So people are still reeling over the whole PageRank fiasco we had recently, and some are wondering when the next update will be. That is the biggest problem with creating a complex ranking system: keeping it up to date. PageRank epicycles are chinks in the Google armor. It allows others to work on creating ranking systems, and it allows people to exploit their PageRank for upwards of four months. If you build up a great site, all the way to a PageRank of six, you could then for four months abuse that by adding every advertisement under the sun, and basically selling your PageRank. This could line your pocket with a fair bit of money before Google comes back around and updates things (most likely penalizing you for the “horrible” thing you have done).
Are you already planning for the next PageRank update? Are there any other metrics that are now considered more accurate to the quality of a site? Let me know in the comments below.
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Lawk Salih
November 12th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I think Google should drop the whole PageRank phenomenon.
A. Marques
November 12th, 2007 at 11:28 am
But does PR still matter?
Just for you to see how bad this all is, one blog I have live just to tweak themes and plugins, with only one post, jumped from unranked to PR4. I’ve seen many good people heavily posting, getting links, and ending up on the same result or lower.
Is it just me or there is something really wrong in here?
Andrew Ooi
November 17th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Trouble with that is that it is no longer true that Google follows the usual 3-4 months cycle before the next Page Rank refresh. If you followed recent news there was another Page Rank update a few days ago (5th or 6th round) that gave page rank zeroes to a lot of paid post blogs. I’ve blogging (too much) about that lately on my blog.