In October 2014, Google released Penguin 3.0, an advanced spam filter that fights spammy websites and links. This filter can detect those links that do not adhere to Google’s guidelines of genuine links. Penguin filter was first released in April, 2012 and this filter affected 3.1% of search queries for the first time. Since the date of its launch, there have been six releases of Penguin filter. Penguin 3.0 has been the most advanced update in Google’s algorithm.
Most online publishers have been affected by Penguin 3.0. Publishers who were affected by Penguin’s previous update in October 2013 had been anxiously waiting for Google’s update of Penguin filter. They have removed spammy links to see if there is any improvement in web traffic. If they do not see any improvements in web traffic, they would have to wait for the next release of Penguin filter. People who have removed bad links within the last three weeks of Penguin 3.0’s release might not have seen any impact on their web traffic. Spammy links have been actively detected and brandished by Penguin 3.0.
To determine whether a website has been affected by Penguin 3.0, Penguin Penalty Checker Tool must be first used. This tool is used to compare web traffic on days of Penguin rollout. If web traffic has dropped during a Penguin rollout, the website is surely affected by Penguin’s update. However, the website must be completely audited so as to be totally sure of Penguin 3.0’s impact on web traffic.
Publishers who have witnessed a drop in ranking are not actually affected by Penguin’s update. Links that pass Google’s filters act as credit or votes. If the spammy links have been countered by Penguin, they would no longer act as credit or vote share. With the release of Penguin 3.0, websites that gained visibility through shady links lose visibility and credibility. This is because these shady links get counted and removed by Penguin 3.0 that acts as an advanced filter.
Websites that were not directly penalized by Google lost their share of fake votes or credits, thanks to Penguin 3.0. With the release of Penguin 3.0, a new system has been created. Today, refreshing of content has taken precedence with most web publishers doing it quite frequently. As per latest reports released by Google, Penguin 3.0 has already affected 1% of queries. In the history of Google, Penguin 3.0 was the most anticipated update for web publishers all over the world. Google released the latest Penguin update almost after a year.
