Google has been busy this year updating its algorithm to help better weed out spam and improve search results. This can be good news or bad news for webmasters, depending on how your site is currently optimized. In order to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your website is performing well in the local search engines, it’s important to know what these updates are and how they may impact you. Here’s a quick overview of some of the biggest Google updates from 2012.
Panda: First released in February 2011, this update targeted low-quality sites in search results. The most recent Panda update was released in July 2015.
Venice: Launched in February 2012, this local search update incorporated Google Places data. Last updated in December 2014.
Exact Match Domain (EMD): September 2012 update targeting keyword-rich domains used for ranking manipulation. Last updated November 2014.
Penguin: April 2012 update combating spammy link-building. Penguin was last updated in December 2014.
DMCA Penalty: Targets sites with multiple copyright violation notices, potentially removing them from Google’s index.
Payday Loan: June 2013 update targeting deceptive lending practices. Last updated May 2016.
Pirate: August 2012 update that downranks copyright-violating sites and displays warning messages.
Top Heavy: January 2012 update penalizing sites with excessive above-the-fold ads. Last updated October 2012.
Final Word
2012 was a big year for Google updates. As we come to the end of the year, it’s important that you take some time to review your website and make sure you are following all the latest guidelines. These updates can have a significant impact on your site if you’re not optimizing correctly. So far, 2013 has been relatively quiet on the update front, but that doesn’t mean things will stay that way. Make sure you are always up-to-date with the latest changes so that your website can stay ahead of the competition. Have you been affected by any of these Google updates? What changes did you make to ensure better SEO rankings?
