I think we are on the verge of seeing Penguin 4.0 launch soon at Google – I think we are just about there. I know, I know, it’s been a while. I have seen some chatter in the industry, on and off chatter, over the past 12 hours or so, that people are noticing some drastic changes with the Google search rankings on and off.

It can be nothing, it can be a blip, it can be a different algorithm or it can be people making stuff up – but it also can be Google testing Penguin 4.0 to a limited set of searchers.

The folks at WebmasterWorld over the past 12 hours or so have been asking about it:

JS Harris, a senior Webmaster World member said:

Another person said:

Martin Ice Web, another senior member also noticed traffic and algorithm changes in rankings.

I have some recent comments on my Google webmaster report with webmasters saying “yes something is rolling on. One of my website got hit really badly.” Another said “I think there is an update happening too. Seen some serious movement on a few keywords, some good, some bad.”

It would not surprise me if this is Google testing Penguin in the wild. If so, and all is good, we may see a Penguin 4.0 release this weekend or next? Wishful thinking?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.