10 Reasons Google Can’t Listen to Penguin Complaints

Google recently (last week) came out with a new Web spam update to replace their former update named Panda (well it didn’t actually replace it… it sits on top of it and attacks the short tail or head terms). The Penguin update was put into effect to further optimize our favorite search engine in a constant effort to provide users with better search results (just go with that for now even if you disagree, that was absolutely their intention). The goal is to weed out garbage websites that use search engine optimization techniques to force themselves to the top of the rankings.  These techniques include things like comment span, forum links, excessive use of anchor text links, and a bunch of other techniques that most of us are very aware of by now.  However, this new algorithm has seemingly produced a lot of collateral damage with sites getting hit that may or may not have been overly optimized or using/abusing SEO tricks.  The complaints are mounting but seem to be falling on deaf ears. Why is this happening? Here are 10 reasons Google can’t listen to all of the Penguin complaints:

1. Too many – The first thing to consider is the overwhelming number of complaints coming in. Thousands if not Millions of internet users (site owners as well as just regular searches are not seeing the results they expect) have been adversely affected by this update making it virtually impossible for Google to keep up.
2. Too late – Even if Google was listening to the complaints, it’s too late to do anything about it. They’ve already implemented the Penguin update and it’s impossible to go back (or is it???).
3. Not interested – Perhaps Google feels they’ve done the right thing and aren’t really interested in hearing these complaints. Since they have no way of knowing if the complaints are legitimate they’ve decided to largely ignore them.
4. Too busy – One reason they can’t listen is because Google’s staff is furiously trying to fix the problem and just plain doesn’t have time. They simply may be too busy to address specific complaints and/or they may already be aware of a majority of them.
5. Blackhats (no, not the penguin’s top hat from Batman…)– There’s a distinct possibility that the majority of the complaints are coming from the blackhat SEO’s that Penguin is trying to weed out. There’s no point in listening to grievances from the intended targets of the update.
6. Not relevant – Perhaps another reason Google can’t listen is because they feel a vast majority of the complaints are not relevant to Penguin. There’s always a certain amount of hysteria associated with any algorithm change that is simply unfounded.  It’s possible some of the sites that dropped in rankings around this time would have done so even without penguin getting released and for other factors (the panda update, links that just caught up with them or were devalued, etc.).
7. Too big – It’s no secret that Google is the largest and most popular search engine in the world. It’s quite frankly too big to address these gripes in any effective way.
8. Where to complain – Most people don’t even know where to complain about the Penguin update. Google certainly hasn’t made any effort to provide easy access to internet users that are having problems (I mean regular users not site owners).  If you are a site owner that feels they have been impacted you can air your grievance here.
9. They know best – Of course there’s the unique possibility that Google has decided they know what’s best for their users. After all, it’s their search engine and they have every right to run it any way they like. People who feel they’re not getting the best search results are welcome to use other search engines like Bing or Yahoo!
10. Fixing it – Finally, Google is probably working on ways to fix any glitches with the Penguin update so there’s no reason to listen to all the whining. They probably feel everything will work itself out or are working on a new WebSpam update.  Just like with Panda, there are likely to be multiple releases as they refine their attack on spam.

Meanwhile the Penguin update appears to be having the opposite result of what was originally intended. Legitimate websites are losing their search rankings while junk sites are rising to the top (or better put, sites that aren’t answering the user’s needs). This is not only frustrating for the website managers, but the web searchers as well. Google users are being forced to waddle through useless search results and are unable to find what they’re looking for (hmmm… like a penguin). Let’s hope this all gets sorted out soon.  Google, penguins are cute but they can also be stubborn and cranky just like your users…

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