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Panda/Farmer Update

History of Panda Google Algorithm Updates

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Panda/Farmer Update

Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500–600 times. While most of these changes are minor, Googleoccasionally rolls out a "major" algorithmic update (such asGoogle Panda and Google Penguin) that affects searchresults in significant ways.

Here, we’ve listed the major algorithmic changes thathave had the biggest impact on search.

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1. Panda/Farmer - February 23, 2011

A major algorithm updatehit sites hard, affectingup to 12% of searchresults (a number thatcame directly fromGoogle). Panda rolled outover at least a couple ofmonths, hitting Europe inApril 2011.

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2. Panda 2.0 (#2) - April 11, 2011

Google rolled out the Pandaupdate to all English queriesworldwide (not limited toEnglish-speaking countries).New signals were alsointegrated, including dataabout sites users blocked viathe SERPs directly or theChrome browser.

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3. Panda 2.1 (#3) - May 9, 2011

Initially dubbed “Panda3.0”, Google appearedto roll out yet anotherround of changes.These changes weren’tdiscussed in detail byGoogle and seemed tobe relatively minor.

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4. Panda 2.2 (#4) - June 21, 2011

Google continued to updatePanda-impacted sites anddata, and version 2.2 wasofficially acknowledged.Panda updates occurredseparately from the mainindex and not in real-time,reminiscent of early GoogleDance updates.

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5. Panda 2.3 (#5) - July 23, 2011

Webmaster chattersuggested that Googlerolled out yet anotherupdate. It was unclearwhether new factorswere introduced, or thiswas simply an update tothe Panda data andranking factors.

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6. Panda 2.4 (#6) - August 12, 2011

Google rolled Panda outinternationally, bothfor English-language queriesglobally and non-Englishqueries except for Chinese,Japanese, andKorean. Google reportedthat this impacted 6-9% ofqueries in affectedcountries.

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7. Panda 2.5 (#7) - Sept 28, 2011

After more thanmonth, Googlerolled out anotherPanda update.Specific details ofwhat changed wereunclear, but somesites reportedlarge-scale losses.

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8. Panda "Flux“ (#8) - Oct 5, 2011

Matt Cutts tweeted:"expect some Panda-related flux in the nextfew weeks" and gave afigure of "~2%". Otherminor Panda updatesoccurred on 10/3,10/13, and 11/18.

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7. Panda 3.1 (#9) - Nov 18, 2011

After Panda 2.5, Google entereda period of "Panda Flux" whereupdates started to happen morefrequently and were relativelyminor. Some industry analystscalled the 11/18 update 3.1,even though there was noofficial 3.0. For the purposes ofthis history, we will discontinuenumbering Panda updatesexcept for very high-impactchanges.

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10. Panda 3.2 (#10) - Jan 18, 2012

Google confirmed a Pandadata update, althoughsuggested that thealgorithm hadn't changed.It was unclear how this fitinto the "Panda Flux"scheme of more frequentdata updates.

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11. Panda 3.3 (#11) - Feb 27, 2012

Google rolled out anotherpost-"flux" Panda update,which appeared to berelatively minor. This camejust 3 days after the 1-yearanniversary of Panda, anunprecedented lifespan fora named update.

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12. Panda 3.4 (#12) - Mar 23,

2012Google announcedanother Panda update,this time via Twitter asthe update was rollingout. Their publicstatements estimatedthat Panda 3.4 impactedabout 1.6% of searchresults.

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13. Panda 3.5 (#13) – Apr 19,

2012

In the middle of a busy weekfor the algorithm, Googlequietly rolled out a Pandadata update. A mix ofchanges made the impactdifficult to measure, but thisappears to have been a fairlyroutine update with minimalimpact.

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14. Panda 3.6 (#14) - Apr 27, 2012

Barely a week afterPanda 3.5, Google rolledout yet another Pandadata update. Theimplications of thisupdate were unclear,and it seemed that theimpact was relativelysmall.

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15. Panda 3.7 (#15) – June 8,

2012

Google rolled out yetanother Panda data update,claiming that less than 1% ofqueries were affect. Rankingfluctuation data suggestedthat the impact wassubstantially higher thanprevious Panda updates(3.5, 3.6).

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16. Panda 3.8 (#16) - Jun 25, 2012

Google rolled outanother Panda datarefresh, but thisappeared to be dataonly (no algorithmchanges) and had amuch smaller impactthan Panda 3.7.

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17. Panda 3.9 (#17) – Jul 24, 2012

A month after Panda 3.8,Google rolled out a newPanda update. Rankingsfluctuated for 5-6 days,although no single daywas high enough tostand out. Googleclaimed ~1% of querieswere impacted.

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18. Panda 3.9.1 (#18) - Aug 20,

2012Google rolled out yetanother Panda dataupdate, but the impactseemed to be fairlysmall. Since the Panda3.0 series ran out ofnumbers at 3.9, thenew update wasdubbed 3.9.1.

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19. Panda 3.9.2 (#19) – Sep 18,

2012

Google rolled outanother Panda refresh,which appears to havebeen data-only.Ranking flux wasmoderate but not onpar with a large-scalealgorithm update.

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20. Panda 20 (#20) – Sep 27, 2012

Overlapping the EMDupdate, a fairly major Pandaupdate (algo + data) rolledout, officially affecting 2.4%of queries. As the 3.X serieswas getting odd, industrysources opted to startnaming Panda updatesin order (this was the 20th).

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21. Panda 21 (#21) – Nov 5,

2012Google rolled out their21st Panda update,roughly 5-1/2 weeksafter Panda #20. Thisupdate was reportedto be smaller, officiallyimpacting 1.1% ofEnglish queries.

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22. Panda 22 (#22) – Nov 21, 2012

After some mixedsignals, Googleconfirmed the 22ndPanda update, whichappears to have beendata-only. This came onthe heels of a larger, butunnamed update aroundNovember 19th.

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23. Panda 23 (#23) – Dec 21, 2012

Right before theChristmas holiday, Googlerolled out another Pandaupdate. They officiallycalled it a "refresh",impacting 1.3% of Englishqueries. This was aslightly higher impactthan Pandas #21 and #22.

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24. Panda 24 (#24) – Jan 22, 2013

Google announced itsfirst official update of2013, claiming 1.2% ofqueries affected. Thisdid not seem related totalk of an updatearound 1/17-18 (whichGoogle did not confirm).

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25. Panda 25 (#25) – Mar 14, 2013

Matt Cutts pre-announceda Panda update at SMXWest, and suggested itwould be the last updatebefore Panda wasintegrated into the corealgorithm. The exact datewas unconfirmed, butMozCast data suggests3/13-3/14.

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26. Panda 4.0 (#26) – May 19, 2014

Google confirmed a majorPanda update that likelyincluded both an algorithmupdate and a data refresh.Officially, about 7.5% ofEnglish-language querieswere affected. While MattCutts said it began rollingout on 5/20, our datastrongly suggests it startedearlier.

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27. Panda 4.1 (#27) – Sep 23, 2014

Google announced asignificant Panda update,which included analgorithmic component.They estimated the impactat 3-5% of queries affected.Given the "slow rollout," theexact timing was unclear.

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27. Panda 4.1 (#27) – Sep 23, 2014

Google announced asignificant Panda update,which included analgorithmic component.They estimated the impactat 3-5% of queries affected.Given the "slow rollout," theexact timing was unclear.

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