When I logged into Google Webmaster Tools last night I realised that Google had stopped showing the PageRank metric. Just to confirm what I saw I dug further and came across a thread that read PageRank Distribution removed from Webmaster Tools .
Susan Moskwa from the Google Webmaster Central team explained it was removed because Google keeps telling webmasters “that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much but more on building the content of their site ” They felt it was “silly” to keep telling webmasters that, and at the same time show it in Webmaster Tools. So Google removed it from Webmaster Tools.
I think is a good thing I am not for PageRank but for content, Google’s search engine relies very heavily on PageRank and not on relevancy of content. On one side they say that Google is all about relevancy on the other side when you do a search the best of blogs or sites with content don’t come up in the top search results. The sites that come up are based on PageRank (a metric used by Google to display sites in their search results)
A majority of the sites in the top search results don’t have great content but relevant inbound links that help then rank high on search results.
Google needs to take a stronger stance on PageRank, if they want webmasters and bloggers not to get obsessed with PageRank The old school of thought being that PageRank is very deep rooted with Google and Google search results, it will be impossible for Google to do away with PageRank.
Google needs to remove the PageRank from the Toolbar which is still present and still a factor amongst webmasters and internet marketers to consider the power of a website. Often the Toolbar is not updated and buggy.
By removing the PageRank from the Webmaster Tools is Google moving towards killing PageRank from their system completely. At one point back in 2007, Google asked webmasters about removing PageRank from the Google Toolbar but the discussion ended with no recourse from Google.
As a user of the Google search engine and a webmaster I would like to see Google search results based in the strength of content, traffic and user interactions but the present Google ranking system don’t take any of these factors into consideration when they display your site in the search results.
Will Google take a stronger stance this time and Kill PageRank ?
Would you like a PageRank free Google ?
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow – Dropping Page Rank will be a massive step and would surely level the playing field wouldn’t it? Websites ranked purely on content should give a better search experience.
I think if they dropped page rank we would see a lot more pro0duct website owners. there is way to much focus on page rank, when the focus should be on SERPs..which is what drives the traffic.
Yes, the focus should be on SERPs , but as long as the Google Toolbar shows PR , things won’t change
Web Developer´s last blog ..Is Microsoft’s Tagging technology another step towards Microsoft monopoly?
I hope so.
My blog has never had a pagerank and Im just continuing to focus on growing it as a whole.. the truth is pagerank can distract bloggers because a lot are thinking its one of the more important metric..
Melvin´s last blog ..Hey, Is Your Blog’s Layout Just Fine?
Way to go Melvin , focus on building a solid web business
Pagerank is what it is.
Build your site for other reasons and let pagerank follow.
RIP pagerank. And good riddance hopefully…
I should feel mixed on this since we are PR4, but I can’t wait for the day. Too many clients with a sick obsession about pagerank. SERPs are what counts anyway.
Best,
PR4, but I can’t wait for the day. Too many clients with a sick obsession about pagerank. SERPs are what counts anyway.
Bubba Moe´s last blog ..MOON MAGIC
There is way to much focus on page rank, when the focus should be on SERPs..which is what drives the traffic.
Bubba makes a good point, who cares what your page rank is if you are ranking well in the SERPS. I know there are still webmasters out there too focused on PR. Perhaps they should remove it from the toolbar and put it back in webmaster tools. That way, you would only know your own rank.
Charles@Las Vegas Homes´s last blog ..Time Running Out for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit
Thats a very good point , It should go from the Tool Bar which exposes your PR to the public
Bubba stole my comments!!! Check it out.
Thanks for this worthy information. I will keep it in my mind during about my site.
no Google will not kill the PR , because Google have to build another programme to determine the quality of a website
Content content content! I am all for being No. 1 on Google but I personally believe their existing algorithm either needs to change or probably something is up their sleeve. Basing everything on PR is still giving away irrelevant content. I am all about content, you write it they will read it kind of a philosophy. Not to say I don’t take measures in getting PR but I don’t obsess about it.
Good post though, thank you sharing.
The amazing thing is that anybody still thinks PageRank is of importance??
IT WOULD BE A MASSIVE CHANGE For a lot of webmasters, and of course a lot of very huge companies. Think about all the money spended to get a good SERP/ a higher PageRank to all the SEO companies.
I think they will make little changes to work through a ranking system without pagerank, I can´t imagine to drop pagerank from today to tomorow!
Thanks for this post, we will see how this story goes on…
I should feel mixed on this since we are PR4, but I can’t wait for the day. Too many clients with a sick obsession about pagerank. SERPs are what counts anyway.
psychics´s last blog ..Are there any Exclusions?
I also believe PR should be wiped out of the Google land once and for all because the whole concept is too funny to laugh at.
As you have mentioned, thousands of high PR websites can be found at the top of Google that may not even have some quality articles and content pages but since their admins have been buying some expensive links from high PageRank resources, they are at the top.
Google needs to do something efficient and fast as nowadays, lots of quality websites with many great content pages have poor rankings simply because they are not powered by many high PR links.
There is lots of talk is going on. Sooner or later serious blog owners and webmasters realised that this is simply waste of time.
Now they are concentrating more on contents and building relative links.
Social Bookmarking Service´s last blog ..I dont know what to do!
I think the distinction needs to be drawn between the reported Google PageRank that shows up in the toolbar and the internal ranking that Google gives to websites. The two have been different for a very long time. I have seen (and developed) plenty of sites that “show” PR 0 that outrank sites with PR 4 or 5.
I think your statement of “…present Google ranking system don’t take any of these factors into consideration when they display your site in the search results.” is patently false.
I believe they have moved and continue to move to results based on the strength of content, traffic and user interactions – especially user interaction with a site. If their system was just based on links from high PR websites all of their results would be gamed and the whole system would shut down because users wouldn’t stand for junk results.
It seems Page Rank is history. Also seems from Google. take action against links trade.The PageRank was metric for the webmasters for websites reputation.and they cut them down
Play Digit´s last blog ..Twitter Marketing: Sure-fire tips to become successful with Twitter
I will check and review my site in web master tools if this is correct!
i do not have my own site but for future i will keep these key points in my mind.keep sharing.
I think pagerank is not really important when it comes to search engine ranking, but for people who wants to make money selling banner ads, pagerank would be one of the factor that affects the price of your banner. But in overall, it’s not a big deal to lose pagerank, as long as we have huge traffic, and advertiser will come to us.
Lee Ka Hoong´s last blog ..Make Money Online With Web Hosting Affiliate Program
Exactly.
I personally wouldn’t care if they did away with pagerank but if I was selling links from my blog I’d probably care a lot.
Dwippy@DoFollow Blog List´s last blog ..DoFollow Education Blogs
Pr is not important for webmasters any more… the real power is good SEO
page rank doesn’t matter,what matters your site should rank on the search engines.
Page rank is based on quality backlinks, incoming links, out going links, back links, onpage etc etc. Its numeric value start from 0 to 10. Anyway you provided good info about page rank, SERP(search engine result page)
i think both are very important whether its pr or seo.
I doubt if they will remove it completely because millions of SEO businesses, link ad services, paid reviews etc hover around the concept of PR. Google will be killing their eco system if they remove PR.
Ajith@Make Money Online For Free´s last blog ..Technorati’s New Ranking System
i don’t think so Google will do this, because this is the only way to rank page and if they will discard this method, then what will be the point to rank sites on SE.
I have to agree, I’m not a fan of page rank. Probably because it doesn’t mean anything. Within the first few weeks on my blog it went to rank 3 and it didn’t really have any affect on me. Now I have no idea what it is, probably around 0-1, since I let my blog go down hill a few months back.
Karl Hadwen´s last blog ..Incorporate Your Passion Within a Blog
I guess I will have to take PR out of my SEO for Firefox. I’m one of the guilty fools that is constantly focusing on that number.
Auto Insurance Missoula´s last blog ..Multiple Car Insurance
This is very interesting, especially when you consider how many online business purport to help new bloggers/site owners raise their PR. I’d like to know where this ends up.
Jen´s last blog ..The Vacation Gals Partner with Homewood Suites
Removing page rank all together would be a shock to everyone, but who knows, they just might do that. I’ll admit I do not obsess about PR but do look at it if I am trading links. There is no question, at least at this time, but what high PR gives a much more powerful boost to the backlink.
What I do obsess about is serps for the keyword I am promoting. After all that is the only thing that really matters and it does not appear as though a high PR has any particular value in the serps algorithm. IMHO.
Thanks for the interesting post.
Rich Hill
Rich Hill´s last blog ..Is Google Sniper The Real Deal?
Many years ago when it first began we were all obsessed with that little green bar but I think over the years it has lost its importance. BUT Google pagerank still holds a bit of power. It is still used by a good majority of us to get a basic idea of the strength of a website…even it it isn’t entirely accurate.
I would like to see it go…even though deep down I find that a bit unsettling. I am of the era when Google pagerank was the be all and end all so to see it go would be a bit of an event for me.
Paula from Affiliate Blog Online´s last blog ..We’ve Added the Comment Luv Plugin to Our Blog
Pagerank just doesn’t matter that much in search results. Pagerank is just about authority and generally the higher the PR of your site, the higher you could charge for advertisements on your site but I don’t think it would be a great loss.
Also pagerank is something to brag about and an achievement but nothing more.
There is one real benefit to pagerank though, the higher your PR, the more frequent you get spidered.
I have never focused on Page Rank. It has never made any sense to me and since I have never sold back links, never put money in my pocket. I have always thought that providing what the visitor wants is more important than winning a popularity contest.
They definitely won’t kill it, but it will become an invisible metric that they will use to gauge the trust of a particular site.
Sytropin´s last blog ..Sytropin Review
I was wondering the same thing since they are doing away with page rank in Webmaster tools and other areas.
Page Rank is just used to gauge an importance of a web page and i think it doesn’t belog to the way you are ranking in SERPs. There are some sites i have seem which have low page rank still they are ranking in good position.
I’m certainly not obsessed with page rank, but Google can’t have it both ways. They say not to get caught up on page rank, then say that most of their ranking factors include the page rank of a site. Come on, how duplicitous is that?
Mitch´s last blog ..Everyone’s Got An Opinion
as of now, i am obsessed a little bit with google pagerank because i am a newbie in search engine optimization
may´s last blog ..Hello world!
Yes, many clients are focus on only pr. Serp is more important to pr. If your site is ranking well on search engines, you can get maximum business.
Thanks for all the valuable info!
Lovely post i must say, . I am looking for pagerank but now after reading this post i don’t think i have to look for other information. Thanks for sharing lovely well written
Wow – Dropping Page Rank will be a massive step and would surely level the playing field wouldn’t it? Websites ranked purely on content should give a better search experience.
Whatever be the case, even today Google does pay much attention on PR before giving a rank to it in its index. It is sad to see poor quality non-professional sites showing up on the first few pages of Google with too much of disappointing content. In fact conditions are so worse that I sometimes start my search with the third page that pops up in the search engine.
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Google has too much influence on the inbound links which overshadows content and frequency of posts. There are blogs that have not been updated since more than a year but still appear on the top of search results..only on the strength of quality inbound links …And Google talks of relevancy.
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