Penguin underwent 10 official updates before being implemented into Google’s core algorithm in 2017. So, the algorithm has evolved plenty during this time and, probaby, continues to do so as part of Google’s ongoing core algorithm updates.
Here’s a little refresher on how Penguin has changed over the years.
Penguin 1.0 – 24 April, 2012
Google announced the original list to data penguin update on April 24, 2012, calling it “another step to reward high-quality sites”. The update impacted an estimated 3.1% of all English queries.
Penguin 1.1 – 25 May, 2012
Google rolled out its first targeted software outsourcing should not be update for the Penguin algorithm, which confirmed to SEOs that it was handling data outside of the core algorithm, much like Panda. Matt Cutts announced the update on Twitter, saying the update affected less than 0.1% of English searches.
Penguin update #3 – 5 October, 2012
Google announced its third Penguin update on 5 October, 2012, this time affecting 0.3% of English queries. Following comments from Matt Cuts that the next Penguin update would be “jarring and jolting,” the relatively small impact of Penguin #3 was the biggest surprise about this update.
Penguin 2.0 (Penguin #4) – 22 May, 2013
After months of speculation, hype and australia database directory dread, Google announced its fourth penguin update on 22 May, 2013. Once again, the impact was far smaller than anticipated, and Google publicly naming the update as Penguin 2.0 didn’t exactly help ease the anticipation leading up to it, either.
Penguin 2.1 – 4 October, 2013
Google announced the fifth Penguin update on 4 October, 2013, with Matt Cutts saying the launch affected ~1% of all searches. That may not sound like a huge impact but the SEO community was shaken by an update Google was calling Penguin 2.1, prompting hopes of incremental impacts after relatively mild implications from the previous two updates.
Penguin 3.0 – 17 October, 2014
More than a year after the previous Penguin update, Google announced Penguin 3.0 on 17 October, 2013. As often is the case in the SEO industry, the impact of the update failed to match the long spell of speculation, affecting only around 1% of English queries.