“Panda,” Google’s major search algorithm change that was released in the U.S. earlier this year, has had a major impact on the way we interact with search. However, it has taken a long time to spread to all users. As of this week, Panda’s conquest is almost complete: the algorithm updates are in effect for every Google search outlet and for all searches except those in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
The History of Google Panda in Brief
Panda was released to counter “thin content,” primarily that which was released by “content farms” or “content mills” (earning the algorithm changes their alternate title of the “farmer update”). Panda has since seen numerous updates, including a large set of changes just weeks after Panda’s initial release, some additional changes aimed at preventing damage caused by scraper sites, and minor tweaks since.
While Google hasn’t released a statement on how many iterations of Panda there have been, SEO experts are using the term “Panda 2.3″ to describe the current state of the game. These changes have been in effect for English searches across the world.
The Spread to New Languages
Now Google’s Panda will munch away at thin content in almost every language that Google can search in. It’s something of a mystery why Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are still in the experimental phases; while it could be due to the actual structure of the language, the difficulty is more likely based on cultural paradigms surrounding web content. Other language with similar linguistic structures are now seeing the Panda updates.
These updates are likely to impact just six to nine percent of all searches, but searches that are impacted will see a notable change.
[Sources include: Inside Search]