Google Panda Algorithm Rolling Out For At Least Two More Months

Business website owners are impatiently awaiting the rollout of the new Google update, the Panda 4.2. This update has been coming for months, 10 months to be exact, and some web pages are already being classified under the new system. Other pages on the same website, however, are not yet classified under Panda 4.2, and this means that a website’s pages can run differently, slowing up the flow of the site, and making customers wait while pages load. This slowdown is clearly costing some website owners sales and returning traffic, and this is frustrating them. One comfort that the website owners can take is that this is a shared experience and that many other sites are suffering under the same conditions.

Why is Panda 4.2 rolling out so slowly?

Usually, when a Google update hits, the new system is implemented at once. This means that there is generally less disruption to websites, and webmasters can quickly manage their SEO in order to meet the new demands. This delayed roll-out means that many website owners are stuck in limbo, unable to move forward but also suffering on those pages which are already being classified under the new algorithm. The reason for the delay has been described as due to ‘technical reasons’ according to John Mueller of Google. He also explained that they were indexing as usual, and trying to separate high quality and low-quality sites.  Some people believe that the slow rollout is an attempt by Google to conceal their new tracking techniques, helping to slow down SEO responses.  The chances are that the new techniques used by Panda 4.2 will be hidden as long as possible in order to give Google some breathing space before SEO begins again.

What to expect from the slow rollout

If you are still waiting for Panda 4.2 to finish rolling out, then you will have to be patient. At the moment, the 4.2 update is site-wide, but some pages are not yet being affected by the changes. Most webmasters noted few changes after the update, with only 2-3% of queries in English being affected. However, the new update does impact those who have suffered after the 4.1 updates in September. This means that you may notice a slight improvement to the functioning of the site. For those who were not affected by the last update, the only thing that you can do is wait.