Monthly Archives: September 2015

TBT Napster

Throwing It Back 16 Years to Napster

Napster-logo

Back before cats were Internet cool, there was Napster. The first of its kind, Napster was a peer to peer (P2P) file sharing program that allowed anyone with a dial-up connection to search for, share and download files – most notably music. [tweetthis]#TBT: Back before cats were Internet cool, there was #Napster.[/tweetthis]

 

Pop Quiz! Why was Napster’s logo of a cat?

Answer: It was in response to Lycos’s dog logo, which was the predominant tool for searching for mp3s back then.

 

The Rise and Fall of Napster

Napster, of course, revolutionized the music industry and played a key role in determining how we consume music and other digital media today. Napster spawned many clones worth mentioning: Limewire, Kazaa, Gnutella, eDonkey2000, BitTorrent… It was also the reason artists like Metallica and Dr. Dre were throwing down one lawsuit after the next.

napster-questionThe short-lived service launched in 1999 by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker (yes, that’s the same Sean Parker of Facebook lore) withstood the RIAA and music labels until its demise in 2001. Although still in existence today, Napster is essentially a stripped-down subscription based, Rhapsody service that was formerly operated by BestBuy as an online store.

On the 15th anniversary of Napster’s launch, one writer reached out to a dozen music industry journalists and editors for their thoughts about Napster, here’s what they had to say.

I was one of the original batch of 1999 Napster users, it was an exciting time in file sharing history to say the least. I still remember the feeling of pure joy associated with having access to songs that you couldn’t get anywhere else… remixes, live cuts, etc.

Those gen one mp3s still play, but sometimes you gotta turn ’em up much like their cassette and 8-track predecessors.

Happy #TBT Napster!

Google Panda 4.2

Google Panda 4.2 Stat Card

Google Panda – An Algorithmic Search Engine Filter

Panda is the name given to the Google search engine algorithm filter responsible for policing low quality content.

The latest incarnation of Panda was released on July 25th, 2015 in the form of a refresh of the previous May 2014 Panda update.
 

[jumbotron]

Google Panda 4.2 Refresh Stat Card

Confirmed Release Date: July 25th, 2015

Version: 4.2

Refresh or Update: Refresh

Percent of Search Queries Effected: 2-3%

Propagation Estimate: 2-4 Months (time expected for the update to completely roll out)

Panda Targeting: Pierre Far of Google has reported that many high quality small and medium sites were ranking higher. Barry Schwartz posted about a possible reverse of the latest refresh.

Recovery Timeline: Websites effected by the Panda search filter can not recover until the next Panda update.

Previous Refresh: September 2014

Previous Update: May 2014

[/jumbotron]

Panda Refresh VS Update

A refresh technically applies the same exact signals from the previous update.

Panda Recovery Information

Once a new Panda update or refresh is in motion, recovery attempts from the previous Panda update or refresh will not be recognized.

It is best to wait until the current update has fully propagated before attempting Panda recovery efforts.
 

Related: Panda Content Guidelines Recommended by Google