---
title: "Panda update (2011): what it changed and what it means now"
url: https://seomadman.com/updates/panda-update-2011
section: updates
language: en
published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z
author: Adam Hafez
topics: ["Content strategy", "Core updates"]
---

# Panda update (2011): what it changed and what it means now

## The short answer

Google announced the Panda update on 24 February 2011 to reduce rankings for low-quality sites and reward original, useful ones. Google said it noticeably affected 11.8% of queries at launch in the U.S. It went global in English in April 2011, and Google says Panda became part of its core ranking systems in 2015.

## Key takeaways

- Google announced Panda on 24 February 2011, saying it launched in the last day or so.
- Google said it noticeably affected 11.8% of queries at its U.S. launch.
- Panda was Google's internal name, after an engineer; the industry first called it Farmer.
- It rolled out to all English-language users on 11 April 2011, adding user blocking data.
- Google says Panda became part of its core ranking systems in 2015.

## What Google changed

On 24 February 2011, Google announced "a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking" on
its [official blog](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html).
It was "designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites," which Google described as sites that
add little value, copy content from other websites or are not very useful. In return it aimed to
rank higher sites "with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports,
thoughtful analysis."

The name Panda came from Google. Asked for the code name by Wired, Amit Singhal said: "we named
it internally after an engineer, and his name is Panda." Before that, Wired noted, Danny Sullivan
of Search Engine Land had been calling it Farmer because its apparent target was content farms.
Farmer is the industry nickname; Panda is Google's name.

## When it rolled out

Google's post, dated 24 February 2011, said the change launched "in the last day or so," in the
U.S. only. On
[11 April 2011](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/04/high-quality-sites-algorithm-goes),
Google rolled it out to all English-language users and began using data about sites that users
blocked, in some high-confidence situations. Google stated no completion date for Panda, which
it kept refining for years afterwards.

## What is known about its impact

Google's figures: the launch "noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries." The April expansion was
smaller in scope, with "about 2% of U.S. queries" affected by a reasonable amount, compared with
almost 12% for the original change. Google also said that, of the several dozen most-blocked
domains in its Personal Blocklist Chrome extension, the change addressed 84%.

## What site owners should do

Panda no longer exists as a separate system. Google's ranking systems guide lists it under
retired systems: "it evolved and became part of our core ranking systems in 2015." Its questions
live on. In May 2011 Google published a list of questions for assessing quality, and its current
helpful content guidance carries the same approach:

- Assess pages against Google's helpful content questions, such as whether the content provides
  original information, reporting, research or analysis.
- Improve or consolidate thin and copied pages rather than adding more of them.
- Look at the site as a whole: Google described Panda as an algorithmic assessment of site quality.

## How to check whether it affected you

This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so 2011 can only be checked in
archived analytics, by comparing Google organic traffic before and after 24 February 2011 (U.S.)
and 11 April 2011 (all English). The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists every update with
its dates.

## Later refreshes

Google refreshed Panda many times before it joined core ranking. [Panda 2.0](/updates/panda-2-update-2011),
[Panda 4.0](/updates/panda-4-update-2014), [Panda 4.1](/updates/panda-4-1-update-2014) and
[Panda 4.2](/updates/panda-4-2-update-2015) have their own pages. Google did not number these
releases; the numbers below are the ones Search Engine Land and Search Engine Roundtable used.

- **Panda 2.1** (confirmed 10 May 2011): Google called it a minor update, "far smaller" than Panda 2.0, and gave no figure.
- **Panda 2.2** (confirmed 21 June 2011): Matt Cutts had said at SMX Advanced that it would improve scraper detection.
- **Panda 2.3** (confirmed 26 July 2011): Google said it added "some new signals that help differentiate between higher- and lower-quality sites."
- **Panda 2.4** (12 August 2011): Google launched Panda in all languages except Chinese, Japanese and Korean, affecting "typically 6-9% of queries."
- **Panda 2.5** (confirmed 30 September 2011): Google confirmed a new iteration but shared no details of what it targeted.
- **Panda 3.0** (reported 19 October 2011): Matt Cutts had warned of "Panda-related flux" with "less impact than previous updates (~2%)."
- **Panda 3.1** (18 November 2011): Google called it a minor update affecting less than 1% of searches.
- **Panda 3.2** (confirmed 26 January 2012): Google said it ran a data refresh about a week earlier, with no new signals.
- **Panda 3.3** (27 February 2012): Google said it refreshed Panda data, "making it more accurate and more sensitive to recent changes on the web."
- **Panda 3.4** (23 March 2012): Google said "~1.6% of queries" were noticeably affected.
- **Panda 3.5** (19 April 2012): Matt Cutts confirmed a Panda data refresh on that date a week later.
- **Panda 3.6** (27 April 2012): Google confirmed a limited refresh, eight days after Panda 3.5.
- **Panda 3.7** (8 June 2012): Google said less than 1% of U.S. queries and 1% worldwide were noticeably affected.
- **Panda 3.8** (25 June 2012): a data refresh that Google said "noticeably affects only ~1% of queries worldwide."
- **Panda in Japanese and Korean** (17 July 2012): Google launched Panda in both languages and said it affected about 5% of their queries.
- **Panda 3.9** (24 July 2012): Google said "~1% of search results change enough to notice."
- **Panda 3.9.1** (20 August 2012): a data refresh that Google said noticeably affected "~1% of queries."
- **Panda 3.9.2** (18 September 2012): Google said "fewer than 0.7% of queries" were noticeably affected.
- **Panda 20** (27 September 2012): an algorithm update, not only a data refresh; Matt Cutts said it affected about 2.4% of English queries.
- **Panda 21** (5 November 2012): Google said it affected 1.1% of U.S. English queries and 0.4% worldwide.
- **Panda 22** (21 November 2012): Google said 0.8% of English queries were noticeably affected.
- **Panda 23** (21 December 2012): Google said "~1.3% of English queries" were noticeably affected.
- **Panda 24** (22 January 2013): Google said 1.2% of English queries were affected.
- **Panda 25** (14 March 2013): widely reported after Matt Cutts said an update was due, but Google declined to confirm it.
- **Panda 26** (confirmed 18 July 2013): Google said the update was "more finely targeted."

## Related updates

- The [Mayday update](/updates/mayday-update-2010) was the previous quality-related ranking change, in 2010.
- The [Page layout algorithm](/updates/page-layout-algorithm-2012) was the next site-quality change, in 2012.
- The [May 2015 quality update](/updates/quality-update-2015) came in the year Panda joined core ranking.

## Frequently asked questions

### When did the Panda update launch?

Google announced it on 24 February 2011, saying it had launched "in the last day or so" in the U.S. It expanded to all English-language Google users on 11 April 2011.

### Why is it called Panda, and what was Farmer?

Panda was Google's internal name. Amit Singhal told Wired it was named after an engineer called Panda. Before that, Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan had been calling it Farmer, because it seemed to target content farms.

### How many searches did Panda affect?

Google said the launch noticeably impacted 11.8% of queries. The April 2011 expansion added new signals that affected about 2% of U.S. queries by a reasonable amount, Google said.

### Does Panda still exist?

Not as a separate system. Google's ranking systems guide lists Panda under retired systems and says it evolved and became part of its core ranking systems in 2015.

## Sources

1. [Finding more high-quality sites in search](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html) - Official Google Blog (primary)
2. [High-quality sites algorithm goes global, incorporates user feedback](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/04/high-quality-sites-algorithm-goes) - Google Search Central Blog (primary)
3. [More guidance on building high-quality sites](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality) - Google Search Central Blog (primary)
4. [The 'Panda' That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google's Top Search Engineers](https://www.wired.com/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/) - Wired
5. [A guide to Google Search ranking systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) - Google Search Central (primary)
6. [Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) - Google Search Central (primary)
7. [It's Panda Update 2.1, Not Panda 3.0, Google Says](https://searchengineland.com/its-panda-update-2-not-3-google-says-76508) - Search Engine Land
8. [Official: Google Panda Update 2.2 Is Live](https://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-2-2-is-live-82611) - Search Engine Land
9. [Official: Google Panda 2.3 Update Is Live](https://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-2-3-update-is-live-87230) - Search Engine Land
10. [High-quality sites algorithm launched in additional languages](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/08/high-quality-sites-algorithm-launched) - Google Search Central Blog (primary)
11. [Confirmed: Google Panda 2.5 Update Arrived This Week](https://searchengineland.com/confirmed-google-panda-2-4-update-arrived-this-week-95222) - Search Engine Land
12. [Panda Update 3.0 Live & Panda "Flux"](https://searchengineland.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-googles-panda-2-5-flux-97603) - Search Engine Land
13. [Google Panda Update 3.1: "Minor" One Made Live On November 18th](https://searchengineland.com/minor-google-panda-update-on-november-18th-101891) - Search Engine Land
14. [Google Panda 3.2 Update Confirmed](https://searchengineland.com/google-panda-3-2-update-confirmed-109321) - Search Engine Land
15. [Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February](https://search.googleblog.com/2012/02/search-quality-highlights-40-changes.html) - Google Inside Search blog (primary)
16. [Google Confirms Panda 3.3 Update, Plus Changes To How It Evaluates Links, Local Search Rankings & Much More](https://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-panda-update-link-evaluation-local-search-rankings-113078) - Search Engine Land
17. [Google Says Panda 3.4 Is 'Rolling Out Now'](https://searchengineland.com/google-says-panda-update-is-rolling-out-now-116444) - Search Engine Land
18. [Google Panda 3.5 Update: The One We Missed](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-35-15065.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
19. [Confirmed: Panda Update 3.6 Happened On April 27th](https://searchengineland.com/panda-update-3-6-on-april-27th-120227) - Search Engine Land
20. [Google Panda 3.7 Refresh Official](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-3-7-15281.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
21. [Official Google Panda Update Version 3.8 On June 25th](https://searchengineland.com/official-google-panda-update-version-3-8-on-june-25th-125945) - Search Engine Land
22. [Google Released Panda Algorithm For Japanese & Korean Languages](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-japan-korea-15446.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
23. [Official: Google Panda 3.9 Refresh](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-39-official-15480.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
24. [Google Panda 3.9.1 Update On August 20th](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-391-15606.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
25. [Panda Update 3.92 Rolling Out (Or Is It Panda 20 Time?)](https://searchengineland.com/panda-update-3-92-rolling-out-or-is-it-panda-4-0-time-133607) - Search Engine Land
26. [Official Panda Algorithm Update: 20th Version](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-20-15789.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
27. [Google Releases Panda Update 21, Impacts 1.1% Of US Queries In English](https://searchengineland.com/google-releases-panda-update-21-138902) - Search Engine Land
28. [Confirmed: Google Panda Refresh #22 On November 21st; 0.8% Of Queries Impacted](https://searchengineland.com/confirmed-google-panda-refresh-22-happened-on-november-21st-141098) - Search Engine Land
29. [Panda Update: More Google Algorithm Or Index Updates? Maybe A Rollback?](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-update-maybe-16121.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
30. [Google Panda Update Version #24; 1.2% Of Search Queries Impacted](https://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-version-24-1-2-of-search-queries-impacted-146149) - Search Engine Land
31. [Google Panda Update 25 Seems To Have Hit](https://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-25-seems-to-have-hit-151732) - Search Engine Land
32. [Google Panda Refresh Happening Now? Is It The Softer Panda Algorithm?](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-update-17094.html) - Search Engine Roundtable