Panda 4.1 (2014): a slow Panda rollout, 3% to 5% of queries

What Google changed#

On 25 September 2014, Google announced a new release of its Panda algorithm in a Google+ post by Google’s Pierre Far, reported the same day by Search Engine Land. The Google+ post is no longer available, so this page cites Search Engine Land’s report of it.

Google said the update used new signals. Search Engine Land quoted the post: “we’ve been able to discover a few more signals to help Panda identify low-quality content more precisely.” The result, Google said, was “a greater diversity of high-quality small- and medium-sized sites ranking higher.”

The name Panda 4.1 came from Search Engine Land, not Google. It explained that Google had called the previous update Panda 4.0, and because this change was smaller, “we’re going with Panda 4.1.”

When it rolled out#

Google said a “slow rollout” began earlier in the week of 25 September 2014 and would continue into the following week. Google did not give the exact start day, so this page dates it to 25 September 2014, the first confirmed date. On 6 October 2014, Google told Search Engine Land that Panda 4.1 was still rolling out. Google never stated a completion date.

What is known about its impact#

Google’s figure: depending on location, about 3% to 5% of search queries would be affected. Google gave no split by language and no site-level figures. Search Engine Land noted that sites hit by an earlier Panda update had a chance to recover if they had made the right changes.

What site owners should do#

Panda no longer exists as a separate system. Google’s ranking systems guide lists it under retired systems and says it “evolved and became part of our core ranking systems in 2015.” Google’s current helpful content guidance carries the same tests:

• Check whether content provides original information, reporting, research or analysis.
• Check whether it offers insightful analysis or information beyond the obvious.
• Improve thin sections of a site rather than adding more pages, since Panda judged sites as a whole.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so late 2014 can only be checked in archived analytics. The rollout began in the week of 22 September 2014 and was still running on 6 October, so compare a full week before that window with a full week after it. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every update with its dates.

Related updates#

• Panda 4.0 in May 2014 was the previous Panda update.
• Panda 4.2 in July 2015 was the next one.