Google Just Released Panda Update

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  1. Writer Fox profile image31
    Writer Foxposted 9 years ago

    Google just released what it is calling "Panda4.0", a new addition to its formula for ranking content on webpages.  If you have noticed a significant change (up or down) in traffic to your Hubs today, this may be why.  Check your rankings on search engine results for your targeted keywords and see if your rankings have changed.

    The announcement was made on Twitter.  Here's a short explanation:
    http://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-4-18583.html

    If you don't know what Panda is, see my Hub (#2 on the photo slider on my Profile).

    1. Good Guy profile image83
      Good Guyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      No wonder.  Happy days are here again.  The last 2 months my traffic plunged to 50%.  Since last 2 days, traffic surged back.  Now I am on track again.

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I'm glad this worked in your favor.  This is the long-promised "kinder and gentler" Panda which is supposed to give some relief to smaller websites and small businesses.

        Simultaneously, another algorithm update was made which targets spam search queries like "payday loans."  So, some people may need to reconsider the keywords they are targeting.

        1. Uzochukwu Mike profile image77
          Uzochukwu Mikeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          How can i check my domain ranking in Google...

    2. moonlake profile image82
      moonlakeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, brother!!!

    3. Act 3 profile image77
      Act 3posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Mine also plunged 50%. It had been a good couple of months. Thanks for letting us know Writer Fox.

    4. angryelf profile image90
      angryelfposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Welp, looks like I found one of my main issues. I was heavily linked to by Ask.com; I had no idea that, in all, I had over 1,000 links. I also didn't like that a spammy site was contributing to them too (perhaps to rank higher by way of sabotage?). I never did much backlinking to them because I wanted to save that for much later. But I'm fairly sure that these are the main reasons I lost traffic. Guess I better try to attempt to clean that nasty mess up for the better of my hubs hmm

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Links were not targeted in the Panda update, but an update to the Penguin algorithm is expected sometime soon since there hasn't been one in a year. If you actually got a lot of traffic from links on ask.com, that site lost 50% visibility for keywords according to the searchmetrics.com data and there is nothing you can do to regain traffic from that particular source.

        1. LuisEGonzalez profile image77
          LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Glad to hear this. I just did a search and found that I have over 17,964 links to my sub-domain(s). At this point I do not know if this is a good or bad thing.

          1. Uzochukwu Mike profile image77
            Uzochukwu Mikeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            @ LuisEGonzalez, how did you know that you have such number of links to your subdomain? Teach me please

        2. angryelf profile image90
          angryelfposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          It's not that I received traffic through there; just that I had many links pointing to me from there. I mean, I'm not sure what I'd have gotten knocked down for unless it was due to links that are pointing at me (most of which I did not do), or the amazon capsules that I had. I guess I'll have to keep looking around.

    5. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image85
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You know, I must have a really bad sense of timing.  I have been here for almost 2 1/2 years, and every time I just get going good, another Google update smacks me waaaayyy back down!  For the past two months views and CPMs have been doing really well...for the past three days, it's been heaven...now this!  I hope the other shoe does not drop again, but boy do you have me nervous!  How soon will I know, do you think?

    6. profile image0
      KenDeanAgudoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      My traffic have dropped but now, some of my hubs are gaining more traffic than before. This update is great! lol

    7. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
      DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      NOT AGAIN!!!!!  Groaaaannn!!!!  UGH!!  Damn Google, anyway!  Why can't they leave things alone instead of $&#$ with everyone??!!

  2. wilderness profile image94
    wildernessposted 9 years ago

    No change here, either falling or rising.  Just plugging along the same as the past few months.

    1. Writer Fox profile image31
      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The Panda Update just started 16 hours ago and it will take about ten days to completely update the index.  Some people have noticed significant changes in the past few hours; for others, the results will not be noticeable for several more days.

      1. paradigmsearch profile image61
        paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        http://s1.hubimg.com/u/6133882_f260.jpg

  3. csmiravite-blogs profile image73
    csmiravite-blogsposted 9 years ago

    Mine is increasing too in the last two days. The performance today is A-ok. smile I hope that thing never blows up paradigmsearch. Heheh!

  4. susi10 profile image97
    susi10posted 9 years ago

    Thanks for that update, Writer Fox. My traffic plunged by 50% overnight and I was wondering why.

    This is not going well for me at all, my hubs are hitting rock bottom again after rising to high traffic numbers. I have checked my rankings and dropped by 3 to 4 places for some of my hubs. I used to be second for one search query in the rankings and now I am sixth.
    I am very frustrated because my hubs answer the searchers question or query exactly and I always try to write high-quality hubs, going past 1500 words. My traffic was too good to be true I guess. sad

    1. Writer Fox profile image31
      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It's already hurt many sites which I monitor.  Within a week or two we will know more about this algorithm and more specifics about the changes which it made.  I wouldn't change anything about your Hubs right now until we have more data and feedback from webmasters.

      1. angryelf profile image90
        angryelfposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I too have lost 50% of my traffic- the first time I've been hit yet. I've done quite the opposite, and began MAKING changes. Now, it is a very good idea not too; however, the changes I'm making can only help rather than hurt (like removing every single amazon capsule I have). I'm also thinning out internal SEO, as many are speculating that this could be a problem as well. Whether or not this is a factor, I could always return the links later on. I'll report if I have any positive changes. I'm not expecting any, but hopefully it's only temporary. My traffic began to plummet Monday, with Tuesday's reporting reflecting a hit. I've been trying to find answers ever since. I've only got 3 different factors I can attribute to my drop- and I'll be watching for improvements closely.

  5. Fiction Teller profile image60
    Fiction Tellerposted 9 years ago

    Thanks, Writer Fox.  I haven't been following Google's updates at all, but had noticed first a dip last week, then a surge, all suggesting systematic data gathering, so I appreciate the heads-up.  I also noticed a huge performance difference between my editor's choice hubs and my subdomains.

    I view early Panda surges with dread - the more dramatic, the scarier.

    1. Writer Fox profile image31
      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      So, which group is better for you right now – your EC Hubs or you subdomain Hubs?

      1. Fiction Teller profile image60
        Fiction Tellerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        EC hubs felt a big dip, then a surge.  My main subdomain has just quietly gone to sleep.

  6. 101Ways2Life profile image81
    101Ways2Lifeposted 9 years ago

    What I hate about any online model is its over-reliance on Search traffic. Best solution is to build your own loyal community online.

  7. P Priyadarshana profile image80
    P Priyadarshanaposted 9 years ago

    Many use to mention things about the Keyword Densities/Anchors/Back links and stuff (but mostly about On-Page SEO) are more related with this update. Plus I heard that sites with thin content are getting hit with this one in a bad way. But I guess we just can't be sure about anything coz most of the sites will be doing the 'Google Dance' until the update is fully executed... Sometimes we hubbers will feel somewhat secure thanks to HubPages' domain authority... (I have no idea what I just wrote! lol)

  8. ologsinquito profile image82
    ologsinquitoposted 9 years ago

    One of my blogs is now doing much better, something I first noticed yesterday, but another has suffered a dip today. I guess I have to wait and see how this plays out.

  9. Mark Ewbie profile image81
    Mark Ewbieposted 9 years ago

    Thanks for letting us know - I had wondered what was happening with traffic.  I seem to have been in a struggle for months / years even.  Each slow step forward gets hammered again a few months down the line.

  10. peeples profile image92
    peeplesposted 9 years ago

    My best hub which has over 25,000 views and was ranked on first page has dropped down today to 30% of it's normal views. When I searched it with keywords in google it was on page 4 now. Not kinder to me I guess!

  11. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

    We started to see a site wide increase of about 7 - 8% starting on the weekend.  Perhaps that was the spam algo update.

    When Google announced the Panda update yesterday, it didn't seem to have site wide impact, but there is always the normal some pages go up and others go down.

    From what I've read, they're still working on Panda - it's unclear if this is the softer Panda or setting the groundwork for the softer Panda.

    1. Writer Fox profile image31
      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      As I mentioned above, this is the long-promised "kinder and gentler" Panda. It's designed to increase rankings of smaller websites and companies, which HubPages is not.

      HubPages' real time unique views at this moment, according to Quantcast, are down to about 3,600 from about 5,600 before the Panda Update. Squidoo is down to about 1,300.

  12. dwelburn profile image92
    dwelburnposted 9 years ago

    Thanks for keeping us updated with this sort of thing Writer Fox. It really is useful. My traffic has increased substantially over the past couple of weeks, but today is the same as yesterday (and a bit down on what it was a few days ago). So seems to have had no effect so far. As you say though we need to wait till next weekend to be sure.

  13. Rock_nj profile image91
    Rock_njposted 9 years ago

    Thanks Writer Fox.  My traffic looks slightly above normal today, so no negative effect on my Hubs.

  14. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
    DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years ago

    I like HP, but I am getting so sick to death of the "Big G" messing about with stuff, and usually fouling things up for legitimate writers in its impossible quest to weed out "poor content," that Google itself may ultimately become responsible for the death of sites such as this, when enough people get fed up and leave.

  15. Jayne Lancer profile image92
    Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

    My traffic plummeted to unusually low levels on Sunday, but was back to normal on Monday, and has been ever since. Just a coincidence, perhaps.

    We're seeing a rise on the other website I contribute to, so it could well be a positive update for small sites.

  16. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

    The QC real time data is report must be wrong.  HubPages and Squidoo are both up.  The QC previous day chart shows a more accurate picture.

    1. paradigmsearch profile image61
      paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'm seeing:

      Currently
      6,024 unique visitors
      28 page views per second

      All is well.

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I just looked again and it shows over 5,800. I was about to panic.  It looks so far like the algorithm affects Hubs individually, not entire subdomains and not the entire site.

        Does anyone have information on recent changes in rankings for EC Hubs?

        (For people who don't know, you can check the average rankings of your Hubs for search terms by using your account at Google Webmaster Tools.)

        1. profile image0
          LisaKeatingposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          I am totally lost. I don't know know anything about ranking but want to figure it out. Help?

        2. kenyaentrepreneur profile image89
          kenyaentrepreneurposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Woah, thanks for the heads up about Webmaster Tools

        3. NateB11 profile image89
          NateB11posted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks, I didn't know that about Webmaster Tools, going to start using that feature.

  17. paradigmsearch profile image61
    paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

    And as for me, I'm perpetrating:

    Right now
    4
    active users on site

  18. Nell Rose profile image90
    Nell Roseposted 9 years ago

    So far fingers crossed, rabbits foot held, and salt over the left shoulder.....mine is up! lol!

    1. paradigmsearch profile image61
      paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      No vultures circling mine yet either. However, my first post on this thread is still in play. lol

  19. IJR112 profile image60
    IJR112posted 9 years ago

    Good to know.  Thank you!

  20. Barbara Kay profile image73
    Barbara Kayposted 9 years ago

    Mine is up a bit, so I'm optimistic. My website is being rated much better too.

  21. profile image0
    mariexotoniposted 9 years ago

    So many blue arrows sad

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
      DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Only 4 blue arrows, but no red ones, either.  sad

  22. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

    We will have more EC data over the next few days, but the early data looks like they increased on average.

  23. 101Ways2Life profile image81
    101Ways2Lifeposted 9 years ago

    One of my hubs has got demoted by a few places on SERP. My  websites haven't been affected yet. Fingers crossed.

  24. viryabo profile image94
    viryaboposted 9 years ago

    Crossed fingers, toes, and all. Now i'm in a twist! lol

  25. Suzanne Day profile image93
    Suzanne Dayposted 9 years ago

    My traffic is slowly going up. Looks like it will be a pleasant doldrums wink

  26. Writer Fox profile image31
    Writer Foxposted 9 years ago

    Website eBay was hit hard by Pando 4.0  Go read the article here and look at eBay's attempt to get traffic from AdWords campaign for 'vomit' and 'severed heads.'

    http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/05/21/panda-4

    1. Baby-Boomer-58 profile image74
      Baby-Boomer-58posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I think it is excellent news that eBay will no longer be hogging so many top spots. More room on first pages for hubs.

    2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image85
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Ebay also got hacked badly two weeks ago.  It's going to affect the income and identities of a lot of people.

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        The information about eBay is on this thread:
        http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/121992

  27. Alisha Adkins profile image93
    Alisha Adkinsposted 9 years ago

    I'm suddenly getting less than half my typical traffic and earnings.  Thanks to you, now I at least know why.  Perhaps it's time to opt back into the EC program?

    1. Writer Fox profile image31
      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'd wait until you have some responses here from people who have EC Hubs.  (I opted out when it was first started, so I don't have any personally to monitor.)

      Here's a list of website winners and losers with Panda 4.0:
      http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2014/0 … google-usa

      1. LCDWriter profile image90
        LCDWriterposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Yesterday my EC hubs had a better than typical Wednesday.  (My traffic tends to hit a pattern of being lower or higher on certain days of the week.)

        It is important for everyone to remember that traffic starting today through Monday will be lower for a lot of people.  It's the start of Memorial Day weekend here in the United States and lots of people take weekend trips (starting today or tomorrow), go to the lake or beach and generally spend more time outside as it is the start of the summer season.

        And then of course summer is usually a bit slower anyway for the reasons listed above.

        Overall though, I think there is a slight uptick in EC.

  28. Rock_nj profile image91
    Rock_njposted 9 years ago

    Maybe it's because I don't get thousands of views per day, but I rarely see any difference in my traffic from these Google updates.  Today seems like a normal traffic day for me.

  29. PaulGoodman67 profile image94
    PaulGoodman67posted 9 years ago

    After nothing but bad news for an extended period, the early signs after this update are looking good for HubPages and Squidoo...

  30. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

    That's a good point about this weekend being a holiday. Traffic slows down on holidays and seasonally it decreases as Summer approaches.

    I've had the opportunity to look at several sites off of HubPages that have had Panda issues. Few are doing better than HP as a whole, but there are things we can do better that we are working on.

    1. paradigmsearch profile image61
      paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      So far, it's looking to me like I am going to do a lot better this summer than last summer. I'm pretty much a happy camper these days.

  31. susi10 profile image97
    susi10posted 9 years ago

    A search on "how to make litmus paper" which I ranked 2nd (before) shows that I now rank 8th for that query now. That was one a sustainable source of traffic for me and now it's gone...
    I wonder if I will ever reclaim my place like before, but it seems that the rankings have really mixed up with this new update. I have seen many new websites emerge which were usually in the depths of the 3rd or 4th pages in the rankings before this update.

    1. profile image0
      mariexotoniposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know why, but I decided to check your rank. You are the 1st entry on Google for page 2 for me  and #8 for my search on "How to make litmus paper"  is Yahoo Answers. I wonder if when we search for our own articles, Google shows it higher for us than it is for someone who is not known to go to the HubPages site?

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        If you search on Google using the Firefox browser, your personalized results will not show.  When I did this from my IP location, the Hub ranked #6.

        Additionally, you can install SEO Global and check for your listings as if you were searching from specific countries.  When I did that, these are the rankings for the Hub using the search phrase without quotation marks:

        US: #12
        UK: #12
        Canada: #6
        Australia: #9
        Ireland: #7

        1. profile image0
          mariexotoniposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          I actually used the Chrome browser.

          1. Writer Fox profile image31
            Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Because Chrome is owned by Google, it will display personalized results based upon your search history unless you opt out of personalized search.

            1. profile image0
              mariexotoniposted 9 years agoin reply to this

              How do I do that?

              1. Writer Fox profile image31
                Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
                1. susi10 profile image97
                  susi10posted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks for the analysis Marie and Writer Fox. I guess it just proves that there is no first page of Google anymore because it depends highly on location and personalised search history. I used to be 2nd, now 12th in the US. Oh well, hopefully the rankings will settle a bit after a couple of weeks.

  32. WriterJanis profile image91
    WriterJanisposted 9 years ago

    My views are down today and I have several blue arrows.

  33. Suzanne Day profile image93
    Suzanne Dayposted 9 years ago

    OK now it's getting really weird, even for a Friday. All these hubs I thought were not going to be successful now show lovely red arrows and some of my better hubs have reduced traffic significantly. All up, I am still ahead from last week, but can't make head or tail of any pattern just yet.

  34. peeples profile image92
    peeplesposted 9 years ago

    Is it possible for my entire account to be blacklisted? I have 11 down blue arrows and have lost 50% of my total views for all hubs already.

    1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image85
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it is possible.  I know because this has happened to me twice!  Not all articles will be penalized in most cases, but overall, if your articles are  taking a hit, it will hurt and it can take quite awhile to come back from something like this.

      1. csmiravite-blogs profile image73
        csmiravite-blogsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Mine has tapered down in the last 1 week. Only two to three articles are going strong. I better tweak it lest they stay dead as a dodo. Whoaaa....  sad

  35. Rebecca Furtado profile image60
    Rebecca Furtadoposted 9 years ago

    Traffic up. Wow.

    1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image85
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Mine was really up, but now it is sliding downward again...but is still far above where it was a few weeks back.

  36. profile image0
    mommytalksposted 9 years ago

    My traffic is up but, more importantly, I FINALLY hit #1 for 4 out of 6 targeted kws  - after 3 years!! The sites in front of me (that are now #2 and #3) weren't spam, but they didn't provide as much valuable info ... so yea!!

    (and, yes - I do know how to log out of G)

 
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