In no way do I intend to minimize or neglect the pain out there for those sites that have been stung by Panda. We’re working hard on helping some of them. However, in the long term, Panda is actually a good thing for the web, a good thing for search, and a good thing for SEO.
Panda is a new way of looking at websites that goes beyond link and authority metrics, beyond on-page optimization, and folds in quality, credibility, and perceived trust metrics. It’s odd to see the anomalies popping up in search results – spammy looking sites ranking, scraper sites ranking. Even a few keyword-stuff subdomains are showing up. But these are the corners and edges of the algorithm, exceptions that can hold great clues into what Panda is scoring.
Panda is an evolution beyond sole focus on the PageRank model. Together with user metrics and social data, Google can rank websites based on a whole slew of scoring criteria beyond just the link graph and SEO 101 on-page factors (which remain important). Content integrity, usability, even aesthetics are all now potentially in the realm of SEO.
Michael Martinez astutely scribed recently, "where has all the PageRank gone?" and within the same time period toolbar PageRank was being hidden. Are these signs that Google is trying to grow beyond its PageRank model?
While not directly tied to search quality, the correspondence one affiliate marketer had with the AdWords quality team was revealing. Among other tidbits, the Google team wrote these instructions for judging the “compliance” of content to advertising ratios:
“The site must have user value other than providing ads. For example, Google provides web search, news sites provide regularly updated original content, and other services. To check that your website complies with our arbitrage policy:
1. Open the site in a new browser.
2. Expand the browser to a minimum of a 1024 x 768 pixel display.
3. Make sure you have minimal browser menus and your font is set to medium or normal.
4. Scroll to the very top of the page, as evaluation is based on what appears above the fold.
5. The site is considered compliant if the area of ads is less than or equal to the area of content.
“Please use the instructions above to evaluate your entire website and, if necessary, bring it into compliance with our arbitrage policy. If you’re not in compliance, you may receive a low landing page quality score, which can negatively affect your Quality Scores, cost-per-clicks, and ad positions.”
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