What Panda 4.0 means for online businesses

Abstract

The aim of Google’s regular updates is to provide the best, most relevant results to the end user. The Panda 4.0 update specifically targets what Google deems to be ‘low-quality websites’, although a number of major sites, including eBay, have also felt the impact. This update, intended to target content duplication sites, such as aggregators, while rewarding sites that work hard to produce useful content, will not be the last. In other words, mitigating the negative side effects from one update is no defence against the next one. The only solution is to create a website that your target market will find useful and interesting. This paper examines what Panda 4.0 means for online businesses and the future implications for maintaining a high-profile, searchable web presence.