George - 8:36 am on Jul 31, 2002 (gmt 0)

"That would really crank my stones"

Oh, I like that phrase, it sends a shiver down my spine! :)

This is the first time I have heard of the ? being not only OK, but having a superb PR,
and not being buried. Do you think that perhaps it is not the ?, but the "on page" set
up of databases that gets poor results for people? IE, a database page will tend to
have the same meta title, description and keywords (if any at all), because it it too
much trouble to set it up differently? It is something I have suspected for a
long time.

I am still not convinced that directory depth drops a PR. I might not be understanding
you correctly Grumpus, but could it not be linking that makes the difference still?

On my key site, (PR5 only) I have:

www.mydomain.co.uk/dir1/dir2/page/

With a PR4, I believe because it is linked to from several PR5/4/3 Pages, one off site.
(I have strong interlinking on the site). It is not linked to from the home page however.

I use the directories for organisation, as someone else mentioned. It seems unlikely
that google would use such a variable to rank, as a poorly orgainsed site would do well.

I agree, it seems a convincing argument if you look at:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/Printers/Supplies/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 3
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/Printers/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 3
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 4
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/Computers/Hardware/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 4
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/Computers/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 5
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/
Business_to_Business/ [dir.yahoo.com]
PR 6
[dir.yahoo.com...]
PR 7
[dir.yahoo.com...]
PR 7
[dir.yahoo.com...]
PR 8
[dir.yahoo.com...]
PR 8
[yahoo.com...]
PR 10

As each directory step is about 1/2 PR. But then isn't is more likely to be linking,
or am I missing something?

Where is the paypal donate button these days please Brett? I feel I am ready for a small one?

George

[edited by: ciml at 9:51 am (utc) on July 31, 2002]
[edit reason] Edit to reduce sideways scrolling. [/edit]