Industry NewsOrganic Search (SEO) Content Google: Panda 4.0 Update May 23rd, 2014 It’s official. Google have begun rolling out a new algorithm update, Panda 4.0 What is Panda? The Panda algorithm was introduced back in February 2011 and targets websites with duplicate, plagiarised, poor quality/spammy or thin content. Panda 4.0 aims to lower the rank of such sites whilst simultaneously enhancing the rankings of sites with great quality content. Who will Panda 4.0 affect? Panda 4.0 is set to lay the groundwork for softer and gentler Panda algorithm updates in the future and has already been noticed in Google.com search results. We suspect that moving forwards, the Panda algorithm will be continually refined, going deeper into sites. So, have you learned from your mistakes the first time Panda struck the SERPs? If not, and you still have thin, low-quality content on your site then you could be one of the Panda 4.0 losers and it may very well catch the sites that have previously ‘escaped’. What will Click Consult be doing to future-proof our strategies? As the industry has moved away from old link building practices, which now offer diminished value or in some cases a Google penalty, Click Consult focus on the presence and creation of useful content. In-depth site audits now help us to ensure that websites have relevant, quality content that serves a genuine purpose to its audience; content that is informative and ever-green. Algorithm updates can sound daunting, but if your website’s users are at the heart of your content then Panda 4.0 could well work in your favour. After all, it aims to reward websites with high-quality content! Panda 4.0 is not the only algorithm update made by Google over the past couple of days. The search giant has also released an update that will only target ‘payday loans’ and other typically spammy search queries.