kevsh - 2:38 am on Feb 15, 2007 (gmt 0)

Val, nice theory but it doesn't come close to explaining why all the spammy .edu pages are still riding the top of the SERPs nor why a page would drop to the very end of the SERPs.

I'm absolutely certain in at least some cases (including my own) there is no possible way the bounce rate could be so low as to be penalized so badly. Look at some examples or browse some results yourself and you'll see a few sites at the back that simply defy logic if your theory is true.

Of course, I think it's fair to say that bounce rates could be (are?) a part of the overall score but not to the degree you are suggesting.