MJunge - 9:20 pm on Jun 10, 2006 (gmt 0)

OK...we've been online as long as our main rival. Every dance we bounce all over the place. We've worked the optimization rituals and burned incense, sacrificed chicken wings, and been ripped off and paid our dues. We've worked hard and now have a PR of 4, which for our keywords is pretty good (we do <no specifics please>).

Here's where I can't figure it out. Our rival - online as long as us - NEVER moves when G changes the algorithm. I mean, NEVER. He's at number one and no matter what he does to his site...no movement. And, his PR is 3. Number 2 has a PR of 4 and five or six slots down...a PR of 5.

In just the last few days we've gone from 9 to 12 to 9 to 12 to 31...

Can anyone explain why what I though was conventional wisdom (higher PR = higher ranking) is wrong?

[edited by: tedster at 1:33 am (utc) on June 11, 2006]