Google Penguin 4.0 (Real-Time) (2016)
Penguin became real-time and part of core; devalues spam links instead of demoting whole sites.
DateSep 23, 2016
PlatformGoogle SEO
TypeLink spam
Who it affectsSites with spam links
What happened
With Penguin 4.0, Penguin became part of Google’s core algorithm and ran in real time. Instead of demoting whole sites, it mainly devalues spammy links, so their effect is ignored rather than causing a site-wide penalty, and changes take effect as pages are recrawled.
Who it affected
Sites with spam links.
What it means for marketers today
Most spammy links are simply ignored now, so the disavow tool is rarely needed. Read when to disavow links.