PR0 penalty?

Can someone please fill me in on the pro? penalty?

[stuntdubl]

Hello all,
I just came across this site for the first time recently, and I am very happy that I did, because I am very curious about google because of the great marketing possibilities.....I have a quick question for those of you who have watched this engine for awhile....What exactly is the "pro(?)" penalty that I have been reading about on here, and how do you know if it has been implemented against your site? Thanks.

[lazerzubb]

Welcome to Webmasterworld, and be sure to read Paynt´s Welcome post [webmasterworld.com]

There is one thing that will give you a better answer than anything else

Do a search for it
[searchengineworld.com...]
(the same as "Site search")

[stuntdubl]

Thank you for your prompt response. I will definitely be searching the archives on this one, as I would like to avoid it at all costs. I am somewhat of a newbie at SEO but you can be sure you will see me here soon, as I am trying very hard to keep up on SEO techniques, specifically with regards to google. Thanks to the powers that be that created such a wonderful site, and thank you for your prompt reply. It's wonderful that there is such a good knowledgebase available for webmasters. I've been looking for one for some time. Thanks again

[Marcia]

stuntdubl, we're glad you found the site and hope you'll find it helpful.

The short version: Page Rank is the foundation of Google's scoring algorithm. Simply put, it's a numerical value given to a particular web page (not site - page) that's based on the sum total of the "votes" it's given. The total of individual numerical values passed on to the page by the sites linking to it determines the Page Rank of that page.

Since Page Rank is the foundation, when some sites commit errors of either over-optimizing and/or excessive cross-linking, Google penalizes them by devaluing the links and discounting all the Page Rank from the page - which then becomes zero in value, or PR0. The site is still in the index, but can't rank for any search terms without having any Page Rank.

[rogerd]

You'll probably find this out as you read, stuntdubl (welcome, BTW!), but the PR0 penalty can afflict an entire site (all pages, including home page, are PR0) or turn into a low-PR penalty. Various Wmw members have reported PR0 sites turning into low-PR sites where the home page has some PR (e.g., 2, 3, 4), but internal pages are very depressed (PR0, PR1, PR2). This isn't quite as obvious as a PR0 penalty, and takes a knowledge of either the site's past performance or its current linkage to identify. One other clue is an unnatural drop in PR from the home page to a major, well-linked internal page (e.g., home page is PR4, linked page is PR0 - that's not normal).