Google - I am very happy with the results and think (subjectively:-) that the site deserves this traffic.

[MrSavage]

My deepest and darkest days as a webmaster have come with the words "Panda update rolls out". I barely bare to look at my stats. I guess after getting hammered from stone to dust, I am immune. I don't see collapses right now. I guess I wait a few days before breathing again. Funny though how my mindset has changed since Google rolled out their Panda. I really frankly give less of a S now than ever. I will be happy to report increases in traffic if there is such a thing in the cards for me from Google. Like attaining a super model wife, those are about my chances for organic love from Google. I hope to see the forum/thread showering with plus side gains on traffic after this rollout. I'm all for good news, although I making this sound dreary.

My report: no dips to report and no upticks to report.

[Shaddows]

@Zivush

I noticed something rolling out starting at Sep 19

Yeah, I agree. From the same thread you ref:

The update of the 19th is the single biggest event in our history (13 years trading)

We lost converting traffic for a product set back in Panda 4.0, but it's back for Panda 4.1. We are definitely no bigger than a "Medium" site for that particular type of product, so I'm very happy about this change.

[RedBar]

What a mess!

I have speciality niche construction products and all I am seeing are large DIY stores who only have vaguely generic products, forum boards, Pinterest and Houzz.

I have an exclusive, trademarked widget on an EMD smashed to pieces in the last couple of days.

Cracking job Google, no wonder I use Bing.

[kenroar]

Got broadsided on August 26 and am hoping for a recovery by the end of next week. If not, I am going to have to leave self-employment and begin filling out job applications again. I'm crossing my fingers...

[seodayal]

Seen light ranking changes when an algorithm updates processing.

[Mentat]

For me each big Panda is a disaster.

Between Official Pandas, I have a slow decline!

The Paradox is that my main competitor has millions of users/day on long-tail, via indexed site searches.
It even list them on the main index!

I even made an experiment with a bogus keyword.
After 3-4 days, the first result on Google was the search result page from that site! It's incredible...
I has done this for years! ex: [i.imgur.com...]

I made countless reports to google, but each update He is UP, I'm down...

***
Few weeks ago, I've implemented a new design, much more easier to use, fast loading, CDN, big attention for the first screen, few ads etc.

The result? -30%
I'm running out of traffic to be decimated by Panda!

For me this update started Saturday.

[i.imgur.com...]

[spunkle]

Got broadsided on August 26 and am hoping for a recovery by the end of next week. If not, I am going to have to leave self-employment and begin filling out job applications again. I'm crossing my fingers...

I had a site hit on aug 26, not sure what caused it yet, too early to be this panda update so likely not panda but something else.

would be interested to here from other people hit on this date.

[GreyBeard123]

I had a site hit on aug 26, not sure what caused it yet, too early to be this panda update so likely not panda but something else.

One of our bigger ecommerce sites were hit on the 20th May (Panda 4).

The site completely recovered on the 26th August...Perhaps a rollback?

[spunkle]

The site completely recovered on the 26th August...Perhaps a rollback?

possibly a data refresh of 4.0 before they ran the new 4.1 algo i guess.

[RedBar]

I've been checking many of my sites and all seem to have have been affected, some were down a minimum 50% yesterday and so far today some are at 10-15% of normal.

I'll let this thing roll-out over the weekend before taking any decisions however what this has to do with my widget-focussed sites I have no idea:

a few more signals to help Panda identify low-quality content more precisely.

Yep, you've definitely identified low-quality content and put it all on the first page, cracking job Google.

[netmeg]

Not seeing any unusual changes up or down in any of the areas I follow; not for me, not for my clients, not for my scrapers. Not a thing.

[Broadway]

I'm a Panda victim/survivor. So far no negative impact for me.

[EditorialGuy]

No big changes so far, but the little changes are looking positive.

For many of the queries that I watch, smaller sites (including ours) do seem to be doing a bit better than in the recent past.

[mrengine]

After many small businesses disappeared from Google, I know a number of businesses in my industry spent a lot of time/money improving their content. This did not appear to help them at the time, and I doubt this new panda update will either (so far no changes). It seems their websites are suffering from something other than panda, possibly penguin or something else. My fingers are crossed that something will change for them, as it will help to improve my sales if their businesses have more customers. But I've learned over time that Google's updates often deliver exactly the opposite of what they are advertised to do.

[breeks]

No change here

Big brands to the top, little brands page 2 and beyond

Seems normal :)

[Saffron]

I still see domain crowding and brand sites.

[EditorialGuy]

I still see domain crowding and brand sites.

Domain crowding can benefit mom-and-pop sites, too. (I prefer not to look a gift horse in the mouth.)

[Saffron]

It may well benefit mom and pop sites, but does it benefit the person searching to see the same site listed 3 or 4 times? I know when I search for stuff, I would prefer 10 individual results. Maybe that's just me ;)

[EditorialGuy]

I think it depends on how much domain crowding there is, and on how good the "domain-crowded" results are.

[supercyberbob]

I think the weather depends on how much variability there is, and on how good the "snow and rain" are.

[EditorialGuy]

I've noticed something else since Panda 4.0 rolled out, and the change is even more noticeable now:

Before Panda 4.0, I'd do a query on "[keyphrase] review," and the usual pattern of the top 10 results was:

- First two results: Pages for professional and user reviews on a major site about the topic.

- Next two or three: Sell pages from the brand/corporation's Web site.

- Remaining five or six: Most often, these were sell pages from e-commerce vendors, often with boilerplate text (and never with any reviews).

Most actual reviews were on page two or three of the SERPs.

Since Panda 4.0, the e-commerce pages have taken a beating in those "[keyphrase] review" queries, and reviews from information sites have moved up to the first page--sometimes to the top positions. (I've seen this happen for a number of queries, so I'm not citing an isolated example.)

[Brownstownz]

I was fortunate enough to actually benefit from the update. All of my rankings have shot way up after the update.

[freshpaul]

Yeah, today we're down big time. Penguin 2.1 site that saw another decrease on Sept 4 or 5 and we've only seen minor fluctuation since then. Running out of traffic, period.

Still trying to hold out for Penguin, but pretty soon we may just have to start from scratch if we can afford to.

[superclown2]

I've learned over time that Google's updates often deliver exactly the opposite of what they are advertised to do.

What a cynical answer. Yes, you're absolutely right.

Domain crowding can benefit mom-and-pop sites, too

Show me three of them.

[aristotle]

I don't think any of my sites have ever been affected by Panda, except possibly for slight changes caused by other sites moving up or down. At any rate, reading through this thread has left me a bit confused as to the timing and duration of the current rollout. According to the searchengineland article rteferenced by netmeg:

Google said in a post on Google+ that a “slow rollout” began earlier this week and will continue into next week, before being complete. Google said that depending on location, about 3%-to-5% of search queries will be affected.

Some posters in this thread said that they saw this rollout start on Sept 19, which would be the end of last week, not earlier this week. Also, I don't understand how a "slow rollout" works. Does it mean that the search results keep shuffling, and that the rankings of individual sites keep bouncing around?

[samwest]

I'm waiting for my Google Analytics Real Time monitor to start displaying negative numbers.

Switched from html to CMS 60 days ago, 301'd everything and Google completely dumped the site...so Panda is the least of my worries.

[Anon]

If there have been no changes in our industry yet.. is there anything that we could quickly do to improve our chances of not dropping?