Google Panda Refresh Or Softer Panda Update?

Google Panda Refresh Or Softer Panda Update?
Let me start off by saying that I normally would wait another 24
hours before posting this because the chatter is so new, but I will be
offline tomorrow and the day after and I am going with what I see now.

It seems, based on the very very early chatter that a Panda refresh started late last night or this morning. Some are asking if it is that version two of the softer Panda update that Google's Matt Cutts promised.

The ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has posts from late yesterday and early this morning with questions about changes at Google that seem to relate to sites impacted by the Panda algorithm.

One webmaster said:

Ok, I see a bad sign of another silent update. Lowest traffic in the last 5 years. It looks like a Panda reiteration.

Another webmaster said this is the opposite of the "softer" update that they were expected:

My figures and search results seems very similar to the pre-soft-Panda...

A senior member agreed:

@Mentant, I can confim your observation. Lowest traffic ever. All our main keys
are gone, replace by brands that do not have anything in common with the
search string. For sure this is a Panda. I think they took an old one and let it go through the index. Google keeps going their way to destroy all ecom except amazon/ebay. There is no sign of "Leveing" or even Panda being softer.

So the questions we have now:

(1) Is Google pushing out an update?

(2) If so, was it just a typical monthly Panda refresh?

(3) Or was it the softer Panda update that seems harder for many?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Update: Google told me on the record there was no update:

Just checked with the team and there is nothing we're aware of on this. Thanks for reaching out.

by Barry Schwartz