--- title: "Penguin 2.0 (2013): the next generation of Google's link spam fix" url: https://seomadman.com/updates/penguin-2-update-2013 section: updates language: en published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z author: Adam Hafez topics: ["Link building"] --- # Penguin 2.0 (2013): the next generation of Google's link spam fix ## The short answer Google rolled out Penguin 2.0, the next generation of its Penguin webspam algorithm, on 22 May 2013 and said the rollout was complete that day. Matt Cutts said about 2.3% of English-US queries were affected noticeably. It was an updated algorithm, not a data refresh, and it covered all languages. ## Key takeaways - Matt Cutts said Google started rolling out Penguin 2.0 on 22 May 2013 and completed it that day. - Cutts said about 2.3% of English-US queries were affected to a degree a regular user might notice. - Google said it was an updated algorithm, not just a data refresh, so it used the name internally. - The rollout also finished in other languages, with more impact where webspam was higher. - Google's ranking systems guide says Penguin became part of its core ranking systems in 2016. ## What Google changed On 22 May 2013, Matt Cutts, then head of Google's webspam team, wrote on his [blog](https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/penguin-2-0-rolled-out-today/) that Google had started rolling out "the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm." Penguin, first launched in April 2012, was in Google's words "a system designed to combat link spam." This was not a routine refresh. Cutts wrote that because it was "an updated algorithm (not just a data refresh)," Google had been calling it Penguin 2.0 internally. The name therefore came from Google. [Search Engine Land](https://searchengineland.com/penguin-4-with-penguin-2-0-generation-spam-fighting-is-now-live-160544), which numbered every Penguin release in order, called it Penguin 4. ## When it rolled out Cutts announced the launch on the This Week in Google show, according to Search Engine Land, and then confirmed it on his blog. He wrote that the rollout started "this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete." It also "finished rolling out for other languages world-wide." Google stated no separate duration. ## What is known about its impact Google's figure, from Cutts: "About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice." He added that the scope varied by language and that languages with more webspam would see more impact. Google gave no site-level figures. ## What site owners should do Penguin no longer exists as a separate system. Google's [ranking systems guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) lists it under retired systems and says it "was integrated into our core ranking systems in 2016." Google's spam policies now carry the rules it enforced: - Do not buy or sell links for ranking purposes, including exchanging goods or services for links. - Avoid excessive link exchanges and automated link building. - Qualify paid or sponsored links with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". - Report sites that use link spam through Google's spam report. ## How to check whether it affected you This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so May 2013 can only be checked in archived analytics, by comparing Google organic traffic for the week before and the week after 22 May 2013. The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists every update with its dates. ## Related updates - The [Penguin update](/updates/penguin-update-2012) of April 2012 was the original launch. - The [payday loan update](/updates/payday-loan-update-2013) followed in June 2013 against spammy queries. - [Penguin 3.0](/updates/penguin-3-update-2014) was the next Penguin update, in October 2014. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did Penguin 2.0 roll out? Matt Cutts wrote that Google started rolling it out on the afternoon of 22 May 2013 and that the rollout was complete, including for other languages, by the time he posted that day. ### Why is it called Penguin 2.0 if it was the fourth Penguin launch? Cutts said it was the fourth Penguin-related launch, but because it was an updated algorithm rather than a data refresh, Google referred to it internally as Penguin 2.0. Search Engine Land also numbered it Penguin 4. ### How many queries did Penguin 2.0 affect? Cutts said about 2.3% of English-US queries were affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. Impact varied by language, with more in languages with more webspam. ### Does Penguin still exist? Not as a separate system. Google's ranking systems guide lists Penguin under retired systems and says it was integrated into core ranking in 2016. ## Sources 1. [Penguin 2.0 rolled out today](https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/penguin-2-0-rolled-out-today/) - Matt Cutts (Google) (primary) 2. [Penguin 4, With Penguin 2.0 Generation Spam-Fighting, Is Now Live](https://searchengineland.com/penguin-4-with-penguin-2-0-generation-spam-fighting-is-now-live-160544) - Search Engine Land 3. [A guide to Google Search ranking systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) - Google Search Central (primary) 4. [Spam policies for Google web search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) - Google Search Central (primary)