PageRank Zero Does Not Mean Google Penalty; Says Google (Correction)

A topic most SEOs already know, but it is nice to have confirmation from Google. A Google Groups thread has Googlers responding to a Webmaster who's site dropped from a PageRank 4 to a PageRank of 0. It appears this site saw a drop in PageRank, but not a drop in rankings, because it has done Paid Review posts without a disclaimer, said Google.

Anyhow, I would just move all the paid posts to a category "paid reviews", add a disclaimer to each saying, this is a paid review, then nofollow the link to the company to not share any pagerank.

Then when one member suggested complying with Google's recommendation and then submitting a reinclusion request, Google said not to bother.

Excuse me, but what reason do you see to file for reconsideration? I already see nofollows in there and the site appears to be doing fine. Not seeing PR does not mean a penalty.

So all the PageRank reductions, most without any traffic drops means those sites were not penalized. If you read the thread carefully, you will notice how the Googler keeps sharing how well the site ranks and that PageRank, in this case, is not an important factor.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Clarification: Admin Aaron is not a Google admin. Google did recommend sending a reinclusion request in this case. Google did not say it was a penalty, but they did not say it was a penalty. In either case, the site ranks incredibly well with a PR0. Sorry for the mis-information, I am still under the weather.

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posted rustybrick in Google Optimization at December 18, 2007 7:56 AM Comments (10)

Comments

Weel, from my point of view, there is a panalty. You see, almost everyone outside the SEO industry thinks PR is THE factor that says how valuabe a site is, and is a metric that shows up easily (just look at that bar).

So, it is easy to sell paid reviews if you can say "buy a review here, I'm PR5".

If you can't say that, you may find a hard time educating your clients.

So, if there is no penalty regarding your rankings, I thing there is a commercial penalty.

Google is very, very clever.

Posted by apieve at December 18, 2007 09:44

The quotes you mentioned are from Aaron who is a great help in the groups but not from Google. For a reply by a Googler, check the posting from Wysz at http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/8fbe1bf033bc9ee5/#cff284023b52e58e

Posted by JohnMu at December 18, 2007 10:04

See matt and vanessa discuss the pagerank update - basically if you sell links expect your PR to decrease.

Posted by CVOS man at December 18, 2007 18:50

Hey Barry, hope you feel better soon. Your "I'm feeling green" post on Carton Barry was a little scary. :)

Posted by Matt Cutts at December 18, 2007 22:42

If Google doesn't think killing your PR, even if it leaves your SERPs alone, is a penalty then why would they bother to reduce your PR in the first place? Isn't the fact that this action is meant as punishment enough proof that they know differently?

Posted by Kevin W at December 19, 2007 13:17

Low PR has become a "scarlet letter" to channel the flow of advertising dollars. Sure it is no punishment--unless you are trying to run an online business!

Posted by Chris Marshall at December 19, 2007 16:05

Exactly. Intentional or not, when Google assigns PR they are either endorsing or condemning a site's advertising value. This wouldn't be such a bad thing if the tool bar PR was accurate and up to date, but it is neither. As an example, I have one site that has had tons of SEO and promotion that has a PR of 4 while another site with only one incoming link (from another of my sites, just to get it found) achieved PR 5 in 3 weeks.... and the link came from a PR 4 site!

Posted by Kevin W at December 19, 2007 16:28

If indeed the dropped in the PR is not a penalty, why imposed? I find it really inconsistent on google's part.

Posted by ronnie ferez at December 19, 2007 18:14

I still find the focus on PR misplaced. I would much rather have a site that ranks on highly on the SERPS than a site with a high PR.

A site with a high PR is like a well built site with no SEO - a white elephant.

Posted by Robert at December 20, 2007 01:08

As an example, I have one site that has had tons of SEO and promotion that has a PR of 4 while another site with only one incoming link...

Posted by Александр at February 19, 2008 11:58