Thursday, October 15th, 2009 by Andy Beal

69

Google is Finally Killing PageRank

We are one step closer to never having to discuss Google’s PageRank again.

According to SER, the PageRank metric has been removed from Google Webmaster Tools, after the search engine realized it was talking out of both sides of its mouth, all the while it continued to display the infamous metric:

Susan Moskwa, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, explained the reason for the removal:

We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.  :-)

The problem is, Google’s not yet ready to remove the PageRank score from the toolbar installed on hundreds of millions of web browsers. This really leads you to conclude that role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a comfort blanket for SEO noobs. I say this, with a high degree of confidence that most experienced SEOs pour over the data in Google Webmaster Tools, whereas those new to the industry likely let the toolbar be their only guiding light.

Having said all of that, I will admit that I still find the PageRank data useful. No I don’t use the Google Toolbar–I prefer the Firefox plugin called SearchStatus–but I do sometimes glance at the PageRank of a page. But, before you start pointing and laughing at me, know that I only use it as an early warning that a site is not behaving in Google’s index. Any green means “go.” No green, means there’s something to investigate.


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69 comments on “Google is Finally Killing PageRank”

  1. Brian Chappell Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 10:53 am

    Toolbar PR is a garbage metric that only matters in the land of Digital Point Forums

    http://forums.digitalpoint.com/search.php?searchid=18442896

    Andy Beal Reply:
    October 15th, 2009 at 10:57 am

    LOL!

  2. Jason Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 10:58 am

    Wow, it’s almost 2010 and we’re still talking about this? Google has been saying the same thing for years now. Toolbar PR doesn’t matter – it’s old, outdated data.

  3. Arabic SEO Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:01 am

    It is a fun metric :)

  4. Joe Hall Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Whats PageRank? ;-)

    Moe Reply:
    October 25th, 2009 at 8:45 am

    What’s Google?

  5. Dan London Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Interesting…I’m sure some other “stat” will be the new one for people to obsess over now
    Dan London´s last blog ..Does Your SEO Company Care About Your Business…Or Theirs? My ComLuv Profile

  6. Vlad Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    Long time overdue.
    Vlad´s last blog ..Telling Google How Often To Crawl Your Site- Not A Good Idea After All. My ComLuv Profile

  7. Partha Bhattacharya Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    Ditto. PR will henceforth be for selective eyes. But going away for ever? I doubt.

  8. Todd Hebert Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:19 am

    It’s one step to a better world as far as I am concerend. I get tired of heaqring abut pagerank. Honestly to many people are making money of the uninformed over that little green bar.

  9. finn @ livemercial Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 11:42 am

    and there was much rejoicing!!!
    finn @ livemercial´s last blog ..Livemercial, Mathis Each Pick Up an Award My ComLuv Profile

  10. Google Quietly drops pagerank from webmaster tools - GOOD! Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 12:41 pm

    [...] article on the subject http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009…-pagerank.html Nice quote from this article "This really leads you to conclude that role of PageRank has [...]

  11. Stephanie Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    Oh thank goodness! One less thing to ignore.
    Stephanie´s last blog ..If the Scams Are Frustrating You, Why Not Create Your Own Work at Home Opportunity? My ComLuv Profile

  12. Terry Van Horne Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    They removed most of the link info you got from the Link: syntax didn’t make links any less important only meant google wasn’t going to help you screw with em. IMO, only a fool thinks PR is going anytime soon! It was removed for the same reasons as the supplemental label in results to stop people obsessing about things that mean diddly! Take PR out of it and ahoo! Bing and Google all pretty well have the same algo, that and the indented listings is what separates Google from those who covet their popularity! Google isn’t stupid they know it

  13. Laura Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    It’s been a simple way to compare one site to another when speaking to execs. They don’t get the detail mumbo jumbo for SEO pros and Google algorithms. I’ll now have to spend more time defining other comparisons.

  14. Google Gets Rid of Page Rank in Webmaster Tools Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    [...] your site is crawled,indexed, and ranked. Page Rank does not need to be a major focus. Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim states that page rank is only a comfort blanket for newbies in the field of SEO. If everything is [...]

  15. Google is Finally Killing PageRank #google #pagerank #online-marketing #seo « urban-listening Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    [...] is Finally Killing PageRank #google #pagerank #online-marketing #seo 15 10 2009 via [...]

  16. Cat Jarritt Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    Kinda like adwords breakdown. They don’t want you to use it but you know they are gonna.
    Cat Jarritt´s last blog ..How To Buy Repossessed Cars Easily Online My ComLuv Profile

  17. Why are you still focusing on PageRank? Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

    [...] Google itself has repeatedly said that PageRank is not as significant as so-called gurus would tell you. Check out a recent explanation as to why it PageRank is being removed from Webmaster Tools.  It has almost as much value as Alexa ranking.  Both are relational or relative rankings.  In other words, they provide guidance on how your site places amongst a group of others and as is the case with PageRank, show how your site is IN GENERAL performing in Google’s index.  Andy Beal refers to PageRank as a red light, green light indicator. [...]

  18. Mark L Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    Great move of Google killing the page rank tool. That way small site owners won’t be misguided.

  19. Chuck Says:

    October 15th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Well they will always need a way to help them to determine how to list people in the search and page rank was part of that. That is the main reason for having page rank.

  20. Anand Srinivasan Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 1:07 am

    I’m fine if Google kills it. But there should be some reliable metric from the Search Engine themselves that will tell webmasters how they are progressing. Alexa, Compete, Quantcast are all third party sites and none of them are on target.

    How do I know if what I have worked on is showing results? Don’t tell me organic results because that is not under complete control – Traffic falls 50% during Christmas time; not my site’s fault.
    Anand Srinivasan´s last blog ..Change in Mobile Ad Revenue Constituents My ComLuv Profile

  21. zurna Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 2:11 am

    long time evertune…. very nice..

  22. Mathdelane Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 2:50 am

    If this was really true, it has been long overdue. Now, what matters is getting found in search results especially on the first page. Blogs had been battling over this fact on who’s supreme but if this could be true, everyone is even. Battle for the SERPs is the game. PR sculpting is over.
    Mathdelane´s last blog ..Wordpress 2.9 Beta Testers on Call My ComLuv Profile

  23. Free Internet Marketing Gift Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 4:11 am

    Hey Mate, I’ve read a couple of posts on your blog and I love your style. I am going to subscribe to your RSS feed :)

  24. Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 5:33 am

    FINALLY! I never bother with page rank – it’s so easily a gamed metric.
    Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..Today’s Humor! Cute birdie meets jeep meets coyote! My ComLuv Profile

  25. Olvidate del pagerank de tu página | Posicionamiento web en buscadores - Blog Posicionate.org Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 7:42 am

    [...] han salido varias noticias en diferentes medios comentando la sorprendente notica hace tan solo un día de que Google va a retirar el pagerank del [...]

  26. Jim Rudnick Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 8:15 am

    Same here, ie we haven’t paid any attention to PR now for over 3 years…and I love that this is “finally” bubbling up in the latest news from Google, eh!

    :-)

    Jim

    Anand Srinivasan Reply:
    October 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am

    So what is the metric that you watch to see how your website is faring? I too knew about PR being irrelevant, but kept holding on to it since I didn’t have another metric to watch out for.
    Anand Srinivasan´s last blog ..Change in Mobile Ad Revenue Constituents My ComLuv Profile

  27. Rucio Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 8:53 am

    It was mentioned in an earlier comment that Page Rank is relative to all the web pages in the world, so in that sense it is indeed useless, but in comparing sites competing for the same searches it remains a crude indicator. If my rival for the same keywords is ranked 5 and I’m only at 3, then it’s clear I need to work harder. On the other hand, if my site is unique it doesn’t matter if its PR is only 3.

  28. El PageRank no importa | Vago SEO Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am

    [...] razón por la que el PR no importa: Google lo está quitando de sus Webmaster Tools. ¿Por qué lo hacen? Simple, ellos siempre dijeron que era poco importante, que en el posicionamiento de una web [...]

  29. Google Page Rank is not important Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am

    [...] Thanks to Marketing Pilgrim for the Google quote: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/10/google-is-finally-killing-page rank.html [...]

  30. ZEXEL Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Its saw bad… Why ?? i am cry
    ZEXEL´s last blog ..Плачу гроші за реєстрацію на сайті My ComLuv Profile

  31. Google elmina el Pagerank [ENG] Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:45 am

    [...] Google elmina el Pagerank [ENG]www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/10/google-is-finally-killing-p… por Milhaud hace pocos segundos [...]

  32. Adios Pagerank | Codigo Geek Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:46 am

    [...] Via | marketingpilgrim [...]

  33. Wii Fan Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:56 am

    I have been using a few webmaster forums where PageRank is the main statistic used when selling or buying text links and ad space. This has always caused me confusion because surely you are going to get more traffic and better reputation by using sites that have themselves built great reputation for themselves and great traffic.

  34. Google elimina el PageRank Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 10:24 am

    [...] Fuente Compartir / Guardar [...]

  35. skate Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 10:54 am

    totalmente de acuerdo!

  36. Jose Sanchez Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 11:06 am

    Well it seems that finally google decided kill the green bar, but now what? Maybe they will create a new factor to view the importance of a website?
    Jose Sanchez´s last blog ..Google muestra el numero de visitas que hiciste a una página My ComLuv Profile

  37. Valerie@CookingSharp Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    That’s a relief! I’m glad they’re telling people what is NOT important, like meta keywords and pagerank. Webmaster Tools seems focused on showing us how to really succeed. Now if they can only get the former Google Base settled back down, I’ll be happy.
    Valerie@CookingSharp´s last blog ..Chess Pie Vintage Recipe My ComLuv Profile

  38. Jim Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    I feel a bit stupid saying this after all the “it’s about time” posts here, but….

    Why do so many people still discuss PageRank as if it is important. And I mean people like Matt Cutts and Rand Fishkin (not just site flippers, etc.) In Rand’s whiteboard on site architecture earlier this year (for one example) he went on about passing PageRank throughout a website as if PageRank was indeed critically important to think about. In the much-overblown discussion about sculpting PageRank on Matt Cutts’ blog earlier this year there was not one hint that PageRank was unimportant.

    To be sure, most of us know that Page Rank is secondary to trust rank as well as on page content and other factors (including site architecture) but does any reasonable SEO completely ignore PageRank all the time?

    It is not primarily important but it is not completely irrelevant, folks…..

    Anand Srinivasan Reply:
    October 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    Your posts make a lot of sense, Jim..I just feel Google’s doing this to make the SEO’s job a bit redundant..
    Anand Srinivasan´s last blog ..Change in Mobile Ad Revenue Constituents My ComLuv Profile

  39. Google Quietly drops pagerank from webmaster tools | Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    [...] are one step closer to never having to discuss Google’s PageRank again. According to SER and Marketingpilgrim, Google has removed the PageRank section in the crawl statistics in Google Webmaster Tools. This [...]

  40. SEO Workers Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    What doesn’t make sense to me is that they removed the PageRank values from the Webmaster Tools and not from the toolbar.

    And anyway, just because Google does not share anymore with the site owners the actual PageRank (via GWT), doesn’t suppose to mean that PageRank is dead or not important.

    I am not claiming that it is the most important factor, but let me ask you two questions: Can you rank without links? And what is PageRank about?

    If Google will officially tell that they removed PageRank from their algorithm, then obviously I will remove PageRank from my factors list.

    IMO, all these Google promo attempts about PageRank stink. On the one hand they are against paid links etc, and on the other hand they leave the toolbar there, which is the strongest promotion tool for buying links or building links in an unnatural way. Or did I miss something?

    So come on people. We are not that dumb, or?
    SEO Workers´s last blog ..SEO Services & Budget My ComLuv Profile

  41. Adiós al PageRank? | gEEK tHE pLANET Says:

    October 16th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    [...] más: Marketing Pilgrim [...]

  42. Google has quietly gotten rid of PageRank- Compliments International, LLC Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 11:27 am

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a “comfort blanket for SEO [...]

  43. Google Ditches PageRank in Webmaster Tools - Top Affiliate Programs Review Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of [...]

  44. Google tells us page rank is ‘not important’ | gray dudek Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a “comfort blanket for SEO [...]

  45. Google Ditches PageRank in Webmaster Tools | WebProNews « Encourager Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a “comfort blanket for SEO [...]

  46. I trećeg dana stvori Google PageRank™, i vidje Google da nije dobro… Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    [...] na kraju jedan važan citat od Andija Beala: This really leads you to conclude that role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a [...]

  47. Google eliminará el "PageRank" para evitar controversias | Globbos Says:

    October 18th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    [...] Susan Moskwa, La administradora de Análisis de Tendencias de Google explicó que por mucho tiempo le han dicho a los usuarios que no se enfoquen tanto en el PageRank, ya que muchos dueños de sitios creen que es la medida más importante que tienen que tomar en cuenta y esto no es verdad. Algunas de estas cosas se comentaron a través del reporte en marketingpilgrim. [...]

  48. Google Remove PageRank in Webmaster Tools | Developing Webs Says:

    October 19th, 2009 at 12:26 am

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a “comfort blanket for SEO [...]

  49. walidmrealtor Says:

    October 19th, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    Interesting…it looks like Google is removing pr from direct line of sight and saying ignore it, but not saying they won’t keep it under consideration internally.

  50. Google takes a bite out of Page Rank importance | SEO with Fries Says:

    October 20th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    [...] Google is Finally Killing PageRank (marketingpilgrim.com) [...]

  51. Dealing With Google Sidewiki Says:

    October 20th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    [...] Google is Finally Killing PageRank (marketingpilgrim.com) Related Posts [...]

  52. swasa Says:

    October 21st, 2009 at 12:18 am

    Very Good now google is not focusing on the pagerank.Then what about the pagerank given to the old sites.And for the new sites.What is the solution.

  53. El Page Rank ha muerto | Posicionamiento Web Says:

    October 21st, 2009 at 5:00 am

    [...] http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/10/google-is-finally-killing-page rank.html [...]

  54. hendri Says:

    October 21st, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    god damn!!! i have build some new blogs for a few month.. i want to flipping it.. but now, what can i do with those blogs??
    hendri´s last blog ..google page rank dihapus?? My ComLuv Profile

  55. William Wallace Says:

    October 21st, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    All those fucking geeks are not going to be having there wet dreams anymore now that Google has finally seen some sense. How could anybody take something that was only updated 3 or 4 times a year as being an accurate measurement as to how well a site is doing……bull shit!
    William Wallace´s last blog ..Nottign Hill7 My ComLuv Profile

  56. Email Marketing Blasts » Blog Archive » Google Ditches PageRank in Webmaster Tools Says:

    October 21st, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    [...] Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a “comfort blanket for SEO [...]

  57. suryaden Says:

    October 22nd, 2009 at 8:34 am

    so and always think a great content…
    suryaden´s last blog ..nabi baru sebuah fenomena energi atau kerja keras My ComLuv Profile

  58. Google is Finally Killing PageRank - Marketing Pilgrim | ByteBooth Says:

    October 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    [...] after the search engine realized it was talking out of both sides of its mouth, all the … Read Full Article (No Ratings Yet)  Loading … SEO [...]

  59. Google Pagerank Dead? Far From It, You Just Don’t Know How To Use It! | Financial Freedom Ideas Says:

    October 25th, 2009 at 4:33 am

    [...] from the Google Webmaster Tools and there are all sorts of blog posts popping up claiming that Pagerank is dead. [...]

  60. Google PageRank - Does It Still Matter? | Kikabink News - Internet Marketing News Says:

    October 27th, 2009 at 6:08 am

    [...] Andy Beal, “Google is Finally Killing PageRank,” Marketing Pilgrim, October 15, 2009 Share and [...]

  61. Mouse Says:

    October 28th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    PageRank is google’s heavy weapon!

  62. Tmdesigner Says:

    November 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am

    Ah.. finally! lets write good content!

    Anand Srinivasan Reply:
    November 4th, 2009 at 10:53 am

    No wait…This is old news. Google announced a PR update this week..
    Anand Srinivasan´s last blog ..Touchscreen Phone Growth and Market Share My ComLuv Profile

  63. Bali Accommodation Says:

    November 6th, 2009 at 4:31 am

    My website PR downgraded from 3 to 2 know. But my deep pages get 1 PR.

  64. Milton Says:

    November 12th, 2009 at 4:58 am

    Thank God. Now we can focus on what really matters.

    On the other hand, there have been beliefs that if you get inbound links from website that has high PR rank, chances are your site will be treasured more in Google. So how is this going to change this fact?
    Milton´s last blog ..Empire State Of Mine: 7 Things To Do In New York On New Year’s Eve My ComLuv Profile