Warning: Major Google Panda 2.2 Ranking Update 'Coming Soon'
By: Courtney Mills 2011-06-20
Day one of SMX Advanced conference wrapped up with the news that Google will soon be releasing version 2.2 of the Panda algorithm update.
Matt Cutts made the announcement in the question-and-answer session with Danny Sullivan mentioning that 'Google has updated and approved the changes...
...in the Panda 2.2 algorithm but it hasn't been rolled out yet, but that should happen soon'.
Warning: Major Google Ranking Update 'Coming Soon'
Addressing the frequent complaints from webmasters that web content scraping sites out rank the original content sites, Cutts said that the Google Panda algorithm update (version 2.2) will tackle this issue. He also said that Google will keep working on the Panda algorithm until they have a robust algorithm that can penalize the content farming and related sites and display better improved search results.
This means that websites that were penalized by the original Panda update could soon look forward to regaining their original rankings or even getting higher rankings in the SERPs.
The differences with Panda update 2.2 lies in its implementation - Cutts said that the algorithm will be manually scanning for those particular websites that are involved in content farming and/or content re-publishing.
While Panda Update 2.1 was only released in early May, it was a minor update and received no fanfare from Google. The fact that Matt Cutts has mentioned 2.2 at one of the biggest SEO conferences of the year indicates that its probably going to be big (and have quite an impact).
However, to avoid any great impact to your websites ranking, ensure that your site is kept up-to-date with good quality content. This will reduce the likelihood of any penalty or if you have already been penalized in previous updates then the penalty should soon be lifted after the 2.2 launch.
Google hasn't given a specific date on the launch of the Panda update 2.2, but as soon as we hear anything more we will be sure to let you know.
About the Author: Courtney is an online marketing specialist at ineedhits - a leading search engine marketing firm with over 11 years experience. Courtney has been living and breathing marketing for over 2 years and specializes in web and permission email marketing and providing news and opinion to online marketing communities.