by Alan Rabinowitz
It seems like a dog’s age since Google updated the PageRank Toolbars. Making this the second PR update for the year. Many sites are reporting lowered PageRank, but some younger sites seem to have been given a nice boost when optimized from a link-baiting and content syndication methodology.
I now more than ever believe that these PageRank numbers are simply for show. With the recent penalties and changes to some sites, there seems to be NO EFFECT on rankings, so either we’re about to experience a new Google algorithm and see ranking updates, or we’re just being given evidence that the Google Toolbar is nothing more than really smart link-bait for the world of Search Giants.
So with this in mind, I’m gonna bet that Google is devaluing the power of any and every sitewide link. No doubt to kill the blog handshaking that has driven many popular blogs to extremely high PR. Also, they may be considering strategies to devalue blogs in general as bloggers keep criticizing Adsense claiming it pays very little. Google may feel that blogs only offer PageRank and that advertisers are trying to increase rankings and not traffic. – You decide!
Food for Thought…