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Penguin 4.0 (September 2016): Rollout & Analysis

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Google announced Penguin 4.0, the final Penguin release, on 23rd Sep 2016. It put Penguin in the core algorithm, running in real time and devaluing spam links rather than demoting whole sites.

Where this update falls among the 55 Google updates of the last 10 years. Hover any dot to identify it.
20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026This update, 23rd Sep 2016

On 23rd Sep 2016, Google announced on its Webmaster Central blog (now the Search Central blog) that "Penguin is now part of our core algorithm".

With the change, Penguin's data is refreshed in real time, so ranking changes take effect much faster. They typically land shortly after Google recrawls and reindexes a page, instead of waiting for the next periodic Penguin refresh.

Penguin also became more granular: Google said it now "devalues spam by adjusting ranking based on spam signals" rather than affecting the ranking of the whole site.

In practice, spammy links are discounted instead of dragging an entire domain down. That is a big softening compared with earlier Penguin releases that demoted sites wholesale.

As Search Engine Land reported, Penguin 4.0 was the last confirmed Penguin update. With the filter running all the time inside the core algorithm, Google said it would no longer announce refreshes.

The wait it ended was real. The previous release, Penguin 3.0, had launched on 17th Oct 2014.

That left affected sites nearly two years without a chance to recover.

Rollout log

  • Penguin 3.0, the previous refresh, launches. Sites it hit then wait nearly two years for another update.

  • Google announces Penguin 4.0 on the Webmaster Central blog. Penguin is now real time, part of the core algorithm, and devalues spam rather than demoting whole sites.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What changed with Penguin 4.0?

Two things, per Google's announcement. Penguin became real time, with its data refreshed as pages are recrawled and reindexed.

It also became more granular. It devalues spam links by adjusting rankings based on spam signals rather than demoting the whole site.

Was Penguin 4.0 the last Penguin update?

Yes. Because Penguin now updates all the time inside the core algorithm, Google said it would not announce future refreshes.

That makes the 23rd Sep 2016 release the final confirmed Penguin update.

How did Penguin 4.0 change recovery from link spam?

Before 4.0, a site hit by Penguin had to wait for the next refresh. After Penguin 3.0 in October 2014 that meant a wait of nearly two years.

With real-time Penguin, changes show up much faster, typically after affected pages are recrawled and reindexed.

Compiled by Claude from primary sources, checked by Akash Mansukhani before publication. See how we source and correct this page.
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Cite this page: Keywords Everywhere, "Penguin 4.0 (September 2016): Rollout & Analysis", last updated 23rd Sep 2016, https://keywordseverywhere.com/news/google-algorithm-updates/penguin-4-0/