5 Ways Google Panda Has Improved The Internet

The Google Panda update has certainly caused a lot of controversy and heated debates, in the nearly two years since it’s been active. Released initially in February 2011, the algorithm change aimed to improve SERP ranking for websites with actually relevant, good quality content, while relegating pages filled with pseudo-content, which existed for the sole purpose of ranking, to the bottom rungs of the queue – or even eliminating them for good. On the one hand, content creators that were allegedly ‘working in SEO’ decried the update, but only because it meant they had less options for making money off of gullible clients. On the other hand, original content creators started seeing the benefits of optimizing their creation for the first time. But where did all this leave the average Internet content consumer? In a far better place, if anything, then at least for the five reasons listed below.

1. No More Repeated Searches, Only to Come up Empty-Handed

Before Panda, it was not unlikely to search for a tidbit of information, only to come across websites stuffed with keywords, but no relevant information on what you had been seeking. At best, those websites offered a couple of spun articles, which, had the algorithm worked better at the time, you would have come across on legitimate websites.

2. No More Sifting through Dozens of Empty SERPs

Thinking back to two years ago, Google was not completely useless and did generate relevant results back then, too. However, the more specific the information sought by the user, the more likely the odds of having to click through SERP after SERP filled with nothing but websites stuffed with keywords. This particularly applied to searches which were connected to one commercial product or another. The user would stumble upon countless stores trying to sell them said product, but precious few reviews on their service, item, or accommodation of choice.

3. Panda Improved SEO Agency Service Quality

Before Panda, it didn’t take much refinement, know-how or implementation expertise to ‘work in SEO’. Getting backlinks and generating keyword-rich content was the strategy at the time, and it wasn’t one that focused on quality. Nowadays, a reputed SEO agency will tell you outright that original, relevant content is the number one step toward creating an efficient optimization strategy. In order to reach the consumer, a company or brand actually needs to generate targeted communication these days, as well as be ready to address concerns, complaints, and suggestions from their buyer base. The more transparent – the better.

4. Panda Panders Creative Content

Perhaps the biggest way in which Google’s Panda update affected the way the general consumer uses the Internet has to do with marketing. The seminal algorithm change made sure, once and for all, that Internet marketing becomes a field just as rich in opportunities for creativity as the offline marcom industries. On the one hand, this means more jobs for content creators, on the other, it is also likely to provide the end-user with a more organic web experience.

5. Panda Prompted Small Businesses to Up the Creative Ante

Many Panda opponents argued, at the time, that small businesses don’t have the time and talent resources that a successfully Panda-oriented marketing strategy would entail. However, since the update brought the focus back to creativity, many otherwise small businesses realized that the algorithm change also meant know-how was becoming more valuable than major advertising mechanisms.