You know that Penguin update we’ve been talking about for the past month (and to some extent even longer)? Well, that doesn’t exist. That is, according to one Googler.
Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land shares an amusing story about how one Googler claimed that Google had no such thing. While he doesn’t share any names, he indicates that someone who worked for Google was asked about the Penguin update, and pointed towards some search results on the topic, and responded:
“I assure you 100% that there has been nothing at Google referred to as ‘Penguin.’…If you notice on those search results you sent me, not a single source is from Google itself…From what I just saw on this whole Penguin thing–it sounds to me like a lot of SEO companies that use shady and unethical practices are upset that their loop holes have been cut out!”
Google announced the update, which came to be known as Penguin, on 04/24, in a blog post titled, “Another Step To Reward High-Quality Sites“. This appeared to be the update Google’s Matt Cutts “sort of pre-announced” at SXSW. The update was being called the “Webspam update” at first, but then, in a conversation Sullivan had with Google, he revealed that it was called Penguin.
Right around that time, Cutts also tweeted this picture:
Of course Googlers like Cutts and Amit Singhal have openly discussed the Penguin update. In fact, both have even indicated that it has been a success.
At SMX London, Singhal engaged in a keynote interview with Sullivan, and mentioned that nobody at Google understands everything at Google. I guess that is being illustrated pretty well here.
Lead Image: cheezburger.com