Google Panda was originally introduced in February 2011 as part of Google's efforts to combat black hat SEO practices and webspam. At the time, user complaints about the growing power of 'content farms' were widespread.

Along came the Panda algorithm, which was utilized internally and fashioned after human quality assessments, and was integrated as a ranking element. Fast forward to 2021, and you can see how critical it was for Google to prioritize quality and user experience as its first step. Here's all you need to know about Google Panda, including why it was launched, information about the algorithm, and a timeline.

Why Did Google Create Panda?

In 2010, the declining quality of Google's search results and the advent of the 'content farm' business model were frequently discussed.

As Google's Amit Singhal subsequently told Wired at TED, the late 2009 'Caffeine' update, which substantially accelerated Google's capacity to index content quickly, also added 'some not so nice' content into their index.

Google announced the modification in a blog post on February 24, stating that they 'made a rather large algorithmic enhancement to our ranking - a change that visibly affects 11.8% of our inquiries.'

Analyses of the 'winners and losers' by SearchMetrics and SISTRIX (among others) revealed that the sites that were struck the worst were relatively familiar to everyone in the SEO business at the time.

Wisegeek.com, ezinearticles.com, suite101.com, hubpages.com, buzzle.com, articlebase.com, and more sites were among them.

Notably, content farms eHow and wikiHow performed better following the change. Later improvements would wreak havoc on these more 'acceptable' content farms, with Demand Media losing $6.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The most visible development in the SEO industry was the emphasis placed on 'article marketing,' in which SEO practitioners used to post low-quality articles on sites like ezinearticles.com as a form of link building.

Google Panda Rescue

The road to recovery from Panda can be both simple and difficult. Because Panda improves the performance of sites with high-quality material, the solution is to improve the quality and distinctiveness of your content. While this is easier said than done, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that it is exactly what is required to heal.

Conclusion

You should keep Panda's basic notions in mind in 2021. Avoid black hat practices and spam links in favor of high-quality content that benefits the user and their experience. Google's usage of machine learning and technology follows these concepts. Although the moniker Panda does not appear, the Panda concepts remain applicable today.