It was widely confirmed over the last few days that there WAS a Google algorithm update that started on April 29th. While Google originally denied that they had updated, many in the SEO reseller community had noted big changes in small business website rankings starting 4/29. After about 1 week into May, the changes stopped coming. Some resellers have reported big BUMPs in their rankings, while others are seeing that clients websites have come down in the rankings.

SEO reseller programs vary widely on their tactics, so to understand how the Google Phantom 2 update really impacts any specific reseller plan is difficult. However, here is what we know about Phantom 2:.

• It targeted low quality website content.
• Google does not like stacks of YouTube videos, with no original content
• This update targeted pages with many ads on them
• The change discounted pages with thin content

In many ways, this update sounds like a Panda update. But Google has said that it is not – and that this is core to their algo now. Additionally, it should be noted that the last phantom update was in 2013, a few weeks before a big Penguin update.

While the 4/29 Phantom 2 update did not include an analysis of backlinks, that may still be coming.