With those in the SEO field listening to what Google will share next, Matt Cutts shared that Google is working on a monumental change to the Penguin algorithm. We’re not sure of when the next Penguin update will arrive but Cutts said this will be a “new generation of Penguin.” The Penguin algorithm was designed to reduce web spam and also penalize websites that had link profiles that looked as unnatural. The last Penguin refresh appeared last October.
Matt Cutts mentioned that this would be one of the most talked about Google algorithm updates of the year. The Penguin update plans to target additional link networks in 2013, even a couple of big ones within the next month. The road ahead may get rough for some websites and merchants on Google.
Google has also become less tolerant and more strict with links that appear suspicious on websites. The initial launch of Google Penguin tolerated 80% suspicious links but has decreased now 30% more to a site having 50% suspicious links before being penalized.
It seems like only a matter of time before Google makes this even more strict to ensure that websites are staying true to what they say they do and cleaning up some of the tactics that some webmasters may be attempting. Google is ready to get rid of the spam and penalize those with a higher percentage of spammy links in the site’s link profile.
Trying to sneak something by the Google webmaster team and faking SEO tactics no longer works, as we all have known for quite some time. The penalties are steep and there is no telling how long it may take a website to recover…if at all.
What is important now is to understand the vision of where Google is headed in terms of what they are looking for as ranking factors. One, which we have seen with Facebook’s new Graph Search, among other social sites, is the human factor and how much of an impact that your social reach is affecting through interaction, shares and more.
One thing we know is that Google will keep tweaking their algorithms over time and so important for us to keep our websites as clean as possible and prepare for what is ahead in our strategies.