November 15, 2007
Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be!
So the Big G shafted everyone yet again. Last night blogs that carry any advertising other than their own AdSense took a major PR hit. Big name blogs with many thousands of readers as well as us everyday people who make a few bucks from our blogs from time to time. (EDIT: Blogs that have NEVER carried ANY advertising got slapped, too. Traffic, stats and SERPS are meaningless to Big G.) I’m here to tell you folks, it doesn’t matter. At least not to me, and probably not to you if you see which way the wind is blowing. By using their new criteria for ranking blogs (whatever that might be) the Big G has shafted, not the bloggers, but themselves. PR used to the the sterling yardstick that measured a site’s worth. That obviously is not true anymore. Page Rank is now for sale, and you can only get it by using the Big G to buy your way into the rankings. It’s page rank (PR) that has lost value, not the sites they’re ranking. As an example, my PR went from a 4 to a 2 a few weeks ago. Yet the true measures of my blog’s popularity indicate that I have more readers and more links, am getting more page views and am attracting more search engine traffic. This is a measureable trend that is seen across the blogosphere. The only conclusion is that PR has become an artificial meaurement that is without value.
Those of us who have chosen to monetize our blogs need a way to show that our blogs have value. PR was the most reliable measure in the past. So what are we going to do now? Find another way. A way that shows the actual value of our blogs so that advertisers can know whether or not we offer them the right vehicle for promoting their product. The geniuses at IZEA (the new umbrella corporation that includes PayPerPost) already had something along those lines in the works. They’ve sped up their timetable and will have IZEA RealRank™ available to posties (those of us who post for PPP) within days. That’s not all, though. Recognizing that the need is not limited just to posties and PPP advertisers, they’ll be releasing it to the public at large. CEO Ted Murphy has explained the significance of this move in a post on the IZEA blog:
I we (sic) believe we have a solution and that solution is RealRank. RealRank data is gathered from the IZEA Toolkit “ITK” (formerly PPP Tools). It is a piece of javascript that many of you already have and those outside of PPP will be able to get from a separate site without joining PPP or SocialSpark. ITK gathers REAL traffic information, much like your analytics platform and ranks users based on their standing within the network. The formula is relatively simple.
70% weighted towards visitors per day
20% weighted towards amount of ACTIVE inbound links per day
10% weighted towards pageviews per day
RealRank is based, not on the whim of a mega-giant, self-promoting seller of advertising, but on … well … your real rank! You will not be required to join IZEA, Social Spark or PayPerPost in order to use it. You don’t have to monetize your blog in order to use the tools. Posties will not have artificially inflated rankings and non-posties will not be penalized. IZEA is even making it abvailable to their competitors, other pay-to-blog companies. The more data collected, the more valid the ranking, so this is a sound move by IZEA and will benefit everyone in the long run.
What kind of impact will the current actions by Big G have on their own system in the long run? You be the judge:
Investors are not stupid people. Big G stock has dropped dramatically in the last twenty-four hours. Why would you want to leave your money in the hands of people stupid enough to shoot themselves in the foot? They’ve devalued their own worth and they’re being devalued in turn by those whose money they were using. That persistent buzz you’ve been hearing today? That’s the sound of thousands of users un-installing the Big G tools and toolbars. Too bad, so sad.
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Technorati Tags: blogging tools, google, google page rank, IZEA, page rank, PayPerPost
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November 15th, 2007 at 3:45 pm, Misty Dawn Says:
This is a fantastic post. I truly hope that IZEAs ideas work. I’m so upset with ‘Big G’ I could scream (and have screamed a few times!). Thanks for this post - it gives me some hope.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:14 pm, Karen Says:
Way to say it, Skeet! Great post that explains it in simple terms.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:28 pm, Michael Says:
My PR is the same and I carry advertising from multiple sources.
I think PR is only 1 small factor in a BLOG or websites worth.
Michael
November 15th, 2007 at 7:39 pm, Tina Kubala Says:
Both times I read Ted’s post I missed the part about Real Rank being open to anyone. That is so awesome! I was already bubbling with excitement, now I’m over the moon
November 15th, 2007 at 9:29 pm, skeet Says:
There IS hope, Misty Dawn! The new IZEA ranking will be based on real stats. Those of us who have worked hard on improving content and increasing traffic will reap the rewards.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:30 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Karen. I’m enthusiastic about RealRank and excited about what it can do for us!
November 15th, 2007 at 9:33 pm, skeet Says:
“I think PR is only 1 small factor in a BLOG or websites worth.”
It’s not even a small factor anymore, Michael, because Goodle has made it abundantly clear that PR can be bought. I’m happy to put my PR paranoia behind me and to rely on my blog to speak for itself through content and unbiased stats.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:35 pm, skeet Says:
That’s another exciting aspect of RealRank, Tina. Comparing the stats of only those blogs doing PPP will not provide comprehenive comparative data for ranking. We need to ALL be ranked against each other - those of us who monetize and those who don’t, for the results to be fair and unbiased.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:06 am, corrinrene Says:
I’m a “wait and see” kind of girl. My PR didn’t drop again, so RealRank may be good or bad for me.
November 16th, 2007 at 7:01 am, Cynthia Blue Says:
Great post Skeet! I love the graph of the google stocks. =D
November 16th, 2007 at 7:21 am, PR Going, going, gone: What now? - Blogging, Tech, and Making Money - “A Random Walk To Wealth” Says:
[…] of my favorite bloggers, Skeet has written about this, too. Skeet writes in colorful […]
November 16th, 2007 at 8:28 am, skeet Says:
Corrin, PPP is using “historical” stats for the time being. Did you check your PR independently? I thought mine had not taken another hit because I still had rank at PPP, but I became a big fat zero yesterday.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:05 am, pussreboots Says:
I went from a 4 to a 0 overnight even though I’m having the best traffic to my site in well over a year. I don’t carry any ads or do sponsored posts. So it’s obviously an across the board shafting.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:15 am, Lynne Says:
Thanks for explaining it in laymen’s terms! I can actually understand it, finally.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:29 am, skeet Says:
More proof, Sarah, that PR does not reflect the value of a site. So be it.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:30 am, skeet Says:
YW, Lynn. Glad I could help.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:24 pm, Anna Says:
Great post! I’ve been thinking the same thing. In a very short time, Google’s Page Rank has gone from being the be all and end all, to just meaning nothing. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been a bit frustrated watching it drop.
I’m looking forward to seeing how RealRank turns out. Just the fact that the formula isn’t going to be a secret is encouraging.
November 16th, 2007 at 6:49 pm, More Bad Press For Google. | Snoskred - Life in the Country Says:
[…] Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back The Great Google Bitch Slap PR Going, going, gone: What now? Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be! Apologies if I missed a link to something you’ve written on this topic - please let me know […]
November 16th, 2007 at 9:08 pm, Mama BoK Says:
A really great post..! and thank you .. for explaining it and saying what i think of Google. I went from a PR 4 to 0 in 2 weeks…!! JOY..!!
November 16th, 2007 at 11:28 pm, skeet Says:
Anna, I’m excited about RealRank,too.
I’m not the biggest or busiest site around, but I stand by my honest stats. Now others who “need to know” can have that same info and make their decisions based on it.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:30 pm, skeet Says:
YW, MamaBoK! The Big G slap has pulled a lot of folks together to share ideas. I think we’ll all be much better off once the dust settles.
November 17th, 2007 at 5:45 am, corrinrene Says:
My PR finally dropped. Woohoo.
November 17th, 2007 at 6:54 am, skeet Says:
Welcome to the club, Corrin. We are among the chosen, lol!
November 17th, 2007 at 11:19 am, Report Adsense Paid Links? | Snoskred - Life in the Country Says:
[…] Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back The Great Google Bitch Slap PR Going, going, gone: What now? Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be! Google Gone Ga […]
November 18th, 2007 at 6:56 pm, Robert MacEwan Says:
Izea is currently still using Google PR to determine the worth of your blog. Those hit with lowered PR by Google are punished by PayPerPost with less revenue.
November 18th, 2007 at 7:14 pm, skeet Says:
Not entirely accurate, Robert. They’re using “historical data” from prior to this last Google bashing. My PR at PPP (in “my blogs”) is the same as it was a few weeks ago, after the first PR loss. At Google I’m a zero. PPP is using the PR2 that I was demoted to last month, so I still have some opps available.
November 19th, 2007 at 3:15 pm, Is Google The New Terrorist? | Snoskred - Life in the Country Says:
[…] Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back The Great Google Bitch Slap PR Going, going, gone: What now? Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be! Google Gone Ga […]
November 21st, 2007 at 9:47 am, Benjamin Sterling Says:
Excellent post. I second what Anna said, and I personally have never put much thought into the pagerank thing, but if RealRank is worth anything I may pay more attention.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:03 pm, Qtpies7~ Says:
Great post! Thanks for writing it!
March 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm, PR Going, going, gone: What now? | InvestorBlogger Says:
[…] of my favorite bloggers, Skeet has written about this, too. Skeet writes in colorful […]