With Google increasingly valuing that which is unique, a multitude of services, e-commerce sites, organizations and other sites saw a several-fold increase in traffic overnight. A mix of international icons and underground brands, the biggest winners of the Panda update include the same motley mixture as on the losers’ side.

Zazzle.com –a clothing and apparel revenue-sharing site. Users submit their work and earn a piece of the sales. Visibility: 4,870 to 17,890

LargePornTube.com –a free porn site including everything from public sex to incest to suit an audience with highly varied and specific tastes. Visibility: 6,990 to 24,080

9gag.com –a user submitted content forum that, as of this exact moment, features the following picture as its most recent:

You know the deal. These sorts of sites are often popular, but 9gag’s niche group gives it a brand appeal that elevates its visibility from 1600 to 3240.

Oprah.com –everyone knows her, though between you and me I’m not sure why. Perhaps having her own OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) helped raise her from 2500 to 8500 in visibility.

Glassdoor.com –a site that I particularly enjoy, it gives you a transparent look into various industries and their work. In my experience the information has been good and I’ve found it to be a useful tool. A very deserving Panda Winner. Visibility: 1,480 to 12,600.

UCLA.edu –the most applied to school in the US. With world renowned research and education, as well as the top sports team in the nation (sorry Trojans), the university’s dominance in academia is likely a factor in its boost. Visibility: 3,290 to 12,600.

Despite being generally understood as something negative, the Panda Update has in fact brought out a lot of winners as well. These sites strengthened their brand and Google rewarded that by placing them higher in the SERPs.

Was your site a major winner in the Panda Updates?

Orgasm.com -a pornography site that claims to be ‘The Dalai Lama’s favorite tube site” Visibility: 19,300 to 625.

ThePirateBay.org -a file sharing site plagued with legal battles. Although legitimate in the sense that it reflects genuine demand and interest, it is considered dubious ethically and legally. Visibility: 91,800 to 2,290.

Cheapcarinsurance.co.uk -as you likely deduced, an insurance site. With a healthy PR 4 and a multitude of back links, cheapcareinsurance received reasonable traffic up until the Panda update, which knocked its visibility from 7,700 to 350. A quick search of their back links indicates that around 80% of them have the words ‘cheap car insurance’ as the anchor text, suggesting the ‘natural link update’ may have something to do with it.

SEOGuardian.com -an SEO service and organization. The back links for the site check out, but Panda reduced its visibility from 9050 to 550. Particularly difficult to explain as an SEO organization. Perhaps the foreign origin of their links is a factor?

FatMomTube.com -a site that I didn’t bother to investigate. The Internet is a strange and obscure place. Visibilty: 4,700 to 440.

Calculator.co.uk -an online calculator. Although it has splotches of other content, the main gig is clearly the visual interface that calculates. Presumably Google figures that entering equations directly into their search engine has dated sites with that sole purpose. Visibility: 3,340 to 350.

MegaUpload.com -remember that ordeal? Another file sharing site, likely hit for the same reasons as ThePirateBay. That other less-maligned file sharing sites, such as 4shared.net, came out as Panda Winners, suggests the branding damage tanked this site. Visibility: 2200 to 330.
Did your business or site take a beating? Send SEOBursts an email or add your story in the comments section below.

Winners (~20% increase) among major sites
Epinions.com
Amazon.com
LiveScience.com
Lyrics007.com
GQ.com

Losers (~20% drop) among major sites
Metrolyics.com
Geek.com
Digg.com
FreeRepublic.com

Some sites were hit so badly that their business literally evaporated overnight. Organizations consisting of primarily these parties have pushed Google to modify their algorithm to allow for their former rankings. Hot sites such as CultOfMac and a few others have been successful in their lobby, but they are far and away the exceptions.

Is Panda Fair?

Many people debate whether or not Panda is fair, and, to some extent, there is validity to their question. Legitimate businesses and organizations that have earned their place in the world web have been hurt by the updates. Small family businesses, services, and non-profits have been wiped out. Additionally, one study found that nearly 10% of SEOs lost their jobs, and that an additional 25% feared losing theirs as well. There is certainly a lot to not like about Panda, particularly if your site was one that took a haircut.

The thing to remember though is that Google is a one trick pony. They have a brilliant, multifaceted model that encompasses many strategies. At the end of the day though, they’re a corporation that makes money from advertising that is directly dependent on the quality of their search results. That’s it. What makes quality search results? Put quite simply, ‘stuff that people want’. What that is more specifically entails quite a bit, but what Panda does is elevate superior content over inferior. It does a better job of delivering that ‘stuff’.

The Internet, in the bigger picture, is still in its infancy. Even in the past few years it has changed. As the Internet heats up, dynamic, entertaining, and original content is going to matter more than ever. Panda lessened the legitimacy given to different sites that we all intuitively recognize as empty shells when we see them: duplicate or non-existent content, shoddy designs, and covered in ads. The authority that businesses earned by obtaining back links from these sites took a blow as a result. People have wised up. SEO and branding are slowly merging into one, and the Panda update indicates that Google is making an increased effort to sort out which brands are worthy of the top spot from those that aren’t.