PR4 backlinks show?

I found some missing

[Clark]

From what I'm seeing, it is no longer true that all PR4 pages will show up as backlinks. Unless the method I'm using is wrong.

I look at the toolbar PR, make sure it is real PR. Make sure that google has the same link on that page by checking it on their cache.

Then I click on the link, make sure it isn't a redirect...then check the cache on resulting page, to make sure it made it into google. Then I check the backlinks on that other page. The PR4 page doesn't show up.

Anyone else seeing the same thing?

[jimbeetle]

Think that's just normal Google--unpredictable. Sometimes you do see PR3 links, sometimes you don't see PR4 or PR 5 links. It's been that way for quite awhile. Whether there's something going on behind the scenes...who know's?

[WebGuerrilla]

The amount of backlinks that Google reports seems to have dropped dramatically since the last update. If you go to Fast and start browsing through your backlinks, you will find many pages with PR of 4 or higher that do not show up in Google's list, but are in Google's database.

[takagi]

A page with a low PR4 doesn't show backward links. And if the PR is high enough to show the backward links, you will only see pages in the SERP that have a high PR4 of more.

It is easy to check. Go to a Google Directory with a lot of links to PR4 pages. Keep the listing ordered or PageRank (default) and if you go down the list you will see that from a certain point, all the pages have no backward links even though they are still PR4. This is true for at least several months.

I really doubt if jimbeetle can stickymail me the URL of a page with PR3 for which Google shows the backward links. A page with PR5 without might be possible if there are lots of incoming links with a low PR4 or below.

[netguy]

Clark, I've noticed the same thing since the dance. Specifically, I noticed 3 PR5s that didn't show up in the links to a PR4 site (while several other PR4s are listed as links), even though they are still showing the PR5s linked in Google if you type "domainname.com"

I think jimbeetle is correct... 'unpredictable' would be the explanation for this one.

[jimbeetle]

stickymail me the URL of a page with PR3 for which Google shows the backward links

You read it backwards. I'm saying that *sometimes* PR3 pages show up as backlinks.

[jrobbio]

I just had an idea that many people may not have thought of before. There is always talk of the "value" of a link and it being watered down if there are too many on the same page. So you may have many pr4's that link to you and do add value, but because of the volume they are leaking out, it becomes devalued and therefore doesn't qualify past the limit that google has made for their acknowledged links. Maybe someone could compare some pr4's and even the pr3 to see if there is evidence of this.

[takagi]

I really doubt if jimbeetle can stickymail me the URL of a page with PR3 ..

When I read this again, I feel the urge to make a remark about my own posting. I don't want to suggest that jimbeetle is not telling the truth. It is true that Google's SERPs sometimes surprise us.

You read it backwards. I'm saying that *sometimes* PR3 pages show up as backlinks.

You are right. Sorry for incorrectly interpreting your statement. But I still like to see a PR3 showing up as backward link. Maybe it depends on the number of outgoing links on this PR3 page whether it shows up or not.

[Robert Charlton]

Ever since Google dropped the -link: command, I think they've been trying to make it difficult to do backlink research. I'm seeing (or not seeing) some PR7 and 8 links not showing up, from very respectable non-commercial pages with not many links on the page.

Sometimes, I think I'm seeing the linking pages listed in order of likely PR influence, with the highest first. But on sites where I know the backlinks, I can also check what's missing and see that those missing links (so to speak) are still in place. I'm also puzzled by some of the differences between this month and last, with some linking pages going in and out of the index.

[jimbeetle]

takagi,

Of course I aint' going to be able to find any right now. Though just did a quick check on a competitor where I know a few PR3s used to show up -- they're all PR4s now (maybe they were high PR3s at the time), which is good for me also since one of our sites is linked from the same pages, which is the only reason I was sure they were PR3 at the time. Anyway...

Ya' know, one of the things I've been mulling about Google's seeming "unpredictability" is that we don't know how many processes they have going on at any one time, are they serial or are some run in parallel, do they not quite finish this before they start that...there might be a bunch of places in their number crunching where processes overlap or not quite overlap that lead to a few of the quirks that we see from day to day. Who knows?

Jim