As everyone owning or dealing with websites has noticed, the google toolbar pagerank has updated. And the outcome is different from one site to another. What’s interesting is that so many blogs got a decreased pagerank and other sites got a much lower one than was expected.
The Outcome
The results of the toolbar pagerank update are various, some are happy from an increased one and others are wondering why theirs were lowered.
What happened is illustrated best by the image above. Google started their update by lowering the pagerank on various sites. This was discussed by many blogers, the question if google was punishing them came up. The fact that paid links, reviews and other similar issues were disliked by Google was known, so it everyone pretty much settled with the idea that this was in fact a move of punishment.
Then the time came for the rest of the site updates. This seems to have started last night. And the results are various, and the process seemed a bit odd as well. Take thingsbymike.com their site went down to a pr 2 from 3 before it changed up to 4.
So the question I have now is whether the pr you see now on some pages is the final one or if Google will do something more? Impossible to know, we’ll have to wait and see.
I have spoken to some webmasters which also feel, as I do, that Google had to have changed or added something new to their algorithm that calculates the pr for a page.
We had some expected pr calculated for the pages, and the outcome was much different once Google performed the update. Many people said that the tool was pretty much accurate; if it wasn’t dead on, you usually got a number lower. So if it said 5 you could get anything between 4 and 5.
So the question now is, was that tool wrong when it came to our sites for the first time with such a huge margin, or did Google modify something in their algorithm?
So could the drops in PR, be nothing more than the accurate pr according to the new algorithm and not just a punishment? Or maybe it is a mix between them both a new value due to the new method of calculating it and a punishment?
It is hard to say, but it I find it as a plausible idea. I would like to see what others have to say about all these questions that have risen with the latest Google toolbar update.
Maybe I am missing something, but can you please explain how pagerank is something anybody should give a shit about.
Does Toolbar Pagerank decide your search engine rankings? If this was true, then Engadget, Forbes would have seen at least 20-30% traffic drop by now. None of the sites which have their PR decreased have reported their rankings being dropped.
Will Google devaluate the link passing ability of websites with lower pagerank? Again if this happens then it will be Google itself who is going to suffer in the long run, because we all know Google’s alogorithm is solely dependent on backlinks. And punishing authority or strong sites, means gaming its own algorithm which I doubt Google will do.
And third for readers. How is this Pagerank important? Engadget has a Pagerank of 5 and Gizmodo has a Pagerank of 7 or 8 (Sorry I don`t have Toolbar installed). Does this means for a reader Gizmodo is way ahead of Engadget. I am sure this is something even the Gizmodo editors won`t agree to.
So the Pagerank is rendered useless for all three; webmasters, advertisers and readers. I would suggest people who still follow pagerank to please see the right picture, and move on.
Ankit
October 28th, 2007
Ankit, it used to be important, at the present time it lost its value in my opinion. But the sad part is that still so many base the price for links etc on that green bar in the toolbar, instead of what they should be looking at, like amount of traffic which is what the advertisers are after in the end.
I was more interested in whether google has changed something in their algorithm.
Krillz
October 28th, 2007
My site went from 3 to 4. I’m happy with this update
La psicologia
November 3rd, 2007