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I know toolbar PR only runs from 0-10, instead of 0-1000 or whatever. I know that there have been technical problems that result in grey/white bars. I'm not talking about that. What I'm saying is, I think Google may maintain two PR indexes, one for us and one for them. The two indexes may use identical algos but with different biassing, or perhaps use the same algos and biassing but may be based on different data (perhaps older or less deep).
This theory may be nonsense. Would others care to comment.
Also, I believe that PR (as determined by backlinks) now has a relatively small impact on results. For instance, I compete in an area that has ~6 significant players, of which only one is large. In a search for widgets of this type, I am placed ~4th with a toolbar PR of 5. The large corporation's equivalent page has a toolbar PR of 8, yet only ranks ~20th in the same search. (The search is an obvious two-word phrase).
There is no spam on my site and, so far as I can tell, non on my competitors sites (but I haven't looked too hard) so why should a PR 8 page perform so badly compared with typically PR 4-6 pages. The answer must be that Google considers the content on the higher sites to be much more relevant. In contrast, other search engines seem to be much more heavily biassed towards Page Rank.
Is this experience shared by others?
Kaled.
Anchor text is what it's all about.
And yes the Toolbar rank can be manipulated, it's done in very few cases though.
Anchor text is what it's all about.
Yep seems to be so (crosses fingers)
Rich
If you, (like me) suspected that it may have been a marketing tool for Google, then it was a very successful one.
It had everybody at it, creating and developing back links etc. Panic about PR was rife and people spend so much time creating and developing a site to keep the Google Gods happy :)
....clients, forget them! Google holds the golden key, we had faith in that.
If tomorrow Google said that backlinks were bad and would decrease your PR, image the havoc?
And at the end of the day, you can get good serps with a low PR, ... it could be a big brother tool from the Google plex ;)
The more specific the search query (more words for example) the less Pagerank plays a role in ranking a page in the results.
I cannot remember when, but I think somewhere september/october last year it seemed Google altered the algo to the effect of Pagerank playing less of a role and anchortexts needing to equal the target page somewhat more.
As to two different Pageranks existing, I very much doubt that.
Google is just not showing an updated version IMO.
PageRank is named after Google co-founder Larry Page. It is not the meaning of "page"!
Jon
That was my first post.
I just went into SEO world a few weeks ago. Google research paper is available on Internet. In addition, I searched some articles about PageRank.
It is interested to know about pagerank, however, I am afraiding that my knowledge about pagerank is not up to date any more since Google must update their pagerank algo. already.
EquityMind
Google are simply behind in displaying the true current page rank used to determine search results. As it is only a reporting function, it is the least important thing in Google's user results.
This also affects the back links you will see reported. Which is why some sites you scratch your head over and say "How did that site make it so high with only his mom's site linking to him?!" make it high. Because Google are not reporting the true back links that were used to determine the actual results at this time.
Google is still playing catch up.
There are over 500 million variables within Googles algorithm
Google's database probably runs to tens of Terabytes (perhaps more). However, that data is not usually considered to be part of the algorhythm. There are probably less than 100 factors that affect search results, and probably only about a dozen vital ones. New factors are added, I imagine, after extensive testing and old factors are either removed or demoted. It is my observation (but I don't spend much time watching) that PR as determined by backlinks seems to be less important now than a few months ago.
For people who like conspiracy theories, how about this.
Google decides that back-link PR is going to be demoted because everyone is sharing links, etc. However, to throw webmasters off the scent they introduce the toolbar that shows something akin to PR (if it's in a good mood). This encourages more backlink creation and discourages other SEO strategies (since there are only so many hours in the day). And to cap it all, the toolbar acts as a piece of spyware. If I'm right, it is a truly fabulous piece of deception.
Kaled.
PS
Toolbar PR may be a fabulous deception, but the best con-trick ever is wide screen television. When introduced (in the UK) these were twice the price of standard TVs simply for having an 1/8 chopped off the top and bottom of the screen.
Sorry for the offtopic rant.
I wonder if google is named after Google Guy
PageRank is named after Google co-founder Larry Page. It is not the meaning of "page"
Yeah - right they can claim what they want, but if Larry's last name was Washarniewzinski - I guarantee you we wouldn't be calling if WasharniewzinskiRank
Chris: Can you answer the age old question for us? Is PageRank named after the fact it is "page" based, or is it named after one of the creators?
Google: PageRank is named for Larry Page, Google co-founder and president, Products.
Chris: Does Google view PageRank as being a significant distinguishing feature from the other search engines?
Google: PageRank is a technology which contributes to the speed and relevance that differentiate Google from other search engines. In addition, Google employs 100 other algorithms to its ranking formula.
Chris: Does Google believe that PageRank significantly benefits the quality of its results pages and does it expect this to continue in the future?
Google: Because of the scalable approach PageRank uses to analyze links, it will continue to be a significant factor in Google’s search results.
Chris: Several people have been known to try to data mine the PageRank information given by the toolbar, how does Google feel about this?
Google: Mining PageRank data from the Google Toolbar is against Google’s terms of service.
Chris: How useful do you think the PageRank information is on the toolbar for a) normal users b) webmasters c) search engine optimization professionals?
Google: The PageRank information on the Google Toolbar is an estimate and is intended only for informational purposes. Many users have found it interesting and webmasters have been known to use it as a measure of
their performance. However, because it is a rough estimate, the value to search engine optimization professionals is limited.
Chris: One method that people have been known to try to boost PageRank is by using link farms and guestbooks. How is Google likely to react to a site doing that?
Google: Google’s engineers are constantly working to update Google’s ranking algorithm to prevent manipulation of Google’s rankings.
However, Google are likely to insist that the "Page" of "PageRank" is taken from someone's name rather than an abtract web page for legal reasons. If there is ever a trademark dispute involving "PageRank" Google will be in a stronger position with a trademark based on someone's name.
However, as I've said before, I think pure back-link PR is of diminishing importance. That said, I think a new PR may be emerging that involves content. Here's what I mean.
Suppose a web page has a lot of "good" text. Let us suppose that there are a dozen links on that page to other sites. It makes sense (to me) that the other sites should benefit more from these links than from links on a page that has poor content.
The simplest and crudest implementation of this strategy might be to look at anchor text. However, I think Google have probably moved past this by now. In any case, there is another thread running on this subject so I shall say no more.
Returning to the subject of this thread, I suspect that the Toolbar is reporting pure back-link PR but Google are actually moving towards a combined Link/Content PR to generate results.
Kaled.
They should have called it 'Larry Rank' :)
I dont know any statistics but judging from people I know or work with the only ones who know anything about the bar are other webmasters. The percentahe of ordinary surfers using it has ( IMHO ) to be very small. Google must be well aware of this, assuming its true. and would not put much emphasis on what webmasters want to say about it.
Its these voting buttons that intrigue me. given that the bar is not widely used by the general public, and that google would not want webmaster votes, what are they for?
I hate to dredge up this much harried topic again but I cannot help but drift towards thoughts of Google Explorer ( or even Googlescape :) )with the toolbar built in. That MAY be picked up in significant numbers by the general public and then voting ( one vote per site per ip address? )might have some meaning and relevance.
