History of Panda Google Algorithm Updates

Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500–
600 times. While most of these changes are minor, Google
occasionally rolls out a "major" algorithmic update (such as
Google Panda and Google Penguin) that affects search
results in significant ways.
Here, we’ve listed the major algorithmic changes that
have had the biggest impact on search.
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1. Panda/Farmer - February 23, 2011
A major algorithm update
hit sites hard, affecting
up to 12% of search
results (a number that
came directly from
Google). Panda rolled out
over at least a couple of
months, hitting Europe in
April 2011.

2. Panda 2.0 (#2) - April 11, 2011
Google rolled out the Panda
update to all English queries
worldwide (not limited to
English-speaking countries).
New signals were also
integrated, including data
about sites users blocked via
the SERPs directly or the
Chrome browser.

3. Panda 2.1 (#3) - May 9, 2011
Initially dubbed “Panda
3.0”, Google appeared
to roll out yet another
round of changes.
These changes weren’t
discussed in detail by
Google and seemed to
be relatively minor.

4. Panda 2.2 (#4) - June 21, 2011
Google continued to update
Panda-impacted sites and
data, and version 2.2 was
officially acknowledged.
Panda updates occurred
separately from the main
index and not in real-time,
reminiscent of early Google
Dance updates.

5. Panda 2.3 (#5) - July 23, 2011
Webmaster chatter
suggested that Google
rolled out yet another
update. It was unclear
whether new factors
were introduced, or this
was simply an update to
the Panda data and
ranking factors.

6. Panda 2.4 (#6) - August 12, 2011
Google rolled Panda out
internationally, both
for English-language queries
globally and non-English
queries except for Chinese,
Japanese, and
Korean. Google reported
that this impacted 6-9% of
queries in affected
countries.

7. Panda 2.5 (#7) - Sept 28, 2011
After more than
month, Google
rolled out another
Panda update.
Specific details of
what changed were
unclear, but some
sites reported
large-scale losses.

8. Panda "Flux“ (#8) - Oct 5, 2011
Matt Cutts tweeted:
"expect some Panda-related
flux in the next
few weeks" and gave a
figure of "~2%". Other
minor Panda updates
occurred on 10/3,
10/13, and 11/18.

7. Panda 3.1 (#9) - Nov 18, 2011
After Panda 2.5, Google entered
a period of "Panda Flux" where
updates started to happen more
frequently and were relatively
minor. Some industry analysts
called the 11/18 update 3.1,
even though there was no
official 3.0. For the purposes of
this history, we will discontinue
numbering Panda updates
except for very high-impact
changes.

10. Panda 3.2 (#10) - Jan 18, 2012
Google confirmed a Panda
data update, although
suggested that the
algorithm hadn't changed.
It was unclear how this fit
into the "Panda Flux"
scheme of more frequent
data updates.

11. Panda 3.3 (#11) - Feb 27, 2012
Google rolled out another
post-"flux" Panda update,
which appeared to be
relatively minor. This came
just 3 days after the 1-year
anniversary of Panda, an
unprecedented lifespan for
a named update.

12. Panda 3.4 (#12) - Mar 23,
2012
Google announced
another Panda update,
this time via Twitter as
the update was rolling
out. Their public
statements estimated
that Panda 3.4 impacted
about 1.6% of search
results.

13. Panda 3.5 (#13) – Apr 19,
2012
In the middle of a busy week
for the algorithm, Google
quietly rolled out a Panda
data update. A mix of
changes made the impact
difficult to measure, but this
appears to have been a fairly
routine update with minimal
impact.

14. Panda 3.6 (#14) - Apr 27, 2012
Barely a week after
Panda 3.5, Google rolled
out yet another Panda
data update. The
implications of this
update were unclear,
and it seemed that the
impact was relatively
small.

15. Panda 3.7 (#15) – June 8,
2012
Google rolled out yet
another Panda data update,
claiming that less than 1% of
queries were affect. Ranking
fluctuation data suggested
that the impact was
substantially higher than
previous Panda updates
(3.5, 3.6).

16. Panda 3.8 (#16) - Jun 25, 2012
Google rolled out
another Panda data
refresh, but this
appeared to be data
only (no algorithm
changes) and had a
much smaller impact
than Panda 3.7.

17. Panda 3.9 (#17) – Jul 24, 2012
A month after Panda 3.8,
Google rolled out a new
Panda update. Rankings
fluctuated for 5-6 days,
although no single day
was high enough to
stand out. Google
claimed ~1% of queries
were impacted.

18. Panda 3.9.1 (#18) - Aug 20,
2012
Google rolled out yet
another Panda data
update, but the impact
seemed to be fairly
small. Since the Panda
3.0 series ran out of
numbers at 3.9, the
new update was
dubbed 3.9.1.

19. Panda 3.9.2 (#19) – Sep 18,
2012
Google rolled out
another Panda refresh,
which appears to have
been data-only.
Ranking flux was
moderate but not on
par with a large-scale
algorithm update.

20. Panda 20 (#20) – Sep 27, 2012
Overlapping the EMD
update, a fairly major Panda
update (algo + data) rolled
out, officially affecting 2.4%
of queries. As the 3.X series
was getting odd, industry
sources opted to start
naming Panda updates
in order (this was the 20th).

21. Panda 21 (#21) – Nov 5,
2012
Google rolled out their
21st Panda update,
roughly 5-1/2 weeks
after Panda #20. This
update was reported
to be smaller, officially
impacting 1.1% of
English queries.

22. Panda 22 (#22) – Nov 21, 2012
After some mixed
signals, Google
confirmed the 22nd
Panda update, which
appears to have been
data-only. This came on
the heels of a larger, but
unnamed update around
November 19th.

23. Panda 23 (#23) – Dec 21, 2012
Right before the
Christmas holiday, Google
rolled out another Panda
update. They officially
called it a "refresh",
impacting 1.3% of English
queries. This was a
slightly higher impact
than Pandas #21 and #22.

24. Panda 24 (#24) – Jan 22, 2013
Google announced its
first official update of
2013, claiming 1.2% of
queries affected. This
did not seem related to
talk of an update
around 1/17-18 (which
Google did not confirm).

25. Panda 25 (#25) – Mar 14, 2013
Matt Cutts pre-announced
a Panda update at SMX
West, and suggested it
would be the last update
before Panda was
integrated into the core
algorithm. The exact date
was unconfirmed, but
MozCast data suggests
3/13-3/14.

26. Panda 4.0 (#26) – May 19, 2014
Google confirmed a major
Panda update that likely
included both an algorithm
update and a data refresh.
Officially, about 7.5% of
English-language queries
were affected. While Matt
Cutts said it began rolling
out on 5/20, our data
strongly suggests it started
earlier.

27. Panda 4.1 (#27) – Sep 23, 2014
Google announced a
significant Panda update,
which included an
algorithmic component.
They estimated the impact
at 3-5% of queries affected.
Given the "slow rollout," the
exact timing was unclear.

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History of Panda Google Algorithm Updates

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