Oct 27 2007

Google PageRank Finally Updating

Published by at 10:44 am under Google PageRank

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on at Google, but it appears that the long over due general PageRank Update is in fact underway. At the risk of entering the echo chamber, I though that you might like to know.

What does that mean for those affected by the recent downdate (as opposed to an update – get it)?

Seems no one is entirely sure. I know that ProBlogger is showing a 6 in the toolbar (when it was a 4), and all the data centres seem to be reflecting the 6.

Andy Beard is ambiguously showing a mix of 3, 4 and 5 in the data centres (he recently took a hit from 5 to 4 to 3), so what the end result will be is anyone’s guess. I just noticed he’s written about Real or Fake PR, and outlines the recent history of many of those popular sites that took a hit – very comprehensive and well worth a look.

But probably the most telling sign is that previously unranked blogs (well, I suppose “0” was a rank), like this one, are now showing a rank in the data centres. It’s not yet reflected in the toolbar.

New Google PageRank

How do you check your PageRank? Here are a couple of sites that query the PageRank directly from a number of Google Data Centres.

Dig Pagerank

PageRank Checker

Let me know how you went.

27 responses so far

27 Responses to “Google PageRank Finally Updating”

  1. # Andy Beardon 27 Oct 2007 at 10:48 am

    Hmm Dlook is showing both 4 and 5, is that an increase or a possible reduction?

  2. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 10:51 am

    Hi Andy

    I’ve nervously been watching for that. It was a 4, so the presence of almost universal 5’s is encouraging :) Fingers crossed for you.

  3. # Karen (Misc Mum)on 27 Oct 2007 at 10:58 am

    I have no idea what the whole thing means, or what it implies, but mine’s been steady at 4 for a long time now. Neither up or down!

  4. # Kinon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:08 am

    After your post last night I went hunting for mine. I showed variously a 0 and 5, depending on the page. I’m not sure about the 5 though. Can anyone verify that for me?

  5. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:11 am

    Hi Karen – yes, it looks like you are holding steady on a four.

    The PageRank algorithm is a well guarded secret, naturally, but is generally determined by the number and quality of inbound links to your site (i.e the authority of sites linking to you).

    Recently some people appear to have been penalised for “selling” links from their site to other sites (either Text Link Ads, blog networks or paid postings) and NOT using a “no follow” link, which means that link can be very valuable for the other site, especially if the site linking to it has a high PageRank (eg “authority).

    Google don’t like this because it means that potentially crap sites can “buy” a good PageRank, and this hurts the quality of the search results.

    But what many bloggers feel, is that they have been “slapped” by Google, because Google has taken away their “authority”, and implies that they don’t trust the website owner to only link to quality sites.

    It’s referred to as “selling PageRank”, but many sites seem to have been judged really harshly. I don’t know if that helps?

  6. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:18 am

    Hi Kin

    For your home page, I’m seeing pretty universal 3’s 😀

    I guess it’s possible to show a higher page rank on an internal page if it’s been linked to a lot. Do you have an example?

  7. # Snoskredon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:26 am

    I apparently have a 4. I had a 4 on my old blogspot domain, so I guess seeing as I have had the new domain such a short time that’s not bad work. The predictor was saying I would have a 5, so I guess I’m a little disappointed. :(

    I’m over Google. So over it. I’m switching to other things for the majority of my stuff now. They have too much power, and I think we all should start to take some of it back.

    Cheers,
    Snoskred

  8. # Kinon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:26 am

    Huh? No I was just checking the home page.

    3 hey? Gotta be happy with that for a chick who’s only been around 4 months :)

  9. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 11:41 am

    Snos

    I really think they’re not being as “liberal” with PageRank. I read somewhere 6 is like a 7 was, 5 like a 6 etc.

    Last time I checked, I had a predicted PR of close to 6, but given recent events am over the moon with a 5. Looks like my old blog is going to a 4, which is not surprising.

    Kin

    For example my top 100 page which has a few links, seems to indicate a 5, but my about me page is a 3 (and fair enough), and beginners guide to stumbleupon is a 4 (it’s had a few links).

    But yes, a 3 is great for a new blog :)

  10. # Mikeon 27 Oct 2007 at 12:39 pm

    Y’know what, Meg? I’m starting to think this is some kind of Google data centre glitch.

    First AdSense is unable to accurately report channel management. Next a load of high profile bloggers show PR bobbing up and down like a..well..bobbing up and down thing. And finally YouTube, a Google owned company, shows a massive PR drop (from 8 to 3).

    Are the Big G guys playing a late/early April Fool’s on us?

  11. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 12:46 pm

    Hi Mike (oooh freaky, I was just looking at your “Chuck” PR cartoon!)

    It is all over the place, but that PR3 looks to be a fake rank. I don’t know how you “fake” a rank, but it’s in red.

  12. # Scotton 27 Oct 2007 at 2:03 pm

    Page Rank checker reported one of my site has its PageRank dropped from 5 to 3. Ouch. Consider it has been a 5 for the last 9 months (and the domain is not even 1 year old). Oh well, I was selling text link ads on it (but with rel=”nofollow” attr) so there you go. Time to write a begging email to Googleplex…

  13. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 3:51 pm

    Scott – yes ouch – sorry to hear :( I thought the nofollow might have made a difference, but apparently not.

    Good luck

  14. # Cellobellaon 27 Oct 2007 at 5:27 pm

    I’m a 4… and I have no comment to make other than that as I’ve never checked it before. :)
    But 5 sounds good…

  15. # Willon 27 Oct 2007 at 5:32 pm

    Well.. that’s interesting.
    My personal blog has a PageRank of 4 – I’d never checked it before. I am suprised that it scored so high.

  16. # Johon 27 Oct 2007 at 5:53 pm

    I have gone from a 3 to a 4. I only recently discovered the whole PR thing, so I am pleased to make any progress.

  17. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 6:20 pm

    Hey CB – Happy birthday – hope you’ve had a great day :)

    Will – must be all those links you leave in comments 😉 (hey you know I’m kidding, I’ve only just convinced you to leave links here). Doing well with a 4 :)

    Yay Joh – I like to hear about movement in the right direction :)

  18. # Rob - Yack Yack SEOon 27 Oct 2007 at 8:39 pm

    Hey Meg, good to see you haven’t been done the dirty on 😀

    I woke to a nice fat -2 reduction, it’s certainly royally screwed as a reliable metric, especially when they keep silent on the whole thing.

  19. # Cellobellaon 27 Oct 2007 at 8:57 pm

    Thank you, I had a lovely birthday. :)

  20. # John Lampardon 27 Oct 2007 at 8:59 pm

    Congrats on the PR5 Meg :)

    Scott – you’re reading PR5 from where I am… I wonder about this selling sponsored links thing though. Cashquests quite openly sells them, and TLA, and yet is a PR5 site. I have noticed a few other sites selling them have their PR reduced with this latest update though.

  21. # Colin Campbellon 27 Oct 2007 at 9:07 pm

    Mine has been 4 since I first new what Page Rank was about a year ago.

  22. # Megon 27 Oct 2007 at 9:34 pm

    Rob – I’m sorry :(

    CB – Glad to hear :)

    John – thanks mate. Scott’s got a few blogs so it’s not the linked one he’s referring to. With the link selling, I reckon it’s only a matter of time… I’ve done the rounds today, and just about every blog that went down -2 has some form of link selling.

    Colin – no move is better than a downward move…

  23. # Peter McCartneyon 28 Oct 2007 at 6:52 am

    Hi! I don’t understand. I have been 0 for sometime, now I’m 4. What’s going on? Thank you for the update. Regards Peter

  24. # jenon 28 Oct 2007 at 11:13 am

    Mine’s a 4 now. It was a 3 or 4 before I moved to my own domain. I also checked Ratified.org and because their algorithm uses page rank I’ve gone from 121 or so to 64. A big jump there.

  25. # Megon 28 Oct 2007 at 1:10 pm

    Hi Peter – this is a good thing!

    Google usually update the PageRank around 4 times a year, this time they seemed to miss the end of July update so it’s been around 6 months. The general idea is that PR is constantly updating, depending on the links to your blog (as I mentioned in the comments above), but the visible PageRank is only updated 4x per year.

    So in practical terms, don’t expect to see a flood of traffic – but a “4” is great :)

    Jen – yay :)

  26. # Peter McCartneyon 28 Oct 2007 at 2:39 pm

    Thanking you for the feedback. Much appreciated.
    Regards Peter

  27. # This was the Week that Was, Vol. 19 | Sephy's Platzishon 30 Oct 2007 at 7:00 am

    […] finally a PageRank update going on! Andy has some details, and so does Meg. Personally, I got a 4, and I am very happy with that – it’s an improvement over what my old […]