Yes, there's a new Google update rolling out!
Talks of an impending update to Google's Penguin have been rampant the last couple of weeks and it looks like it is finally here. We have received a few emails/PMs on the issue already and after checking our rank trackers, it appears that a small percentage (roughly 15%) of our clients have been affected by this update. It is not yet clear what the update's intended targets are, but this information should surface in the coming days as more facts become known.
It bears mentioning that differing kinds of link types and sites have been affected. It is a good idea to keep tabs on a few threads/SEO forums where people are reporting on the update on a regular basis as it unfolds.
If your site has been affected, it is generally best to give it a little over a week's time for the SERPs to settle down and see where your rankings end up (sometimes ranking drops following an update are recovered in the following week or two). If after this time your rankings do not recover, there are two available options to get your rankings back relatively quickly:
Option 1. Move your site to a new domain and re-point the high PR links at the new domain without a 301
Moving your site to a new domain can be quickly done with the help of your host, if you are unsure how to do it yourself. It is important that the new domain is also hosted on a new IP. To re-point your high PR links at the new domain, please use the form mentioned in your monthly reports. Make sure to also put the old domain/site offline before the new domain goes live. If you use Wordpress, the easiest way to copy your whole site is to use the "WP CLONE" plugin.
Once you have moved your site and submitted the URLs/keywords change request form, we will have the changes processed within 24 hours. After that you simply sit back and wait for your new site to rank like always.
Option 2. Move to a new domain and 301 the old domain to the new one
This is a bit more risky, but if the penalty doesn't transfer to the new domain, you can basically get your rankings back within a few days. The process is the same as in option 1, but it simply includes setting up a 301 of your old domain to the new one.
We did this quite a bit in the past, when one of our own sites got hit. It doesn't work every time, but if it works, the rankings will be back within a few days.
Here's the code you have to add to your .htaccess file for the 301 redirect (for those unsure of how to do it):
Code:
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://newdomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^[URL="http://www.olddomain.com"]www.olddomain.com[/URL] [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://newdomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
We hope that this post will help you a bit on the way to recover your sites. It bears mentioning that it is generally easier to follow one of the two methods described above to get your rankings back, than to try to recover a site which was hit. Updates suck and we all hate them, but as with any Google update, we have to adapt and continue fighting (or banking

).