Google Pushed Out The Major Penguin Update (v2.0 #4)

As I reported last night at Search Engine Land, Penguin 2.0 / 4 is now live - this is the next generation Penguin update. As Google's Matt Cutts added, this impacts 2.3% of English queries and also impacts other languages but the percentage depends on the level of spam in those languages.
Matt officially announced it while on This Week In Google see towards the very end of episode 199.
Matt said on his blog:

We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more webspam will see more impact.This is the fourth Penguin-related launch Google has done, but because this is an updated algorithm (not just a data refresh), we’ve been referring to this change as Penguin 2.0 internally.

As you know, we've been expecting this for some time, since its been over 6 months since the previous Penguin data refresh. Again, this is not just a refresh, but an algorithmic update.
Here are the previous updates:

• Penguin 1 on April 24, 2012
• Penguin 2 on May 24, 2012
• Penguin 3 on October 5, 2012

There are lots of people complaining about ranking declines and some about boosts. It is too early to tell and I do expect to post a poll next week asking you if you were impacted or not.
I deeply hope you only were positively impacted by this update.
Forum discussion at Google+, Cre8asite Forums, WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, Black Hat World and Google Webmaster Help.

Update: Matt Cutts tweeted that you can submit feedback to Google via this form about spammy sites this update missed.
resource:http://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-four-live-16830.html

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Google+ Comments Can Now Be Linked to Blogger

Google is giving Blogger a boost by enabling users to bring Google+ comments to their blogs.
Once the feature is enabled in the Blogger Dashboard, Google+ comments made about a particular blog post hosted by Blogger will automatically flank that blog, making it easy for the blog owner to keep track of discussions and comments specific posts are stimulating.
“Reading and responding to comments can be one of the most rewarding aspects of blogging,” writes Google+ principal engineer Yonatan Zunger in a blog post. “Not only do they help you connect with your readers, they can also inspire later blog entries. The challenge, oftentimes, is following all the conversations around your content—on Google+, for instance, as well as on your website. So we’re making things a lot simpler.”
Bloggers will also be able to see activity from direct visitors as well as from people talking about their content on Google+ simply by browsing their blog’s comment threads.
If a public Google+ discussion about a specific post is sparked, for example, those comments and replies will also appear on users’ Blogger blogs, effectively allowing them to connect with more of their readers, all in one place.
Readers would also be given the option to comment about a blog post publicly, or privately to their circles on Google+. When browsing blog comments, they will be given the option to view all of them, only the top comments, or only those from people in their circles, depending on their preference.
“In all cases, you and your readers will only see the comments you have permission to see,” Zunger writes. “Giving people these kinds of controls not only encourages more meaningful sharing — it can lead to more blog traffic.”
To enable the Google+ Comments feature, users must visit the Google+ tab of their Blogger Dashboard and check ‘Use Google+ Comments.’
Bloggers can also visit any post on the Official Google Blog or on Blogger Buzz to see the Google+ Comments feature “in action.”

Google image

resource:http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/04/19/google-comments-can-now-be-linked-to-blogger/

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Google Local Listings with Zagat Rating in Google Plus

Google made some changes to Local Business Listings from May 30th 2012 onwards.

What are the changes?

1. Google Local Business Listings has a new look i.e Local listings are integrated in Google Plus.
2. Each local business listing rating system has been improved using “Zagat Rating” system.

What is Zagat Rating?

Zagat Rating system will have 30 point scale. Mostly this system used for hotels where customers will rate food, décor and service. It seems that Google has applied the same rating system to all of the local business listings in Google Places. However Google is displaying only the total score instead of individual Zagat Score of each service. Refer following screenshot for a better idea.

Following is the example of a restaurant along with Zagat Rating Scrores:

Difference between Old & New Local Listings:

Recourse:http://www.seodailyupdates.com/2012/06/google-local-listings-with-zagat-rating.html

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Another Panda Update 3.92 - 0.7% Effects

Google Panda - a word which most of  SEO's are afraid about. It's always good to know that "Panda and penguin updates are making the web better". Most of the websites will effect by these algorithm changes due to low quality content as well as spamy back links.

Here is the update on twitter regarding Google Panda 3.92 update by a Googler: http://goo.gl/ByvVf

As per the above tweet only 0.7% of the Google search results will be effected. We (SEO's & website owners) might not worry more about this query if you have good quality content on your website. Google has made 20 panda updates till now by targeting poor content.

Do you love Google Panda & Penguin Updates?

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Google Rich Snippets Tool with Fresh Look

Google Rich Snippets Tool will help to you know that "how your website will be displayed in search results". Mostly SEO's who are familiar with Micro data will use this tool to test their RDF implementation across the website. Google has improved the UI of this tool with fresh and clean look.

http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

We recommend to use Micro Data for your website at all possible areas which will in result helps Google to understand better about your website. E-commerce portals, Reviews websites, Business Listing directories should definitely have Micro Data for better results. Bloggers also should use author Micro Data for better visibility.

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