Whenever rankings change in Google, website owners start looking for reasons to explain why their sites aren't showing up as prominently as they once did.  Several website owners have recently noticed that sites which once ranked high in Google are now appearing on the last page.  It's been all over the Internet for days.  Surely you've heard about that.  Right?

I've intentionally avoided talking about it because I was hoping Google would pipe up and respond.  Maybe they did and I missed it.  At any rate, a post at Bruceclay.com offers a nice overview of the issue.  In "The 950 Penalty or a New Ranking Theory?", Lisa Barone looks at the developments of this rather drastic change to Google's SERPs.

It basically boils down to a couple of explanations:

1. Google's algorithm is penalizing sites for over optimizing
2. Google's algorithm can't distinguish between original content and scraped content
3. Google's algorithm has been altered to detect keyword stuffing

Different folks go with different explanations.  But a patent filed in June seems to lend credence to the idea that Google is now penalizing sites that employ keyword stuffing.  The patent deals with technology designed to identify overused and repetitive keywords and phrasing.  The patent specifically states that documents with similar, repeating phrases and keywords will be flagged as spam.

As Barone points out, it could be nothing.  But if anything can be said about human nature, its that we're generally inquisitive and love a good mystery.

So fire up your own personal Mystery Machine, grab your Scooby Snacks, and let us know what you think is happening here.  Anything?  Penalty?  Patents?  Or nothing?