Robert_Charlton - 5:33 pm on Oct 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

In some ways it looks like Google is using toolbar PageRank as a way of communicating (somewhat veiled) messages about pages. Do you have any thoughts on what those messages might be ?

Generally, I've seen gray Toolbars on pages that look like directory-style pages that are heavy on links and light on other text.

I've been thinking that the message might be that the page has been algorithmically flagged as looking like the kind of page that might be selling links. If this is the message, it would be directed both to the potential link buyer (to fuzz up what the TBPR of the page is) and to the potential link seller (as a note that Google is watching this page).

It's likely that pages with grayed Toolbars end up getting hand checks... something that would be interesting to monitor.