Wohoo, page rank toolbar update – now I’m PR4

Finally, after waiting for like 6 months, Google finally decided to update the page rank on their toolbars. Though I know it doesn’t really mean anything, its always great to see that you’re doing something right by having a significantly higher Page Rank than before (do note that my previous page rank was zero, hence any movement is good).

However, with that being said, it seems that a lot of major websites have had their page rank dropped significantly, and on some occasions, a few ranks down. To illustrate a few (courtesy of  seomoz.org):

• www.autoblog.com PR6 > PR4
• www.forbes.com PR7 > PR5
• www.engadget.com PR7 > PR5
• www.problogger.net PR6 > PR4
• www.copyblogger.com PR6 > PR4
• www.joystiq.com PR6 > PR4
• www.tuaw.com PR6 > PR4
• www.searchengineguide.com PR7 > PR4

Even though there does seem to be major changes within Google, primarily the devaluing of paid links and links from certain websites, I do not believe that any of the above really suffered in terms of traffic. Though advertisers may now think twice before forking over money to these websites as many advertisers look at both Alexa ranking and Google Page Rank to gauge how much they believe the ad placements are worth.

Regardless, it comes as no news that Google changes affects a lot of online (and offline) businesses around the world, both positively and negatively. Worst part is that there is no getting around it until a new competitor enters and makes a significant dent on Google’s search dominance.

Anyways, let me know if you guys have had a positive or negative turn due to this page rank update.