The code name is Google Panda, but if it were called the “Panda cyclone,” no one would disagree. This is the new algorithm launched by Google, initially only in the United States (end of February) to study its effects on a significant but not total sample, and now active on all English-language sites. While waiting for Google Panda to make its debut in Italy, the first significant results are emerging regarding what has happened in the United Kingdom.
What is Google Panda
Google Panda is an algorithm launched by Google to combat a perennial problem of the search engine: spam. In reality, the algorithm primarily targets sites with little content, of poor quality, and not original. In the days following its launch in the United States, there were “false positives,” meaning sites penalized without reason. Similarly, prestigious sites with considerable traffic have fallen under the ax of Google Panda.
What are the Google Panda Penalties
Google Panda does not completely penalize sites that display “weak” content to the search engine. In reality, based on what was learned from the US in the aftermath of the first launch, Google Panda only penalizes pages that show low-quality, duplicate, or text-light content. The penalty consists of a demotion of the page in the organic search results SERPs and, as an obvious consequence, a drop in traffic. In the United States, as declared by Google itself, there was a 12% variation in SERPs.
Which UK Sites Were Affected by Google Panda Penalties
According to what can be learned from the English newspaper The Guardian, a large number of important UK sites have lost considerable traffic following the Google Panda update. There isn’t a specific sector affected by the Google update, but rather an analogy of sites based on characteristics no longer tolerated by Google. The site that caused the most stir was Ciao.co.uk, from Microsoft, which lost about 94% of its organic traffic. Some suspicious minds have associated this Google “strike” with the ongoing war between the two companies. It should not be forgotten, in fact, that Microsoft’s Bing search engine is climbing the “search engine user SERPs” to such an extent that in the United States, Bing has reached 30% of the market compared to Google’s 64%. In response to these malicious speculations, and other ongoing legal battles worldwide where BIG G is accused by Microsoft, Google has responded from Mountain View by stating that no retaliation is underway by Google against Microsoft. The table below lists the names of sites that lost traffic and those that, instead, gained positions in the United Kingdom, in the aftermath of the Google Panda update as published by The Guardian.co.uk, with the exception of the localization in Italian.
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Sites Losing Traffic
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|
Domains |
New Search Visibility |
Old Search Visibility |
Difference |
Loss in % |
|
Source: Search Metrics |
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|
moneypage.com |
25 |
39231 |
-39206 |
-99.94 |
|
pricedash.com |
127 |
55141 |
-55014 |
-99.77 |
|
njobs.org.uk |
92 |
30693 |
-30601 |
-99.7 |
|
voucherstar.co.uk |
126 |
38748 |
-38622 |
-99.67 |
|
osoyou.com |
96 |
26668 |
-26572 |
-99.64 |
|
zath.co.uk |
161 |
39768 |
-39607 |
-99.6 |
|
shoppingvouchers.co.uk |
134 |
30056 |
-29922 |
-99.55 |
|
discountshoppinguk.co.uk |
491 |
66270 |
-65779 |
-99.26 |
|
just-food.com |
293 |
39282 |
-38989 |
-99.25 |
|
webdevelopersnotes.com |
583 |
54948 |
-54365 |
-98.94 |
|
netvouchercodes.co.uk |
1935 |
152376 |
-150441 |
-98.73 |
|
pocket-lint.com |
2128 |
165956 |
-163828 |
-98.72 |
|
killerstartups.com |
869 |
52717 |
-51848 |
-98.35 |
|
wakoopa.com |
1334 |
71525 |
-70191 |
-98.13 |
|
aceshowbiz.com |
907 |
46188 |
-45281 |
-98.04 |
|
everydaysale.co.uk |
3822 |
175800 |
-171978 |
-97.83 |
|
hotfrog.co.uk |
1124 |
44863 |
-43739 |
-97.49 |
|
phonesreview.co.uk |
864 |
33418 |
-32554 |
-97.41 |
|
electricpig.co.uk |
1678 |
60882 |
-59204 |
-97.24 |
|
kgbanswers.co.uk |
1009 |
31427 |
-30418 |
-96.79 |
|
biznut.co.uk |
3865 |
118715 |
-114850 |
-96.74 |
|
shopsafe.co.uk |
1064 |
32359 |
-31295 |
-96.71 |
|
themecraft.net |
1163 |
34070 |
-32907 |
-96.59 |
|
cylex-uk.co.uk |
2010 |
56744 |
-54734 |
-96.46 |
|
whosdatedwho.com |
2314 |
60476 |
-58162 |
-96.17 |
|
itproportal.com |
1245 |
32533 |
-31288 |
-96.17 |
|
autopartstrader.co.uk |
1162 |
30282 |
-29120 |
-96.16 |
|
screenrush.co.uk |
1093 |
27930 |
-26837 |
-96.09 |
|
techworld.com |
1400 |
34923 |
-33523 |
-95.99 |
|
qype.co.uk |
5307 |
126801 |
-121494 |
-95.81 |
|
wikio.com |
1819 |
43194 |
-41375 |
-95.79 |
|
couponsnapshot.co.uk |
1845 |
41463 |
-39618 |
-95.55 |
|
airfaresflights.co.uk |
4100 |
89924 |
-85824 |
-95.44 |
|
suite101.com |
1658 |
35957 |
-34299 |
-95.39 |
|
techeye.net |
1879 |
38828 |
-36949 |
-95.16 |
|
computerweekly.com |
1733 |
35299 |
-33566 |
-95.09 |
|
justtheflight.co.uk |
2500 |
50806 |
-48306 |
-95.08 |
|
associatedcontent.com |
2239 |
44158 |
-41919 |
-94.93 |
|
radioandtelly.co.uk |
2539 |
49276 |
-46737 |
-94.85 |
|
dooyoo.co.uk |
14654 |
282837 |
-268183 |
-94.82 |
|
hunkymalestars.com |
1638 |
29970 |
-28332 |
-94.53 |
|
visit4info.com |
2092 |
36365 |
-34273 |
-94.25 |
|
ciao.co.uk |
20723 |
335697 |
-314974 |
-93.83 |
|
ezinearticles.com |
3577 |
56704 |
-53127 |
-93.69 |
|
savoo.co.uk |
4047 |
56118 |
-52071 |
-92.79 |
|
soccerlens.com |
2216 |
29481 |
-27265 |
-92.48 |
|
fanpix.net |
3340 |
43163 |
-39823 |
-92.26 |
|
twenga.co.uk |
5690 |
71095 |
-65405 |
-92 |
|
reghardware.com |
6133 |
72206 |
-66073 |
-91.51 |
|
aboutbritain.com |
2877 |
33327 |
-30450 |
-91.37 |
|
wikio.co.uk |
10627 |
114833 |
-104206 |
-90.75 |
|
markosweb.com |
12844 |
136590 |
-123746 |
-90.6 |
|
reviewcentre.com |
68096 |
648704 |
-580608 |
-89.5 |
|
pcwb.co.uk |
3447 |
31890 |
-28443 |
-89.19 |
|
trustpilot.co.uk |
3868 |
35230 |
-31362 |
-89.02 |
|
articlesbase.com |
4139 |
36568 |
-32429 |
-88.68 |
|
voucherhub.com |
9756 |
84783 |
-75027 |
-88.49 |
|
comparestoreprices.co.uk |
5658 |
48219 |
-42561 |
-88.27 |
|
xomba.com |
4050 |
33916 |
-29866 |
-88.06 |
|
promotionalcodes.org.uk |
31992 |
262717 |
-230725 |
-87.82 |
|
worldtravelguide.net |
6245 |
47922 |
-41677 |
-86.97 |
|
idealo.co.uk |
5846 |
44100 |
-38254 |
-86.74 |
|
yourcounty.co.uk |
5094 |
37145 |
-32051 |
-86.29 |
|
freedownloadscenter.com |
6349 |
45040 |
-38691 |
-85.9 |
|
hubpages.com |
26099 |
182704 |
-156605 |
-85.72 |
|
voucherseeker.co.uk |
9086 |
62342 |
-53256 |
-85.43 |
|
buzzle.com |
7113 |
47319 |
-40206 |
-84.97 |
|
mahalo.com |
31609 |
166781 |
-135172 |
-81.05 |
|
play.com |
305883 |
336067 |
-30184 |
-8.98 |
|
techwatch.co.uk |
12341 |
56793 |
-44452 |
-78.27 |
|
computing.net |
11689 |
50721 |
-39032 |
-76.95 |
|
vouchercodes.com |
21481 |
91535 |
-70054 |
-76.53 |
|
soft82.com |
8747 |
37062 |
-28315 |
-76.4 |
|
londontown.com |
10315 |
41456 |
-31141 |
-75.12 |
|
shopping.com |
15402 |
59608 |
-44206 |
-74.16 |
|
broadbandgenie.co.uk |
11156 |
43181 |
-32025 |
-74.16 |
|
wisegeek.com |
21680 |
83584 |
-61904 |
-74.06 |
|
flightmapping.com |
13086 |
47787 |
-34701 |
-72.62 |
|
ehow.co.uk |
33402 |
120596 |
-87194 |
-72.3 |
|
brothersoft.com |
90625 |
295898 |
-205273 |
-69.37 |
|
yourdictionary.com |
20625 |
60991 |
-40366 |
-66.18 |
|
discountvouchers.co.uk |
65751 |
178428 |
-112677 |
-63.15 |
|
techradar.com |
49761 |
116832 |
-67071 |
-57.41 |
|
myvouchercodes.co.uk |
289948 |
661560 |
-371612 |
-56.17 |
|
answers.com |
142129 |
310111 |
-167982 |
-54.17 |
|
pcadvisor.co.uk |
39730 |
85628 |
-45898 |
-53.6 |
|
ehow.com |
93902 |
201781 |
-107879 |
-53.46 |
|
shopzilla.co.uk |
40470 |
86937 |
-46467 |
-53.45 |
|
fairinvestment.co.uk |
43728 |
92214 |
-48486 |
-52.58 |
|
money.co.uk |
25726 |
53588 |
-27862 |
-51.99 |
|
buyyourcar.co.uk |
41542 |
85021 |
-43479 |
-51.14 |
|
mobileshop.com |
35495 |
69436 |
-33941 |
-48.88 |
|
mydeco.com |
34252 |
63063 |
-28811 |
-45.69 |
|
reevoo.com |
38253 |
65519 |
-27266 |
-41.62 |
|
squidoo.com |
52450 |
81811 |
-29361 |
-35.89 |
|
about.com |
543243 |
760583 |
-217340 |
-28.58 |
|
passport.net |
94318 |
122568 |
-28250 |
-23.05 |
|
softonic.com |
184838 |
225647 |
-40809 |
-18.09 |
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Sites Gaining Traffic After the Google Panda Update
|
||||
|
Sites |
New Search Visibility |
Old Search Visibility |
Difference |
Growth in % |
|
Source: Search Metrics |
||||
|
ebay.co.uk |
1469346 |
1034302 |
435044 |
42.1 |
|
techcrunch.com |
174797 |
124220 |
50577 |
40.7 |
|
national-lottery.co.uk |
292053 |
209357 |
82696 |
39.5 |
|
econsultancy.com |
186175 |
135804 |
50371 |
37.1 |
|
thisismoney.co.uk |
234717 |
180377 |
54340 |
30.1 |
|
siteslike.com |
175869 |
140279 |
35590 |
25.4 |
|
mirror.co.uk |
275876 |
220937 |
54939 |
24.9 |
|
blogspot.com |
1006719 |
819832 |
186887 |
22.8 |
|
mashable.com |
295137 |
240714 |
54423 |
22.6 |
|
itv.com |
345470 |
282300 |
63170 |
22.4 |
|
metro.co.uk |
181507 |
149271 |
32236 |
21.6 |
|
independent.co.uk |
471896 |
388280 |
83616 |
21.5 |
|
mozilla.org |
146282 |
122471 |
23811 |
19.4 |
|
youtube.com |
8856696 |
7446902 |
1409794 |
18.9 |
|
vimeo.com |
168979 |
142182 |
26797 |
18.9 |
|
wordpress.com |
331836 |
279738 |
52098 |
18.6 |
|
laterooms.com |
150533 |
127297 |
23236 |
18.3 |
|
dailymotion.com |
577590 |
490328 |
87262 |
17.8 |
|
soundcloud.com |
150998 |
128569 |
22429 |
17.5 |

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