Google PandaSo here’s an interesting side benefit for the Google juggernaut when it comes to the Panda update. Some people are now speculating that Google’s profit margins have actually increased thanks to the recent algorithm changes. Is this true? Well, it may very well, for a number of reasons. Let’s take a look.

Panda Was Supposed to Benefit Small Sites

The first thing that Panda was supposed to do was to spank the content farms which publish piles of crap with the intention of targeting every imaginable variation of a keyword. This meant that a site like eHow would target “buying your first home,” “buying your first house,” “first time homebuyer.” “your first home” and more. In essence, every permutation you could think of and all of them with the same thin, crappy content.
In theory at least, the Panda update was supposed to make the independent sites which offer more in depth analysis of the issues a higher ranking because that would provide more quality content for the search engine to serve up to people looking for information. In practice, that’s not always so as I mentioned in another recent blog post, but for at least some websites, that is the case.

Smaller Websites Use Adsense

One the thing that provides Google with an extra benefit is the Adsense program. This program allows small website publishers to put up ads next to their content which are served by Google and based on the keyword content of the articles they are served up next to. This effectively means that the small website owner doesn’t need to focus on building his or her own clientele but can just take an Adsense check every month.
The thing about Adsense is that Google also rakes in the cash for these ads. They typically take a very large percentage of the income that comes in from advertisers and as such, they make more money when Adsense powered sites rise in the rankings.

Adwords is Also More Popular

Another thing that seems to be happening as a result of the whole Panda update thing is that the Google advertising program, Adwords is becoming more popular than ever. After all, when you consider the fact that spamming the web is much less effective in the wake of the Panda update, it make sense that people looking to attract more traffic to their websites will of necessity be trying to use alternative means, including Adwords.

The Dominance Factor

Finally, the recent updates to Google’s algorithm have had the effect of increasing Google’s dominance in the realm of search. Where before people were beginning to complain about the prevalence of spam and content farms in the SERPs, today, thanks to the Panda update, these complaints have subsided (at least somewhat) and that means that Google has more searchers which in turn of course mean that they make more money.