In terms of scope, the Penguin algorithm update was relatively minuscule, affecting only 3.1% of queries. Its impact on the industry, however, was far greater, as the de-emphasis of thin content in the SERPs drove SEO professionals to place a renewed emphasis on creating — and marketing — quality content.
In its aftermath, the industry has struggled somewhat to define what an SEO has become. Is he/she now a content-creating machine? What about the practice’s well-rooted origins in data analysis? Has that taken a backseat to content creation? The upheaval in the industry has left many SEOs with something of an existential crisis, scratching their heads asking, “What am I?”
