What would you do if there was no PR in the toolbar?

How would this change your link request approach?

[stuntdubl]

After reading many of the recent in depth posts on page rank for sale, I think that the only way that Google can truly remedy this problem is to remove PR from the toolbar and/or G directory.

Personally, I use the toolbar quite often when deciding if it is worthwhile (or possibly even of detriment) to request a link from another site.

As I see it though, PR in the toolbar seldom benefits average users in any way as they are unaware of its' purpose. For myself, the PR indicator adds at least some level of credibilty to a site, in a certain sense, showing that they are seen as a good resource by others, or at the very least that they are aware of good business practice on the web and have taken the time to optimize their site to obtain higher PR.

I think at some point G is going to have to nip this little problem in the bud before it becomes quite widespead. I really don't think they would want to remove it from the algorithm as it is a key component in establishing the quality results that we are all so fond of them for.

My question, however, is this.....if google decides that displaying PR is of more harm than good and removes it, will we all be shocked and appalled, or is there some sort of "not quite as simple" workaround to find out the popularity of a site?
i.e. number of backlinks etc.

Also, how would you manage to stay out of "bad neighborhoods/ directories"?

[Shak]

we KEEP forgetting that the main purpose of Google is for the end user.

NOT for SEOs/SEMs or whatever.

Yes its an issue, but a minor one compared to how the biggest search engine in the world keeps getting bigger.

Personally I wouldnt be bothered if they removed it or not, as there is always a way to find out whatever information you actually NEED.

I suggest we STOP telling Google how to run their "BUSINESS", you will notice I said business and not CHARITY, as some people assume that Google were sent from above to help us make money.

Shak

[hightraffic10]

agreed

[miles]

I would not do a dang thing. In fact git rid of the the toolbar its mainly for the user not the SEO, as Shak pointed out. With the exception of the page info tab, it more so for the seo's. It would be great if Google eliminated it all together, there would no longer be as many posts on this here forum about the toolbar or backlinks. In all actuallity it would be a blessing to get rid of showing page rank. As GG pointed out people pay too much attention to it as is getting rid of it would eliminate a good 90% of the posts in the google forum. All of which has been expounded on several times over.

[rfgdxm1]

>Also, how would you manage to stay out of "bad neighborhoods/ directories"?

Good point. How else can you avoid linking to bad neighborhoods? Without the toolbar, all links should be avoided. I just recently linked to a gray toolbar site that was that way because it was new. However, without the toolbar I would fear to link to any site that was around a while.

[TWhalen]

I would not change my link request approach one bit. I never use the toolbar to decide who to link to anyway.

If I think another website would be of value to my visitors, I link to it.
Plain and simple.

[heini]

Linkage is the heart of Google. Wether they have a toolbar or not doesn't change a thing.
All SEOs would still reverse engineer the algo, especially which link counts what.
Google has from the outset been very confident about their algo. They never really tried to hide the general principle, rather the opposite. They believe their algo is not some arbitrary system, but just mirrors how the web works.
The green pixels on the toolbar are not made for SEOs. It's a stamp of approval, Google's stamp on the web.

[rfgdxm1]

>The green pixels on the toolbar are not made for SEOs. It's a stamp of approval, Google's stamp on the web.

Yep. And those without those green pixels should be shunned. Without this seal of approval from Google, why consider any site worth mentioning?

[BigDave]

Without the toolbar, finding out if a site had been penalized or banned by google would be as easy as running a few searches. It would just slow people down a little bit.

Instead of thinking about what is wrong with having PR available, try figuring out what advantage it gives to google and the end users.

PageRank is all about building a web of trust. When you combine PageRank with backlinks you can learn a lot about who vouches for a site.

[Mohamed_E]

I look at the site, rather than at the toolbar, when deciding whether to link. A good site that has PR 3 today may have PR 6 next year, a site that has PR 6 today may have a grey bar after next update.

[vmaster]

Well, the PR display on the toolbar is certainly useful for the end user. If I had to research on the chemical composition of a particular compound, say, and I came across two different sites offering completely opposing information, I would be confused, right? But if one had PR0, while the other had PR9, I would know which way to go ...