Google Abandons PageRank
Has Google abandoned their PageRank algorithm that so many of us use to make money online? My prediction is “Yes!”
PageRank is illogical
It has now been close to 5 months since the last export of PageRank to the Google Toolbar and it is the longest ever period between updates.
This is the internet and technology we’re dealing with here - things get faster and more “real-time” not slower! If Google were still supporting the PageRank system, it seems logical that updates would become closer as it would provide a more relevant and valuable resource on their toolbar.
Consider also Google’s stance on paid links. Google has openly come out and said that they’re clamping down on paid links and are taking steps to avoid them being indexed. The paid link market revolves almost entirely around PageRank so it would be contradictory for them to continually facilitate the market by using the PageRank system.
It would be the equivalent of saying “We’re don’t support the selling of drugs, but here is how to sell them at a high price!“.
What this means for you
I think that it is definitely a smart move to consider monetization options that don’t involve the use of Google PageRank. Whether PageRank has been abandoned or not, it is always a smart move to spread out your income streams and not put all your eggs in one basket.
Personally, I believe it has been abandoned and spreading out into untapped monetization areas is a task that I’m actively undertaking.
The market will suffer
It is not only webmasters who may be hurt by their inability to sell links, but many companies too. Consider TextLinkAds and PayPerPost who price and rank their member sites almost entirely on PageRank. These companies are going to need to find a new ranking system quickly or find themselves unable to gather new members.
Whether TextLinkAds even accepts you is based almost purely on PageRank and how much you can earn with PayPerPost is heavily dependent on your PageRank too.
Considering that most bloggers only last about 3 months, the current new member pool must be filled with unranked sites who would not meet their entry requirements and unable to earn money.
New ranking system needed
If PageRank is abandoned, a new ranking system is needed.
With the current PageRanks being grossly out of date, I’ve found myself looking more and more at a site’s Alexa ranking and RSS readership in judging it’s value. I think using these values will be the way of the future unless another company can come out with a great new ranking system.
Rich people subscribe to Cash Quests
My site, Slyvisions.com, has been up for about 3-4 months now and the only thing missing in the puzzle is a PR. I can wait for the update, but Google abandoning it? I hope that doesn’t happen.
by Sly from Slyvisions.com
I agree, I hope PR will stick around.
What made you decide to put the comments back in Kumiko?
by Steven
This is pure speculation though.
It would suck if it happens, which is why I’m trying to make as much of Page Rank on other sites as I can before any big announcements.
by Angel
I don’t see them abandoning PR, but hopefully they’re significantly reworking it. You’re right in your arguments, but that doesn’t mean they should get rid of it. Plus, there have a been a lot of no or low PR sites seeing updates within the past few days.
by Egon
I don’t think they should get rid of it, but I feel they are. Rumors are that it’s being replaced with a much more secretive “Trustrank”
by Cash Quests
I thought TrustRank wasn’t particularly reliable. Hmm. Interesting.
by Angel
Here’s an excerpt from wikipedia on TrustRank:
“The TrustRank method calls for selecting a small set of seed pages to be evaluated by an expert. Once the reputable seed pages are manually identified, a crawl extending outward from the seed set seeks out similarly reliable and trustworthy pages. TrustRank’s reliability diminishes as documents become further removed from the seed set.”
From what I can see, TrustRank is everything but reliable. But if anyone can perfect it, I’d put my money on Google Almighty.
However, Google applying TrustRank is nothing more than a rumor. I agree with Michael below that Google is modifying its PR algorithm to eliminate paid links.
by Alex
Google recently posted an article about the PageRank about why it is taking so long. The PageRank will come. They are in the processing of modifying their algorithm for detecting paid text links. That’s why its taken so long.
by Michael
How are they planning on detecting paid links? If they add that to the algorithm, I can’t imagine it working.
by Casey
I’m not sure how they are going to be able to detect it, but you can check out this post.
http://www.knitey.net/2007/09/google-pagerank-update-august-2007.html
I took it word for word from the Google’s site. I can’t seem to find the link to it anymore.
by Michael
oo.. The Page Rank will come?? Maybe others will find solutions before google really abandoned it..
by boring man
[…] Here’s some interesting reading from around the net. Cash Quests writes about how “Google Abandons PageRank“ […]
by InvestorBlogger › Quick Linking: PR + Fake PR, a Scam, and WP
Well if that is true then it is good new for me
I been trying to learn how to get a higher PageRank as you stated how important it is.
Now I do not need to if your prediction is true
by WarriorBlog
Great post - way to get us thinking!
I agree with some of the other commentators that the extra long gap in Page Rank updates is due to their attempts to revise the algorithm. I believe that’s consistent with what we saw in the last update, which I believe placed a greater value on the freshness of content.
Still, without paid links, much of my current online income would dry up!
by Dave
PageRank or no PageRank, I think the important thing is not to depend entirely on just one source of income, especially one that is so tightly coupled with a certain gauge. That might mean tho’, that effort has to be spread out in improving each of our different ranking types (Alexa, traffic, PR etc) and not being focused enough.
by YC
As somebody who is paid to optimise other peoples sites I’d be more than happy for page rank to go, on the other hand as somebody looking to sell links from my own sites it is a useful benchmark.
Either way I can’t believe anybody would recommend Alexa as a valuable way of judging the quality of a website. Any stat that is based solely on page impressions is very easily fudged.
by Making The Money
I agree. You can you use autosurf programs to increase your alexa score.
by Michael
Alexa rank and RSS are two of the most easily gamed systems at the moment. Nobody will ever use either of these as their main payment component ever.
If Pagerank fails - you can bet the replacment will be Webrank or something similiar. Back winds links are a lot harder to fake the RSS readership size or alexa rank.
by William Ryall
I can’t imagine Google dumping the Page Rank system without first having another system ready, tested, and already showing up on a lot of sites. I certainly hope they don’t kill it, but I don’t see it happening.
However, this does open up some discussion (as seen above) about alternative ranking methods. I don’t know about the accuracy of compete.com which has been gaining some momentum, but it is interesting to think about other algorithms to rank sites that might be better than Google’s PR system.
by link bait
Only recently, a thread picked up from the DigitalPoint forum quoted Matt Cutts as saying not to expect any more PageRank updates. You guys can check it out. I’m keeping an open mind.
by Markk
i doubt pagerank is abandoned. google may be readjusting how it calculates it though. Alexa isnt a good metric to use either. it can be manipulated very easily.
by Israel
Alexa is definitely not a good indicator of a site’s standing. Let’s hope PR is not done with.
by Malignition.com
[…] Kumiko […]
by Is Google Page Rank Update Delayed? | Charles Lau dot Com
Yah it sucks missing out on some good ad money because i dont have a PR but its forced me to delve into affiliates and direct ad sales so in a way Google killing the pr has been good for me.
by KingJacob
My old blog had a PR, but when I switched to my new domain on Wordpress I had to start all over. If your predictions are correct, and they sound very reasonable, then I guess I’ll never know what my true PR would have been. I definitely hope it’s not abandoned. The blogosphere would go mad.
by Tay
So if those of use predicting it are right are you going to try to claim that “your” prediction was correct and ignore the fact that many, many other people have been saying it long before you made this post, as usual? LOL!
by AnnaBella
[…] More Kumiko Andrew […]
by Make Money Online » Blog Archive » The End of Google PageRank (and Paid Posting!)
Page rank used to be updated around once a month. Then it changed to once a quarter. Many seo experts now think it will be every 6 months.
Is this good or bad? For a webmaster who has a high pr site it is very good as they will be able to sell links for a longer period. If you have a new site it can be very frustrating as you wait to see if your link and seo efforts have been rewarded.
Google are attempting to do away with paid links and are no doubt hoping that by only updating twice a year will damage the market. With a lot of people buying on a month by month basis this could actually work.
Another idea is that page rank could be replaced by a trust rank toolbar.
This would be a great idea in my opinion.
Steve
by Steve Hill
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by Sephy's Platzish
Great post.
My blog had PR5 and appearantly without reason dropped to 4 upon the last update. I was counting down the minutes until the next update and… nothing.
Since Google is fighting with backlinks they might consider something like Alexa that measures *traffic* rather than *links*.
As for feedburner count, I don’t think it’s much accurate since there are many artificial ways to boost the count without increasing the actual readers amount, moreover it’s only for blogs and Google needs a solution that will suit static sites as well.
Like any webmaster I hope (and believe) PR will stay and maybe they will just tweak it somehow, at least for now.
by Liza
Looks like we’re still waiting for the update….
by Cash Quests
[…] Google had been keeping us in the dark with no page rank updates for a while. Then came all the rumors and speculation about Google dropping page rank completely. Finally, people started getting Google […]
by The Buzz About Google Page Rank | Link Bait Me
Advertiser network that rely solely on Google Page Rank to determine a websites worth need to change with the times. While Google PR is a far superior system to say, Alexa I still think more factors should be examined before determining a websites ‘worth’.
Despite it’s massive size Google is NOT the only authority on the internet!!
by cyberst0rm