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Friday, September 23, 2016
Google's algorithms rely on more than 200 unique signals or "clues" that make it possible to
surface what you might be looking for. These signals include things like the specific words that
appear on websites, the freshness of content, your region and PageRank. One specific signal of the
algorithms is called
Penguin,
which was first launched in 2012 and today has an update.
After a period of development and testing, we are now rolling out an update to the Penguin
algorithm in all languages. Here are the key changes you'll see, which were also among webmasters'
top requests to us:
Penguin is now real-time. Historically, the list of sites affected by Penguin was
periodically refreshed at the same time. Once a webmaster considerably improved their site and
its presence on the internet, many of Google's algorithms would take that into consideration
very fast, but others, like Penguin, needed to be refreshed. With this change, 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. It also means we're not going to comment on future
refreshes.
Penguin is now more granular. Penguin now devalues spam by adjusting ranking based on
spam signals, rather than affecting ranking of the whole site.
The web has significantly changed over the years, but as we said in our
original post, webmasters
should focus on creating amazing, compelling websites. It's also important to remember
that updates like Penguin are just one of more than 200 signals we use to determine rank.
As always, if you have feedback, you can reach us on our
forums and on
Twitter.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle has updated its Penguin algorithm, which now runs in real-time and adjusts rankings based on spam signals instead of impacting the entire site.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis update means that websites making improvements will see faster results, and Google will no longer announce future Penguin refreshes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDespite this and other signals like it, Google still emphasizes that creating compelling websites is crucial for achieving high rankings.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google's Penguin algorithm, one of over 200 ranking signals, received an update. Penguin now operates in real-time, meaning data refreshes occur immediately after recrawling and reindexing, making changes visible much faster. Additionally, it has become more granular, devaluing spam by adjusting rankings based on spam signals rather than penalizing entire sites. Webmasters are advised to concentrate on developing compelling websites. Feedback can be submitted via Google forums or Twitter.\n"],null,["# Penguin is now part of our core algorithm\n\nFriday, September 23, 2016\n\n\nGoogle's algorithms rely on more than 200 unique signals or \"clues\" that make it possible to\nsurface what you might be looking for. These signals include things like the specific words that\nappear on websites, the freshness of content, your region and PageRank. One specific signal of the\nalgorithms is called\n[Penguin](/search/blog/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality),\nwhich was first launched in 2012 and today has an update.\n\n\nAfter a period of development and testing, we are now rolling out an update to the Penguin\nalgorithm in all languages. Here are the key changes you'll see, which were also among webmasters'\ntop requests to us:\n\n- **Penguin is now real-time.** Historically, the list of sites affected by Penguin was periodically refreshed at the same time. Once a webmaster considerably improved their site and its presence on the internet, many of Google's algorithms would take that into consideration very fast, but others, like Penguin, needed to be refreshed. With this change, 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. It also means we're not going to comment on future refreshes.\n- **Penguin is now more granular.** Penguin now devalues spam by adjusting ranking based on spam signals, rather than affecting ranking of the whole site.\n\n\nThe web has significantly changed over the years, but as we said in our\n[original post](/search/blog/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality), webmasters\nshould focus on creating amazing, compelling websites. It's also important to remember\nthat updates like Penguin are just one of more than 200 signals we use to determine rank.\n\n\nAs always, if you have feedback, you can reach us on our\n[forums](https://support.google.com/webmasters/go/community) and on\n[Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc).\n\n\nPosted by [Gary Illyes](https://garyillyes.com/+?rel=author),\nGoogle Search Ranking Team"]]
