Late last month, Google announced a major update to its search engine ranking methodology designed specifically with SEO in mind.
Yes, Google knows about SEO – and they like it! Microsoft’s search engine experts over at Bing are also outspoken supporters of constructive Search Engine Optimization.
But Google doesn’t like being “gamed,” and this recent search rank update was designed to punish sites that try to fool Google with backhanded, “black hat” SEO tactics. Unfortunately, this also meant that some very high quality, reputable websites were “dinged” in the process.
This is one of the most anticipated and important updates to Google’s search algorithm in recent months, and the impact has been pretty far reaching… Google predicts that this update (referred to as “Penguin” in the SEO industry) will impact 3.1% of searches immediately.
The long term impact should be very positive. Google will continue to advance & evolve their methodology (hopefully protecting good sites that were unfairly punished), and as always, those sites with a comprehensive search engine strategy will continue to prevail.