Penguin 4.0 update: what are the consequences?
Google announced on September 23 the launch of Penguin 4. How the algorithm works in real time, end of the demotion of sites: all you need to remember.
After previous versions of Penguin, many sites with questionable links have been permanently degraded by Google. Penguin 4.0 changes the game, removing penalties. Another novelty: this is the last official update of the Penguin filter, now integrated into the very functioning of the search engine.
In this section:
What's new in Penguin 4.0
Here are the main changes to the Penguin algorithm since its update, made official by Google on September 23:
Targeted sanctions
Until now, Google sanctioned sites with questionable practices (mass netlinking, questionable links). Even if the links found to be contentious only pointed to a single page of the site, the penalty affected the entire site. With Penguin 4.0, this degradation system, with demotion to the key, gives way to targeted sanctions. The search engine will no longer penalize the entire site, but will rather choose to devalue links that he considers questionable. Only the ranking of the pages concerned will therefore be affected.
Real-time operation
Another novelty: Google's algorithm now works in real time. At each passage, the indexing robot evaluates the quality of the links pointing to the pages of a website. So far the lifting of a penalty could take several months and was sometimes very difficult to obtain, despite the disavowal of the disputed links. From now on, there is no need to wait for an update of the list of degraded sites following a penalty.
An impact still limited
With Penguin 4.0, no storm warning on the SEO planet (as in 2012 with Penguin 1.0). According to a study published by the American site Search Engine Roundtable on October 3, 73% of those questioned declared that the update had no impact on the positioning of their site.
15% report a decline in their positioning since September 23. 12% noted an increase. This last figure rises to 21% of respondents in another study carried out on the same date by the MOZ site. This figure should logically increase further in the coming weeks, the sites crawled by Google seeing their penalties gradually lifted.
How to adapt?
La end of global penalties does it mean that the rules of the game have changed? No, because Google is always tracking toxic links. To avoid unpleasant surprises, make his job easier!
Monitor your backlinks
Download the list of links redirecting to your site from Google Search Console. Isolate links that you deem to be spammy. To locate these links, you can for example use the tool of the American site MOZ. The "Spam score" provided by the site is a good indicator of the overall level of spam on your site. Do not hesitate to consult it regularly, on the Open Site Explorer site.
Continue to disavow toxic ties
The launch of Penguin 4.0 made no difference to Google's disavowal of links system and its use. When you spot a spammy link, especially in Do Follow, disavow the disputed page or domain in Search Console, or ask the site to remove the affected link. Please note that the disavowal of a domain should be used with caution: in the case of a blog, for example, do not disavow the domain name of the platform that hosts it.
Penguin is just one of Google's many algorithms for judging the quality of a site. And the analysis criteria for netlinking may still be refined in the coming months. Over time, Google sharpens its weapons, with an implacable logic: to flush out poor quality sites.
