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A WebmasterWorld thread talks about how they noticed how the Yahoo! Directory pages are showing a PageRank score that is typically lower than what they showed in the past.
A member says based on that, "Looks like that $300 link was worthless."
As you know, it cost $299 per year to get reviewed to be included in the Yahoo! Directory. So he feels that the $299 he spent is not worth anything because the page with the link has a low PageRank.
Forum moderator, martinibuster, responds that it is not that simple.
Passing the review process of the Yahoo directory says something positive about a website. The toolbar doesn't reflect that.
I agree. Google knows Yahoo! tries their best to only include quality sites within their directory. Even if a page in the Yahoo! Directory has a low PageRank, it doesn't fully represent the importance of such a link.
I may be going off on an edge right now, but I believe that a Wikipedia link, even though they are nofollowed, can be valuable. If not today, I think down the road.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to links. It is not just about PageRank or if the link is going through a redirect or even if it is nofollowed. It also depends on the source.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Michael Martinez
06/01/2007 04:15 pm
As anyone who truly understands PageRank knows, the Toolbar PR value is only a derivative value and Google claims that it reflects data other than just linkage. Internal PageRank, on the other hand, continually "flattens" as the number of indexed documents grows (because the sum of all Internal PageRanks is 1). It therefore follows that a derivative value would also flatten (although more gradually), so people should not be surprised to see Toolbar PR drop over time. People who buy links based on Toolbar PR get what they deserve anyway.
CVOS Netpaths
06/01/2007 09:41 pm
Links from Yahoo and wikipedia will only go up in value as the aggregate number of websites and links increase. These are highly trusted, human edited resources and have good anti-spam features.
Halfdeck
06/03/2007 01:14 pm
Yahoo links tell Google "this site isn't spam." It's a strong vote of confidence especially if your site is brand new.