The Google Penguin Update is a crucial algorithm update of the search engine Google, which is instrumental in combating web spam and improving search results.quality contributes. It was first rolled out on April 24, 2012 to penalize websites that violate Google's Webmaster guidelines are violated. The focus here is on manipulative Link building-practices, which artificially increase the Ranking in the search results.
The aim of the Penguin update was and is to ensure the integrity of search results and to present users with relevant, high-quality content. Prior to the introduction of the update, webmasters were able to use so-called black hatSEO-methods such as the purchase of Links, participation in link networks or the excessive use of Keywords in anchor texts, so-called Keyword stuffing, unlawfully high Rankings achieve.
Functionality and development
The Penguin algorithm analyzes in detail the Backlink profile of a website. It identifies unnatural or inferior Links, aimed at improving the Ranking to manipulate. These include links from irrelevant or dubious sources, purchased links, links from link farms and an unnaturally high proportion of exact moneyKeywords in the anchor texts.
In its early versions, the Penguin update often led to the entire website being penalized if violations were detected. Domain, which could lead to a considerable loss of visibility and traffic. Webmasters had to wait a long time for manual updates in order to see a possible recovery of their link profile after cleaning it up. Rankings to experience.
The real-time algorithm and its importance today
A decisive further development was the Google Penguin Update on September 23, 2016 with the integration into Google's Core algorithm. Since then, Penguin has been running in real time. This means that the analysis of Backlinks and the evaluation of websites is continuous. Positive or negative changes in the link profile can therefore have a much faster impact on the Rankings typically shortly after Google one page new crawled and indexed has.
In addition, the Penguin algorithm has been working more granularly since version 4.0. It no longer necessarily penalizes the entire website, but instead devalues spam by Ranking-adjustment on the basis of the spam signals and thus potentially only individual URLs or subdirectories. Instead of a flat-rate gradation Google unnatural Links, by placing them in the Ranking-algorithm is ignored. For webmasters, this means that the continuous monitoring and maintenance of a natural and high-quality Backlink profile are essential. In the event of a penalty, a faster recovery is possible if immediate measures are taken to clean up the link profile, for example by removing bad links. Links or the use of the Disavow Tools, are taken.
