It's almost a month I didn't write up anything on this blog; I keep myself busy with the Eid Mubarak celebration and I got several things need to be sorted. After a long rest, it's hard to get started again after losing all the momentum. Opening my google reader is a good headstart as it allows me to have a quick flip through on blogs I subscribed. The first thing that captures my attention is when I noticed most of them talked about Google pagerank update where the affected bloggers get penalized. This time, it is no longer a rumor when Google said they want to play hardball to fight against sponsored links. So here is the list of several of many blogs I usually visit, affected by the wrath of the Big G.
1. JohnTP (from 6 to 3)
2. CYpherhackz (from 5 to 0)
3. Problogger (from 7 to 6)
4. Sizlopedia (from 5 to 3)
5. Sabahan (from 5 to 4)
Luckily, I am not affected by the clean sweep (still PR4), obviously since I don't have any sponsored links from Text Link Ads. The rumour about Google crackdown had been reverberating across the blogosphere couple of months ago, so there was ample time for TLA if they wished to do some changes on protecting their business (it means protecting the publishers interests too) before the 'Googlement Day' but apparently they take things for granted.
Many high profile bloggers had taken down the TLA links and I believe they had taken the appropriate measure to rectify the problem. If you too were affected, after removing all the thing disliked by the Google and complying all the guides outlined, you may want to report to them to reconsider your blog for PR inclusion. You may do this by visiting Google Webmaster Tools and you need to sign in before making the request.
Many bloggers and established directories had lost their PR trophies and it's now time for people who are majorly affected by the Google's action to take new standard; not paying attention and depending too much on PR. Even though there is a major PR downgrade in many websites, I still didn't hear people ranting about losing significant traffic; this is absolutely a good news. There's no use of having PR skying up high but with only a small fraction of traffic. Let's hope the changes only numerical without affecting keywords for SERPs . For those affected and obsessed with news related to PR like me (;p) I hope your PRs will get back to normal real soon.
Technorati Tags: pagerank updates, Google, crackdown
Oct 28, 2007 at 21:48:22
Maybe I am missing something, but can you please explain how pagerank is something anybody should give a shit about.
Does Toolbar Pagerank decide your search engine rankings? If this was true, then Engadget, Forbes would have seen at least 20-30% traffic drop by now. None of the sites which have their PR decreased have reported their rankings being dropped.
Will Google devaluate the link passing ability of websites with lower pagerank? Again if this happens then it will be Google itself who is going to suffer in the long run, because we all know Google’s alogorithm is solely dependent on backlinks. And punishing authority or strong sites, means gaming its own algorithm which I doubt Google will do.
And third for readers. How is this Pagerank important? Engadget has a Pagerank of 5 and Gizmodo has a Pagerank of 7 or 8 (Sorry I don`t have Toolbar installed). Does this means for a reader Gizmodo is way ahead of Engadget. I am sure this is something even the Gizmodo editors won`t agree to.
So the Pagerank is rendered useless for all three; webmasters, advertisers and readers. I would suggest people who still follow pagerank to please see the right picture, and move on.
Oct 29, 2007 at 00:58:10
Speaking of pagerank usefulness, it depends on webmasters’ purposes of running their websites. Some people, in one extreme, only use blogs as their private places to ramble about their daily life etc. These people will find blog as a mundane diary which appears in digital form and they don’t give a damn concern of what PR is all about as it definitely won’t serve their purposes.
People at the other end of spectrum are working their butts off to get decent money out of their blogs. So here the PR comes into play. Coupled with other factors such as page strength, alexa ranking and everything else under the sun, in a way, gives their blogs the upper hand on getting a link sold and it means green will start to roll in. Lower PR means the less likely your blog will be picked up by advertisers. So that’s how it goes, at least, for the time being. Sooner or later, people will start to switch and adapt to a better device and during this time Pagerank will be rendered less useful.
“Pagerank is rendered useless for all three; webmasters, advertisers and readers” is just an overstatement :)
Oct 29, 2007 at 09:03:51
yups eches the PR debate are the hottest topic past 2 week if you missed. all over the place talking about demotion and so on.
I never know that the google w.tool had those request consideration. Maybe I missed it or I never explore that GWT so much.
ur fellow malaysian blogger get some drastic demotion - hongkiat get pr2 onlt
Oct 29, 2007 at 14:20:21
I learnt about the presence of this tool from sabahan some time ago. Lucky me, I don’t need this tool as yet.
Zam, it’s good to see your blog with PR4 :)
Oct 29, 2007 at 15:32:15
TQ bro - blog aku ari tuh ada hosting problem jd semua yg aku tulis unt 3 bln hilang abis. jd aku start cam blog baru bulan ogos ari tuh. mungkin aku bernasib baik…Lol…
Oct 29, 2007 at 20:05:50
Nasib blog aku turun skit jer..Aku awal2 dah hide pasal sponsor link nih..
Oct 29, 2007 at 21:28:44
sembunyi..jangan tak sembunyi hehe..turun sket2 takpe jangan kosong terus dah le..hehe
Oct 29, 2007 at 21:51:34
habis lingkup website aku. jatuh dari pr5 ke pr0 tu banyak tu… bukan sikit2 jatuh nye.
Oct 29, 2007 at 22:45:03
Relaks CypherHackz. Aku rasa Google restore balik nanti. walaupun hang punya PR hilang, trafik tak turun.
Oct 30, 2007 at 08:29:22
PR bg ko bukan satu masalah yg besar CypherHackz, since site ko mmg dah ada pengunjung setia dan traffics yg bagus. Tapi dari PR5 ke PR0 adalah satu masalah yg besar jg jika difikirkan. aper pon sabar cyper.
Oct 30, 2007 at 08:32:57
masalah besar jugak la. hu3. sebab ranking result page aku akan menurun. selain daripada tu, income turut menjadi rendah. hu3.
Oct 30, 2007 at 18:03:51
Yes i m also down. 3 to 0 !
Nov 4, 2007 at 21:37:43
huhu..congrats eches..Pr x jatuh mcm sesetengah blog lain..hhuhu
Blog saya pon naik pr from PR3 to PR4..huhu
Alhamdulillah..hehe
Nov 5, 2007 at 01:08:15
Seb baik bro..tahniah gk utk ko!
Nov 5, 2007 at 12:21:48
aku pun… 4 -> 3
Jun 6, 2008 at 18:50:52
Gr2 pr turun,kmrn aku nangis diem2..hiks
Aug 13, 2008 at 02:18:31
Although everyone seems to put down the importance of pagerank i think it has some advantages. Whilst it is not a true measure for a websites ranking or traffic it certainly is an indication of the overall optimization and coverage of a website online. If you wish to monetize your website and offer banner advertisements slots then clients will most certainly look at page rank before making a decision. Similarly for link exchanges pagerank plays a role as sites with high page rank can easily negotiate link exchanges.
Oct 5, 2008 at 11:37:57
i just submit my blog to google for reconsideration. hopefully i’ll get my PR back. ha ha ha. Don’t want to do any of those anymore. :D
Oct 5, 2008 at 13:59:34
What happen taukey? Your PR is 0 right now, what’s your previous PR?