Penguin 4.0 (2016): real-time link spam and what it means now

What Google changed#

Google announced on 23 September 2016 that it was “rolling out an update to the Penguin algorithm in all languages.” Penguin, first launched in 2012, was Google’s system for combating link spam. The post, by Gary Illyes of the Google Search Ranking Team, named two changes that had been among webmasters’ top requests:

• Penguin is now real-time. Previously the list of affected sites was refreshed periodically. Google wrote that Penguin’s data “is refreshed in real time, so changes will be visible much faster, typically taking effect shortly after we recrawl and reindex a page.”
• Penguin is now more granular. Google said Penguin “now devalues spam by adjusting ranking based on spam signals, rather than affecting ranking of the whole site.”

The post was titled “Penguin is now part of our core algorithm.”

When it rolled out#

Rollout began on 23 September 2016. Search Engine Land reported on 13 October 2016 that Gary Illyes confirmed on Twitter that it had fully rolled out. Google did not state a rollout length.

This was the last Penguin update Google announced. Because the data now refreshed continuously, Google said the change “also means we’re not going to comment on future refreshes.”

What is known about its impact#

Google published no figures on how many queries or sites Penguin 4.0 affected. Its post described the mechanism, not the scale: spam signals would devalue spam rather than lower a whole site’s ranking. Any traffic percentage attributed to Penguin 4.0 is a third-party estimate.

What site owners should do#

Penguin no longer exists as a separate system. Google’s ranking systems guide lists it under retired systems, saying it “was integrated into our core ranking systems in 2016.” Link spam is now handled by Google’s core ranking and spam detection systems, and its spam policies define the rules:

• Do not buy or sell links for ranking purposes, including exchanging goods or services for links.
• Avoid excessive link exchanges and links created by automated programs or services.
• Qualify paid or sponsored links with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored". Google says buying and selling links for advertising is not a violation when the links are qualified this way.
• Do not require a followed link as part of terms of service or a contract.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of performance data, so it cannot show September and October 2016. In archived analytics, compare organic Google traffic for the week before 23 September 2016 with the week after 13 October 2016. For your current link profile, Search Console’s Links report shows which sites link to you today. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists the updates around it.

Related updates#

• The original Penguin update introduced the system in 2012.
• The July 2021 link spam update was Google’s next announced link spam update.