PR 4 with Zero Backlinks?

Is it possible for a new site to have PR4 or better?

[rudy]

I though I remember seeing this somewhere. A new site or a site with zero backlinks and yet a PR4 or better. Is this possible or a update glitch. It possible, how does one attain this?

Thanks

[fathom]

It is likely only temporary. Google does not penalize new sites so it artifically inflates your PR level.

It is best to start getting a few links at least. A PR4 will not stand for long without any.

[gmoney]

Rudy,
Google doesn’t show backlinks that have low PR. Perhaps the page/site you are talking about has a number of PR3 backlinks that aren’t listed by Google but yet still contribute the pages PR.

Fathom,
I’ve heard of Google guessing at a pages PR value based on the PR of the site. However, I haven’t heard of Google artificially inflating the PR of a new site’s pages. At least they have never given me that privilege anyway.

[whats up skip]

I too am seeing many sites that are not new and that I doubt would have enough PR3 links to make a PR4, yet no backwards links show up.

At first I thought it was just the update going on, but even in the last couple of days I have seen many.

Could this be a bug or something else going on?

[gmoney]

“Could this be a bug or something else going on?” – whats up skip

Now that you mention it, I have noticed something strange going on with a site that I am working on. It seems that Google has dropped all pages, except the home page, of the site from Google’s index. August 23, was the last date that received a Google referral to any page except the home page. The queries referred to the home page are still coming in and the rankings for these queries are roughly what they were before the update.

I’m hoping that it is some small glitch that will be fixed by next update but I mention it because it may have something to do with the PR issue you are discussing. All these “removed” pages on the site I am talking about still carry the same toolbar PR as before but there is no record of these pages in the cache or backwards links. Maybe other websites have pages like these that for some reason contribute to the PR of pages but yet there is no sign of them when you search for backwards links. It is just an idea.

Hopefully, by next update, my “missing” pages will be found and your PR issues will be resolved.

Oh, maybe check the backwards links on Alltheweb and Altavista. They usually have a more complete list than Google.