A WebmasterWorld thread has one member asking if links that deploy a target="_blank or similar code, which essentially opens a link in a new window - do those links pass PageRank and if so, is it diminished due to opening in a new window?
I'll be honest, I never thought about such a question my whole life. I have never seen it in my ~7 years of covering SEO forums. But I found the question somewhat interesting, even though my first instinct is to say this question is somewhat ridiculous. Why in the world would it pass less PageRank than any other link? But maybe it does? Who knows. I think I will ask Google about this.
In any event, please take my poll below and if I get an official answer, I will follow up on this. I know how I am voting, but you go ahead and vote as well:
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
