Emphasizing Big Brands with Google Vince 2.0

Google’s search engine algorithm has been undergoing major updates almost every month since the release of Panda in February. These changes have focused on increasing the quality and credibility of content. Over the last few months, however, Google seems to be putting more focus on brand names.

This trend intiallaly began years ago with what was called the Vince 1.0 update. Now, Vince 2.0 seems to be increasing the rankings of these companies again. The question remains, is this a Vince update, or simple an effect of the Panda algorithm?

Vince 1.0

Named after one of Google’s employees, Vince 1.0 was first released in February of 2009. The minor update began pushing name brand websites to the top rankings for various keywords. Some smaller businesses began complaining about not being able to compete with these names.

Google’s response seemed to be a resounding “get over it”. Matt Kutts, the current face for Google’s spam fighting and search related releases, explained in a blog post earlier this year that many of these big brands also complain about not being ranked high enough.

Vince 2.0

During the course of the recent Panda updates, there has very apparently been a Vince 2.0 release. This reasoning comes from the fact that big brands have seen a major uptick across the board. While this update technically is still called Panda, it is distinct from the quality and credibility direction of that algorithm. Or is it?

Big brands may receive a higher amount of traffic because of their name. However, it is important to note that these companies typically use every aspect of a Google preferred website. Their pages tend to be well optimized and load quickly. Content is usually deployed through a strong content management system, creating an easily searchable structure. Also, users are typically happy with their overall design.

Because they are typically reputable companies, the big brands also tend to develop content that is very high quality. As leaders in their particular industry, they have access to the newest and most relevant information. As a result, they are able to produce content that is very desirable by Google’s users. Most important, they have established their credibility. Google need not worry that a top name will publish manipulative or misleading information. Much to the contrary, these companies have a higher chance of offering insider information for an industry related topic.

As Panda becomes more and more intuitive, it may be responsible for changes that many are blaming on Vince 2.0. The quality and reliability of the brand names encourages Google to rank them higher. For this reason, these websites would very likely attain their success even without their big brand status.