Google Algorithm Update: September 2019 (Did your Rankings/Traffic Drop?)

Google, the second most valuable brand in the world, according to Forbes, launched another Google algorithm update on September 24, 2019. This one is the second major Google algorithm update affecting all global search indexes in 2019. Google had named it the “September 2019 Core Update.”

As with the Google Algorithm Core Update in June 2019, people will take several days before they could feel the full effect of this new update. In a tweet, Google’s public search liaison Danny Sullivan advised that “I expect it to begin in a few hours; these typically take a few days to roll out fully. Yes, we’ll post when the rollout begins. We don’t post when it ends because there are typically other updates that are always happening, too. But after a few days, as said.”

Impacts of the September 2019 Google Algorithm Update

Although still early to be confirmed, SEO experts think that the effect is not as strong as the June 2019 Google core algorithm update. Search Engine Land initial data showed a stronger impact on Health and Finance niches. As Rank Ranger noted, “as is typical with these core updates, the Health and Finance niches took the brunt of it.” Reports show that the impact only ranges from 10-20% pageviews drop – not as significant as the June core update.

It is not clear yet what the core update targeted. However, SEO forums suggest that it focused on E-A-T (expertise, authority, and trustworthiness) and the YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) category. Most of the updates that happened this year are gearing towards improving the quality and correctness of a site’s content. Google is trying to improve user experience by prioritizing results that are beneficial to the consumers’ health and well being.

Quality of Links Taken Into Consideration

Search Engine Journal is looking at this update from a different perspective. Before the announcement made by Google, there is already a significant drop experienced by some sites. The existence of irrelevant 301 domain redirects and links from expired URLs underpins such drops.

SEJ reported that “As previously mentioned, while there are many components to a broad core update, a notable feature of September 24, 2019, Broad Core Algorithm Update appears to be the link component.” This statement means that site owners need to be more careful about applying or putting links in any of their pages as it may negatively impact their rankings in the current and succeeding core updates.

Just this September, Google also announced a change in how they look at no-follow links. In previous years, Google looks at no-follow links as uncounted or unincluded direct statements. Right now, Google looks at those links as a hint – they can either be followed or not, counted or not, depending on their discretion for ranking purposes.

Google gave this official statement regarding the nofollow link. “When no-follow was introduced, Google would not count any link marked this way as a signal to use within our search algorithms. This has now changed. the link attributes — sponsored, UGC and nofollow — are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search. We’ll use these hints — along with other signals — as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems.”

September 2019 Google Algorithm Update Winners and Losers

According to Sistrix.com, the biggest winners in the September 2019 core update is Daily Mail, which reported a huge recovery after losing almost 50% of its audience in the June 2019 core algorithm update. Other winners in this update are biologydictionary.net, autoguide.com, and additioncenter.com.

For SemRush, the biggest winners were DailyMail, eBackPage.com, lasd.org, and marionschool.net. The most negative impact was among TheFourMusic.com, Monks.org, BraidingClub.com, PascoLibraries.org, and RoyalCaribbean.com.au.

There may still be some winners and losers before the heat subsides in a few days. However, as long as you keep your site updated with relevant content, Google will see that and keep your rankings. Ultimately, the quality of your links, content that affects user experience, and a well-optimized site structure will keep you from getting affected by these updates.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Google Core Algorithm Update

Core updates are released multiple times in a year. These do not have a clear or specific focus in terms of the particular search query or in website characteristics. It simply makes subtle changes. 

Other Google Updates like Panda and Penguin look into content quality and backlinks. Core updates, on the other hand, affect websites in various areas. 

Unfortunately, there are no specific errors that webmasters can correct to recover lost rankings from core updates. The best way to improve search ranking is to publish the best possible content. Studying the Google Search Quality Rater Guideline would be the first step as it gives details on how to classify contents. 

The Google Search Guideline covers a range of information from creating great content, building backlinks, and assessing the quality of on-page SEO. Understanding these guidelines would be the best way to keep up and adapt to Google’s algorithm updates. 

Google Core Algorithm Updates Background

As earlier said, core updates happen countless times in a year with no particular focus when it comes to a specific search query nor in website characteristics. The changes come in subtly.

Panda and Penguin are two particular Google updates that look into content quality and backlinks. Others may also do, but these two are specifically for such function. Core updates mostly affect websites in different aspects.

Sadly, a webmaster could not correct particular errors to recover the rankings they’ve lost from core updates. Perhaps the most significant approach is to create better content. The Google Search Quality Rater Guideline would significantly help in this agenda.

A wide range of information is available in the Google Search Guideline like how to format page titles correctly and creating great content, building backlinks, and assessing the quality of on-page SEO. A better comprehension of such guidelines would aid in keeping up with Google’s algorithm updates. 

Google Algorithm Update Frequency

Google’s core update often takes place in the first month of the year. Additional changes took place in the latter part of the year. 

In January of this year, the Google Newsgate Algorithm came out. It focused on sites that publish topics copied from existing posts. Sites without new information to offer do not rank in user search queries. TechCrunch was among those greatly affected by the January 2019 update. 

Nevertheless, according to some SEO experts, the Google Newsgate Algorithm took back most of the Medic Update policies. Sites that hit low rankings suddenly picked up. 

The Medic Update came out in August 2018. It targeted medical-related sites. This update also shook YMYL (Your Money or Your Life). In November 2018, Google finalized the Medic update, and some sites have recovered since.

Google Algorithm Updates Over the Years

Google’s algorithms are complex systems. These are used to retrieve data on Google’s search index. The user received the results of retrieved data as an answer to his or her query. 

In the process of retrieving data, the search engine uses a combination of algorithms and ranking signals. It then delivers web pages ranked by relevance on its (SERPs).

Google started out with only a few updates. Eventually, it made thousands of updates yearly. Some updates often go unnoticed, but there are some major updates rolled out that significantly affect SERPs.

Here’s a list of all the major updates that Google has done so far (in descending order):

June 6 Site Diversity Update

Another pre-announced update is the site diversity fix made by Google aimed at showing a more diverse set of search results. Basically, this update targeted sites with duplicate pages by showing only a maximum of two pages from the same domain in searches. However, sites reported minimal impact on their search rankings.

June 3, 2019 — The Second Major Core Google Algorithm Update for 2019

The June 2019 Google Algorithm Update is the second major change this year. The update had a more positive effect in search rankings unlike the March 2019 Core Algorithm Update. This is the first time that Google announced an update prior to its roll-out. 

Changes in the algorithm are often unannounced. The early announcement made the SEO community think that the algorithm update was a huge one.

Nevertheless, Danny Sullivan, the person behind the Google Search Liaison Twitter channel, assures everyone through Twitter that “[the update is] nothing special or particular “big” [sic]. It’s the usual type of core updates that we regularly do. We just wanted to be more proactive. Rather than people scratching their heads after-the-fact and asking “hmm?” We thought it would be good to just let folks know before it rolled out.”

Apparently, Google just wants to change its strategy. It no longer wants to surprise users and publishers that is why it made an early announcement.

Unlike the June 2019 update, the March 2019 update caused quite a commotion in the SEO community and in the global Google search results. It affected searches related to the acronym E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust). Many health-related websites experienced extreme ranking: some dropped massively while others increased considerably. 

In fact, Verywellhealth.com, one of the most improved websites of 2018, suffered immensely while Draxe.com, another health-related website, ranked higher. 

Impact of the June 2019 Google Algorithm Update

The June 2019 Google Algorithm Update is reported to have affected websites that rely mostly on amassing search results. Daily Mail complained of a 50% loss in its daily search traffic.

More sites had been detected by Sistrix, an SEO tool provider, to have experienced massive drops in visibility after the implementation of the update. On the contrary, sites like Mirror, Sun, and HuffPost, have enjoyed huge gains in search visibility since the rollout of the said update. 

SEO Community’s Thoughts on the June 2019 Google Algorithm Update

Members of the SEO community felt the effects of this update. Here are what some members of WebmasterWorld and Black Hat World said:

“I noticed an increase in traffic almost instantly after the update, which continued until around 8 am BST, but back down since then. Hoping the early increases will return and it’s just a case of Google rolling it out across all data centers…” 

“I got a 70% increase in organic traffic instantly, checked Google analytics and realized the 70% boost was all coming from the only desktop. Now it’s back down to zero over here at the exact same time the update started yesterday.”

“Initial trends are in for us: we are -10% down and will probably slide that way with every push of this update to their various DCs. I do not expect anything positive throughout the week either ‘coz the initial trend mostly says where your site is heading for the final settlement .”

“Traffic drop 60% some keywords which were ranking on 1,2,3 position are [sic] now on the 3rd page it seems like a penalty even though not made a single Blackhat thing. But some which were ranking on position 40-70 are now on 10-20 so it seems like no penalty.”

May 23, 2019, Indexing Bugs

Much like the deindexing bug on April 3, another indexing bug came out on May 23, 2019. Google confirmed that the issue was related to the inability to index new content, but it was resolved two days after the report of the bug’s emergence.

April 2019 Deindexing Bug

On April 3, 2019, Google confirmed issues with deindexing after site owners reported a significant drop in the rankings. Approximately 4% of stable sites underwent deindexing, which for most site owners, meant loss in traffic, sales and revenues, conversion, and the overall site performance for the month of April. The bug fixed itself after a few days, but some sites still had to manually reindex their pages in the Google Search Console.   

March 2019 Core Update (a.k.a Florida 2)

This is a broad core update. Google was not targeting any specific niche or particular signal. In fact, Google says it is not targeting anything. There are no fixes according to Google.

This update simply helps Google to match search queries to web pages more accurately. It aimed to improve user satisfaction in short. Reactions to this update were mostly positive since those concerned see it as a rollback for the previous updates. Several SEO experts said that they are recovering their rankings in their formerly penalized sites.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Valentine’s Day Update (February 13, 2019)

This update focused on identifying the best pages to address a user’s query based mostly or relevance and not quality. People were not quite sure about whether this update did take place, but there were reports of SERP movements to prove that this update did take place.

With this new change, page titles seemed to have become utterly important. Experts suggest that when there is an update, and a site loses ranking, it is ideal to wait 10 to 15 days before making any changes since most updates continually improve within these days.

Unconfirmed Halloween Update (October 31, 2018)

This one is a phantom update according to SEO experts. Nevertheless, Google denies the rollout of an update on this date. However, there seemed to be some evidence that this update did take place.

There were apparently some changes in the ranking of long-tail keywords, which often come out in searches. Such keywords are said to be unreliable because of vagueness.

Then again, there are players who say that changes in the ranking of long-tail keywords are not proof enough of an update. Conclusively, it is likely that there was no real core update during this month.

A “Small” Update (September 27, 2018)

On this date, there were significant changes in hikes and declines in traffic detected by SEO experts. This caused many to conclude that a new update had been rolled out.

Sites affected by the broad core algorithm update in August apparently recovered. Google confirmed the update two days later. It was a ‘small’ update and not a broad core algorithm update according to Google.

Broad Core Algorithm Update (August 1, 2018)

Another broad core algorithm update ran for the third time in a year. Google confirmed this change through Twitter. Google recommended adherence to their guidelines created after the March 9, 2018 update.

This August 1, 2018 update is coined the “Medic” by industry players. Google said this update is simply a general ranking update. It does not particularly target medical sites.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Broad Core Algorithm Update (April 16, 2018)

Just a month after the Broad Core Algorithm Update was yet another similar update. Google did confirm this release. It was again aimed at the relevance of content and continued to encourage the provision of high-quality content.

Broad Core Algorithm Update (March 9, 2018)

This update was confirmed three days after its implementation. The confirmation came as a post on Twitter, and it stated that the rollout had taken place prior to the confirmation date.

Not so much detail came out about the update. However, Google did claim that this update aims to “previously under-rewarded” pages. This also aims to encourage everyone to focus on providing excellent content.

Maccabees Update (December 12, 2017)

Between December 12 and 14, several websites were reported to have been hit by an update. Eventually, Google did confirm minor changes in the core algorithm in the given period. Nevertheless, Google claims effects were not of much significance.

Fall Flux (September 8, 2017)

Industry players reported an update on this date, but Google never confirmed this. There were reported changes especially affecting the traffic and search visibility of several sites starting this date. Further volatility and fluctuations were significant up until October 12.

Quality Update (August 19, 2017)

Between August 19 and 20, webmasters and SEO ranking tools reported several minor volatilities. This is an unconfirmed quality update from Google.

This update seemed to have affected category pages, lower-quality and thin contents, pages with aggressive advertising, and other elements that brought about negative user experience.

Speculations indicate that this update may have been tested starting August 14 since several of the positively and negatively affected pages had seen that changes started on the said date. Nevertheless, the most felt impact took place on August 19.

Quality Update (July 9, 2017)

Still unconfirmed by Google, this quality update was reported by SEO ranking tools to have created minor volatility in search results.

June 25 Update (June 25, 2017)

Google did not confirm this update, but SEO tracking tools saw significant shifts in rankings on this date. It apparently engendered one of the greatest fluctuations in page ranking especially in Positions 6-10. Several niches were affected, but the goods and beverage industry felt this change the most.

Quality Update (May 17, 2017)

For almost a week starting May 17, there were reports of volatility in several SERPs per SEO tracking tool. The impact was limited. Nevertheless, the affected sites were those that had aggressive or deceptive advertising, thin or low-quality content and some UX issues.

Fred (March 7, 2017)

This algorithm had a serious impact on numerous sites. It targeted sites with low-value content. This new algorithm, however, was not confirmed until March 24. Google also did not share specifics about this change. They simply referred experts, publishers, and other industry players to the Webmaster Quality Guidelines of Google.

February 7 Update (February 7, 2017)

This is yet another major update that was not confirmed by Google. Nevertheless, on this date, there appeared to have been massive shifts in Google’s SERP rankings. This means a major hike or decline in ranking of certain websites. It seems that sites of higher-quality and relevance became more visible in searches.

February 1 Update (February 1, 2017)

Google did not confirm this update, and information regarding this is mostly speculation instead of fact. The target of this update seemed to be private blog networks or perhaps sites that use spammy link building.

Intrusive Interstitials Update (January 10, 2017)

Google announced a change on August 23, 2016. This change is said to focus on intrusive interstitials and pop-ups, which are reducing the search experience specifically on mobile devices. On January 10, 2017, and update of the said nature was indeed rolled out, but the influence was minute.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Unnamed Update (November 10, 2016)

This is unconfirmed by Google, but the industry claims that changes took place on this day. Google never did confirm.

Penguin Update 4.0 & Core Algorithm Integration (September 23, 2016)

This is the last update to the Penguin algorithm. It finally integrates into the core algorithm of Google. Hence, Penguin was no longer evaluating websites and links in real-time.

Another significant alteration was Penguin devalued links instead of downgrading the rankings of pages.

Quality Update (June 1, 2016)

This is an unconfirmed update from Google. Nevertheless, there appears to be data showing another content-related Quality Update around the day of June 1, 2016. In the days that followed, ranking volatility became observable.

Mobile-Friendly Update (#2) (May 12, 2016)

The “Mobilegeddon 2” is the second Mobile-Friendly Update. This increases the influence of ranking signals.

Panda Core Algorithm Incorporation (January 11, 2016)

Finally, Google’s core algorithm incorporated Panda. This strategy came about because of the sluggish rollout of Panda 4.2. In a sense, Panda no longer serves as a filter of Google algorithm. It became part of the core ranking signals. Nevertheless, the Panda classifier does not necessarily act in real-time.

RankBrain (October 26, 2015)

This update’s test ran started in April 2015, but Google only introduced it officially in October. This update is a machine learning algorithm aimed at filtering search outputs so that users receive the best answer to their query.

At the onset, RankBrain was responsible for some 15 percent of searches unfamiliar to Google. Eventually, it involved most of the queries on Google. This is perhaps the third most important ranking signal for Google.

Panda Update 4.2 (#28) (July 17, 2015)

This is another refresh of the Panda refresh that took months to roll out completely. The slow rollout made it difficult to determine how significant the impact of the update is. The estimate, nevertheless, is about 2 to 3 percent of all English searches. This is the last confirmed update for Panda.

Quality Update (May 3, 2015)

The Quality Update is also known as a Phantom Update. It was confirmed to have changed Google’s core ranking algorithm. It specifically influenced Google’s assessment of quality signals. Websites that had issues with content quality and those that contain too many ads greatly felt this update.

Mobile-Friendly Update (April 21, 2015)

This Mobile-Friendly Update is also called “Mobilegeddon”. It is intended to provide rewards to websites that are mobile-friendly. Such sites experienced better search rankings, especially on mobile device searches. This update is felt across all languages worldwide.

Penguin Update 3.0 (October 17, 2014)

This is apparently just simply another data refresh. Sites impacted by previous updates recovered with this update. However, sites that proceeded with using spammy links but were missed by the previous updates were finally in this new update. The complete rollout lasted for three days and about 1 percent of English searches felt the effect.

Panda Update 4.1 (#27) (September 23, 2014)

This update added some more signals to aid Panda in determining low-quality content in a more precise matter. The impact of this update appears in about 3 to 5 percent of searches.

Pigeon Update (July 24, 2014)

This is said to be a local search update that has a considerable impact. Google started using traditional website ranking signals, thus impacting local query outputs. Google’s distance and location ranking parameters were also considerably improved.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Payday Loan Update 3.0 (June 12, 2014)

This new Payday Loan centered mostly on spammy queries and included protecting users from negative SEO attacks.

Panda Update 4.0 (#26) (May 20, 2014)

This is a major Panda update that apparently affected about 7.5 percent of all English searches.

Payday Loan Update 2.0 (May 16, 2014)

This update was created to polish the targeting of spammy websites. It simply refined the Payday Loans algorithm.

Page Layout Refresh (February 6, 2014)

At the onset of 2014, Google did a refresh of the page layout algorithm. However, no clear changes regarding the algorithm came out officially. Apparently, Google just reran a certain algorithm and updated the index.

Penguin Update 2.1 (October 4, 2013)

This is the first and perhaps the only data refresh algorithm for Penguin 2.0 according to Matt Cutts of Google. It affected about ~1 percent of all queries.

Hummingbird Update (September 26, 2013)

This Panda data refresh impacted 0.8 percent of English searches.

This update is a major overhaul of Google’s core search technology. This is one way for Google to understand better queries and to return the most relevant results.

This new algorithm is said to have impacted around 90 percent of all searches globally. While announcement of the update came out on September 26, 2013, the actual rollout started in August 2013.

Payday Loan Update (June 11, 2013)

This Payday Loans algorithm update by Google targets spam queries used in relation to shady industries like those with super high-interest loans and payday loans, porn, casinos, debt consolidation, and pharmaceuticals. The complete roll-out of the update ran for 2 months to fully roll out and it affected some 0.3 percent of U.S. searches.

Penguin Update 2.0 (May 22, 2013)

The “next-generation” Penguin algorithm. This dug deeper and further beyond the website homepage and top-level category pages, searching for evidence of spam. This update affected around 2.3 percent of English searches.

Panda Update (#25) (March 14, 2013)

There are claims from players in the SEO industry that a Panda update took place on this date. This remained to be unconfirmed. Nevertheless, Matt Cutts of Google somehow implied that this would be the final update of Panda since it will be incorporated directly into the core Google algorithm. The refresh rolled out without further confirmation from Google.

Panda Update (#24) (January 22, 2013)

The 24^th Panda data refresh affected 1.2 percent of English queries.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Panda Update (#23) (December 21, 2012)

A ~1.3% of English queries were influenced by this Panda data refresh.

Panda Update (#22) (November 21, 2012)

This Panda data refresh impacted 0.8 percent of English searches.

Panda Update (#21) (November 5, 2012)

This confirmed Panda data refresh influenced ~0.4 percent of queries around the world and ~1.1 percent of those coming from the U.S.

Page Layout Update #2 (October 9, 2012)

The updated in the page layout algorithm influenced about 0.7 percent of English queries. This update allowed certain websites to recover.

Penguin Update 1.2 (October 5, 2012)

This second Penguin algorithm data refresh impacted 0.3 percent of English queries. Further reducing spamming.

Exact Match Domain Update (September 28, 2012)

The Exact Match Domain (or EMD) algorithm update of Google centers of purging SERPs of spammy or low-quality domain matches.

Panda Update (#20) (September 27, 2012)

Unlike the other updates of the Panda algorithm, this one took over a week to complete. It impacted 2.4 percent of English search queries; more than twice the rate of each of the previous updates.

Panda Update 3.9.2 (#19) (September 18, 2012)

The rollout of this Panda data-refresh impacted less than 0.7 percent of queries. It came with some flux in the following days.

Panda Update 3.9.1 (#18) (August 20, 2012)

Google confirmed this Panda data refresh, which again resulted in the same rate of impact as the previous two updates.

Panda Update 3.9 (#17) (July 24, 2012)

This Panda refresh yielded the same result as the previous update.

Panda Update 3.8 (#16) (June 25, 2012)

Another Panda refresh just a few days after the previous one impacted ~1 percent of searches around the world.

Panda Update 3.7 (#15) (June 8, 2012)

This Panda algorithm refresh impacted less than 1 percent of U.S. queries and ~1 percent of global searches. The impact was apparently greater than those of recent Panda updates.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Penguin Update 1.1 (May 26, 2012)

This is a data refresh of the Penguin algorithm according to Matt Cutts of Google. This influenced less than 0.1 percent of English searches.

Websites became proactive in clearing link profiles after their rankings dropped upon the launch of the initial Penguin algorithm finally recovered. However, other websites that got away the first time finally felt the impact.

Panda Update 3.6 (#14) (April 27, 2012)

Again, Google confirmed players’ suspicion of another refresh in the Panda algorithm on this date.

Penguin Update (April 24, 2012)

This is an “over-optimization” penalty. Players in the industry have long anticipated this, and Google finally launched it. This downranks websites that engage in hard-hitting web-spam like keyword stuffing and unnatural linking.

These strategies violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This update impacted 3.1 percent of English queries.

Panda Update 3.5 (#13) (April 19, 2012)

Matt Cutts of Google confirmed that the Panda data refresh did take place on this date. It established the suspicion of many players in the industry.

Panda Update 3.4 (#12) March 23, 2012

Another Panda refresh from Google, this update influenced ~1.6 percent of queries.

Panda Update 3.3 (#11) (February 27, 2012)

This is a data refresh aimed at making searches more accurate and sensitive to changes happening on the web.

Venice Update (February 27, 2012)

The Venice Update influenced Google to start including search results based on either searcher’s physical location or IP address. This allowed Google to detect if a query or web page had better local intent or relevance.

Page Layout Update (January 19, 2012)

This page layout algorithm update from Google went after websites that contained excessive ads above the fold. This is when a user must scroll down the page before seeing the real content. According to Google, this update wedged less than 1 percent of websites.

Panda Update 3.2 (#10) (January 18, 2012)

While there were whispers about an update happening on this date, Google did confirm a data refresh of Panda.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Panda Update 3.1 (#9) (November 18, 2011)

This is a minor Panda refresh. It only affected less than 1 percent of searches.

Freshness Update (November 3, 2011)

Google altered the ranking algorithm that it uses. It aims to determine when to deliver fresher search results better. Among the said results are current events, hot topics, and recurring events. Google wanted to give searchers more relevant results. This had a significant impact on 35 percent of searches.

Panda Update 3.0 (#8) (October 19, 2011)

Google recalculated the impact of the algorithm on websites and added some new signals.

Panda Update 2.5 (#7) (September 28, 2011)

This is a reiteration of the Google Panda algorithm. However, Matt Cutts of Google announced some Panda-related flux, with confirmed dates on October 3 and October 13.

Panda Update 2.4 (#6) (August 12, 2011)

The Panda algorithm finally reaches international users including those in non-English speaking countries with the exception of Japan, China, and Korea.

Panda Update 2.3 (#5) (July 23, 2011)

Indeed, Panda kept updating until the next few months. Take note that Panda focuses on content, and the continuous update goes to prove that Google wants to offer users better quality content.

Panda Update 2.2 (#4) (June 21, 2011)

This is yet another update to the Google Panda algorithm. The effects are not quite as impactful compared to when the first Panda was rolled out.

Panda Update 2.1 (#3) (May 9, 2011)

This is a data refresh according to Google. Nevertheless, the industry first dubbed it as Panda 3.0. There is not much difference between this and the previous updates. It was simply a fine-tuning.

Panda Update 2.0 (#2) (April 11, 2011)

This was the first update to the core Panda algorithm. It covers more signals, including sites blocked by Google users.

Panda Update (February 23, 2011)

This is perhaps the most repeated update in Google’s algorithm update history. It was initially an unnamed algorithm update, and it shocked the SEO community as it had an impact on 12 percent of queries.

Big players of the industry felt the huge effect of this update. Its initial name was dubbed as “Farmer”, but Google soon revealed it as Panda. The name was after the name of the engineer who came up with the primary algorithm.

MayDay Update (April 28, 2010)

The MayDay update changed how Google assessed sites. The algorithm was set to choose the best match for long-tail queries. The rollout completion dates May 3.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Caffeine Update (August 10, 2009)

This update is an indexing system. It allows Google to crawl into sites and store data efficiently. The Caffeine Update resulted in 50 percent fresher results for queries.

Unlike the usual surprise rolling out of updates, the Caffeine Update was made known to developers in August 2009, but the rollout became official on June 8, 2010. Developers, therefore, had enough time to improve their sites.

Vince Update (January 18, 2009)

Unlike the Big Daddy Update that came out gradually, Google’s Vince Update was quick. Changes were noticeable at a broad range. It placed big brand domains with competitive keyword terms in the first page rankings while sites that used to be top-ranking were pulled down.

These were the less authoritative sites, affiliate sites, and sites wanted so much to be visible that they completely resorted to SEO efforts at the expense of quality content.

Big Daddy Update (December 15, 2005)

The Big Daddy Update came gradually into Google’s infrastructure. It was initially rolled out in December 2005. It took three months (March 2006) to complete. This update addressed the ways in which Google would handle technical issues.

Among these issues are URL canonicalization and redirects. Some websites failed to make it into the new Big Daddy data centers. The main reasons were that some sites were stuck to excessive reciprocal linking, linking to spammy neighborhoods, and using paid links.

Jagger Update (September 1, 2005)

This update came in three phases: Jagger 1, Jagger 2, and Jagger 3. It has eyes on backlinking. The intention was to cleanse sites of unnatural link building, paid links, and other types of spam. By the second phase in October, everyone felt the considerable impact of the updates.

Several sites fell from the ranks. November marked the final phase of the Jagger update. By then, some sites had been using the update, and those who failed to change their strategies fell off the wagon.

Florida Update (November 16, 2003)

This is the first major algorithm update by Google. The Florida Update ushered in a new era for SEO. Websites that used spamming to land high rankings were no longer in the picture.

Sites that used keyword stuffing, multiple sites under the same brand, invisible texts, and hidden links were all eliminated in the rankings. Eventually, the quality of the content became necessary.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Keeping up with Google Algorithm Updates

Algorithm updates are not something that must shake everyone in the industry. Knowing how to stay on top of it would greatly help to avoid the massive impacts of any update.

Perhaps staying relevant or providing high-quality content would be the number one strategy to stay on top. When the site is no longer ranking, it is time to check at the site’s relevance in relation to Google’s perspective. This means, look at the content of the site based on how Google will see it.

Take note that there is a Search Quality Rater Guideline that needs the utmost consideration. Keeping this to heart would be most helpful in maintaining site content relevance. It is always a good idea to experiment but do so while keeping in mind the guidelines to avoid being penalized.  

The algorithms should serve as a guide and not a nuisance. This is best used for a site’s advantage if users’ needs are part of the planning out of contents.

Again, content must cater to users’ needs. This is basically Google’s purpose—to provide users with the best answer to their queries. If a site’s content is outdated or irrelevant, then naturally, it would not rank highly.

Optimizing for relevance must be the main agenda. The competition is in the content and in quality links, and if a site is smack right at the center of this competition, then it will surely stay on top of updates no matter what.

Possible Effects of the September 2019 Google Algorithm Update

Ultimately, the effect of the September 2019 Google Algorithm Update will be evident in the next 10 to 15 days. In the meantime, as suggested by experts, it is best not to make changes until after the fine-tuning of the algorithms. The Google Algorithm Update of September 2019 is confirmed and announced. This makes it easier for everyone concerned to adapt to the change.

In the meantime, it is best to keep monitoring your ranking. If possible, determine the risks that this update has on your site.

We will keep you posted on any update regarding the rolling out of this new core update from Google. Feel free to bookmark this page and to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news on important Google updates.

If you have a specific site that has been negatively affected by Google Algorithm Update and you would like me to look into for you, please don’t hesitate to send me an email: sagar@waobe.com.

Alternatively, you can also use our contact form.