About Touchgraph, Google and meaning of "related sites"

[elloco]

I have been using Touchgraph ( [touchgraph.com...] ) and i find it very very interesting but i have a big question:

checking for my company url, i go the graph result with several competitors linking to me and viceverza.
I got paranoi thinking of a hacked link of the competitor!

Searchenginewatch says:
"It's a fascinating way to see not only who links to whom, but also to uncover "hidden" linkages between sites that on the surface appear to have no connection."

but before they say:
"The graph structure can also reveal other interesting relationships -- for example, sites that are related to one another."

So.. "related" doesnt means that both sites are linked, but both site have maybe a page in common like google directory? i am bit confuse.
thanks
elloco!

[minivip]

May be of some interest - there exists a backlink-version of the TGBrowser: [touchgraph.com...]

[Sebastian]

Does TouchGraph violate Google's TOS regarding using automated queries to access their service?

[ciml]

Sebastion, the GoogleBrowser uses Google's Web APIs [google.com].

Elloco, Google's 'Similar pages' function (GoogleScout) lists people who are linked from people who link to you. It can be rather interesting, and I can' help but wonder if it will be a part of the ranking process one day.

[Liane]

Interesting thread! I have often wondered when the Google PR algo would kick in with regards to the "similar pages" issue. It is bound to happen if it isn't happening already. Its a great way to confirm (and adjust PR) for those sites which have an inordinate number of links from unrelated sites. Its got to help point out those sites which are just PR hunting.

[Sebastian]

Internet Ninja writes: "Since Google released their API for keen developers, some people have come up with some interesting stuff. Two that caught my eye the Touchgraph Google Browser which uses the 'similar pages' option to build relationships among URLs

[url]http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/14/0349237[/url]

I guess this confirms that Touchgraph is safe to use to query sites.

[Brett_Tabke]

The previous thread with input from the Touchgraph author:

[webmasterworld.com...]