Google Penguin Update V4 #2/2: What to Expect and How to Prepare?
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 4:53 am
As mentioned in the previous article on Google Penguin, it is highly recommended to evaluate the links that currently point to your site. Are they all of good quality? Are they still active? Are they all editorial/promotional/etc. and, above all, are they all unmanipulated?
This analysis is important, and if your site has existed for several years, I can only advise you to go to the " Links to your site" section of Google Webmaster Tools ! You might be in for some surprises!
Google Webmaster ToolsAn singapore mobile database of unsolicited links that can harm SEO.
What to expect with Penguin V4?
Well, first of all, we're not Medium... nevertheless, below are some plausible avenues Google Penguin might take.
Anchor Text: The Brand VS The Product. Logically, we're talking more about brands (what Google wants to highlight), than specific products related to the brand. Out of a total number of links pointing to your site, it therefore makes sense to have more links on "the brand name" than on "the brand's XYZ product". The right proportion is 70-80% versus 30-20%. It is therefore very likely that this new update will tackle the proportion of Anchor Text, with the aim of determining whether or not there is an "unnatural" technique in creating backlinks.
Fictitious example: You are Ethias, an insurance company. If we analyze in detail the text of the links pointing to your site, we notice that out of 50,000 links:
20% contain the term “Ethias”
40% contain the terms “car insurance”
20% contain “motorcycle insurance”
20% contain “home insurance”
Logic would dictate that you have 70% of links containing the term Ethias and 30% on terms related to your products.
Origin of the links The links come from different sources: Google is able to know the geographical location of the site which makes a link via the IP address of the server, but other data can be taken into account such as the extension of the domain name (e.g.: .be for Belgium).
Example: Your company is located in Belgium, it has a .be website, the site is hosted on a Belgian IP BUT the majority of links come from foreign countries, such as France or Germany: there may also be a fraudulent link capture technique here that deserves further investigation. But be careful, this is only one of the criteria on which Google can judge, there are others.
This analysis is important, and if your site has existed for several years, I can only advise you to go to the " Links to your site" section of Google Webmaster Tools ! You might be in for some surprises!
Google Webmaster ToolsAn singapore mobile database of unsolicited links that can harm SEO.
What to expect with Penguin V4?
Well, first of all, we're not Medium... nevertheless, below are some plausible avenues Google Penguin might take.
Anchor Text: The Brand VS The Product. Logically, we're talking more about brands (what Google wants to highlight), than specific products related to the brand. Out of a total number of links pointing to your site, it therefore makes sense to have more links on "the brand name" than on "the brand's XYZ product". The right proportion is 70-80% versus 30-20%. It is therefore very likely that this new update will tackle the proportion of Anchor Text, with the aim of determining whether or not there is an "unnatural" technique in creating backlinks.
Fictitious example: You are Ethias, an insurance company. If we analyze in detail the text of the links pointing to your site, we notice that out of 50,000 links:
20% contain the term “Ethias”
40% contain the terms “car insurance”
20% contain “motorcycle insurance”
20% contain “home insurance”
Logic would dictate that you have 70% of links containing the term Ethias and 30% on terms related to your products.
Origin of the links The links come from different sources: Google is able to know the geographical location of the site which makes a link via the IP address of the server, but other data can be taken into account such as the extension of the domain name (e.g.: .be for Belgium).
Example: Your company is located in Belgium, it has a .be website, the site is hosted on a Belgian IP BUT the majority of links come from foreign countries, such as France or Germany: there may also be a fraudulent link capture technique here that deserves further investigation. But be careful, this is only one of the criteria on which Google can judge, there are others.