Toolbar greyed for all sites?

Google's toolbar not showing PR anymore?

[cigjonser]

Does anyone else see the toolbar greyed out for all sites? I'm not getting anything.

[mickeymart]

I still dont get how pagerank is that important considering it can be faked (referring to the thread I got a pagerank 10 and it only cost me 10 dollars)

[moishe]

I am starting to see green again on some sites including WebmasterWorld and MSN Search but Google is still greyed out, as is Yahoo...

Anyone else?

[kevinpate]

I think this is my fault. I grew tired of the skin I was using here, so a few days back I switched to one that's mostly shades of green. Right after that, pr indicators around the globe started turning gray.

Maybe it's pure coincidence, but if not, so sorry. :)

[frontpage]

Did something I never thought I would do -- I just uninstalled the Google Tool Bar this AM.

It is an experiement to see how my browsing habits change and to slowly end my reliance on IE and learn to love Firefox.

Without the PR function, I really don't see a continuning need for the Toolbar as most of the other features are easily found on the Google site otherwise.

[mm1220]

Perhaps I don't know enough about the logistics of updating the PR database but I would have imagined that google would be in a position to show us the old values until the new ones are finalised rather than greying the whole bar out.

It's been down for a noticeable length of time now. What does Joe Surfer think? It surely can't reflect well on google to have a part of their toolbar not functioning. Especially considering there's been no warning. Whether it's being updated, changed or being done away with the bottom line for google's rep is that it appears broken.

[mack]

side thought...

Wonder how many people will stop using IE as a result of this. Maybee thats the plan?

Mack.

[Sobriquet]

I dont think people will stop using IE becoz of the missing PR, but many will stop using google toolbar.

slowly, the default search engine MSN will grow becoz of this.

If PR has been put to rest by Google, ( HOPE NOT ), google may suffer by people getting off the toolbar

[mack]

but many will stop using google toolbar

Do non webmasters select the RP option.

Mack.

[jdhuk]

It is an experiement to see how my browsing habits change and to slowly end my reliance on IE and learn to love Firefox.

It takes some getting used to but after a while you wont look back. Saying that IE whilst browsing with FireFox is only a right click away "view page in IE" a great add on but best of all is "searchstatus" excellent for webmasters with PageRank view (if it ever comes back) Alexa bar, Meta Tags view, Archive.org view, show robots.txt, show whois, show indexed pages, show backwards links. I love this feature much better than IE IMO.

Do non webmasters select the PR option.

I would say no they don't, every person i have ever spoke to or helped setting their computers up or teaching the basics to surf the net haven't a clue what its for, how to get it, or what it does. And even when you explain it there not interested in it, but why should the average Joe Bloggs surfer be interested in it?

Maybe thats why they have pulled the plug as it is mostly used as a webmaster tool.

[surfin2u]

I uninstalled the toolbar and now I have almost no need to use IE. I will only use IE to check some new pages that I create to be sure that they display ok.

[oaktown]

I hope I'm not off-topic here, but I just noticed this thread [webmasterworld.com...] wherein they are talking about cache-servers going offline just before the toolbar PR function went grey.

Would this support the glitch theory?

[Pass the Dutchie]

glitch....perhaps either way I see them as related.

[annej]

I don't think Joe Surfer will even notice the tool bar is gone. I noticed my husband didn't even have that option selected.

[Pass the Dutchie]

PageRank Display
Wondering whether a new website is worth your time? Use the Toolbar’s PageRank™ display to tell you how Google’s algorithms assess the importance of the page you're viewing.

Perhaps now all new websites are a waste of time :)

[Rossv1]

I wonder if it is just a coincidence that PR has been disabled just a few days after Adsense was 302 hijacked and the PR of 9 assigned to another site?

[lfshanny]

neather

[penfold25]

I think it would most likely be just a fixing of the code or something as too many people have manipulated their pages with pagerank either through redirects or wateva. Even though its artificial it does affect Googles credibility with it.

[oaktown]

BTW, welcome to WebmasterWorld lfshanny and dkweb!

[jdhuk]

Perhaps now all new websites are a waste of time :)

Hence Sandbox :)

[krelian]

No one will stop using IE or the the toolbar because of this. 99% of the people on the web are not even aware of PR, and those who do care about that much are right here in this forum.
Exposing the the PR information has done only bad for google. It will be best for them not making it publicly available (even though I belive this glitch is only temporary).

And for those who cry about having no reason to use IE now, there was no reason in the first place. There is a google toolbar extension for firefox, which although not developed by google themselves is actually recommended by them for firefox users.
There is another extension for firefox that displays the page's PR.

[skipfactor]

>>Exposing the the PR information has done only bad for google.

Not entirely true. It's been yet another Google original branding gimmick and quite a successful one at that.

[econman]

Wonder how long this is going to last?

[kgun]

I thought Google was a search engine, and not a ranking program. It is still my favourite search engine.

I have posted some reflections on this and related topics at the Webproworld forum under the same nick.

Kbleivik

I agree with a post here: Now my site has the same pagerank as all the professional sites on the web.

[whizkiddo]

trouble is most webmasters do check whether the site / page has a good PR before exchanging links. means i will have to postpone my linking campaign for some time. am sure it will be back by tuesday or wednesday latest.

[mm1220]

trouble is most webmasters do check whether the site / page has a good PR before exchanging links.

what a google-centric place the web has become ...

[mack]

trouble is most webmasters do check whether the site / page has a good PR before exchanging links.

I don't. I like to a site if I feel is is importaint to my users. PR, or no PR.

Mack.

[John_Creed]

Checking a websites PR and Alexa ratings are the best indication of a sites popularity that we currently have(For exchanging links). Short of actually seeing their stats, that is.

It's a great tool for webmasters and I hope it comes back.

[Eathan]

Why all the stress in this thread?

SEO is like sailing. Rolling with the ocean's ups and downs is just part of the voyage. PR will probably be back in a few days. If not, roll with it and keep going.

[onefiddle]

Yep, and sometimes there are storms...

[chris surfrider]

PR seems to have been a sort of dying form of ranking info as it is.

I think regardless of what happens, this is going to be a good thing for the SEO and webmaster community, whether it's simply a wake-up call or a revolution of the way we do things.

We cannot be so foolish as to depend on a single company (Google) for the livelihood of internet marketing.

Perhaps these thoughts seem feeble and philosophical - yes, there is an entire industry that could potentially vanish or have to make some drastic and immediate changes in order to survive - but we have to evaluate the purpose of search engines altogether: relevent content.

As seo's, webmasters and martketers, are we basically riding the tailcoat of "whatever seems to work best", or are we actually developing a long-term, content-rich and useful campaigns for ourselves and our clients?

PR may be dead (or it might not be), but the point is that effective marketing is not, regardless of search engine algo's.

Just a few thoughts...

-CR