Which Link Factors Did Google Turn Off? Survey Says...

Apr 13, 2012 - 8:56 am 5 by

google on and off switchAbout a month ago, Google announced they turned off certain link factors but didn't say specifically which ones. We ran a poll asking which link factors did Google turn off?

One of the responses I did not list was "anchor text" because I felt there was no way Google would turn off that factor, but a nice number of you, about 27, entered that in as "other" answer. Here are the responses to my poll:

Poll: Which Link Factors Did Google Turn Off

I am honestly shocked so many people selected PageRank, but hey - the numbers do not lie.

Honestly, it is probably none of these factors. Bill Slawski listed his own theory on 12 factors that may have been turned off. Who knows? Only Google.

Forum discussion continued at WebmasterWorld.

This was written yesterday and scheduled to be posted today.

Image credit to ShutterStock for on off switch.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility July 24th Through The Weekend

Jul 26, 2026 - 8:09 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 24, 2026

Jul 24, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Sends Billions Of Clicks From AI Search, Publisher To Block Google, $120 Billion Quarter, EU's $1 Billion Fine & More

Jul 24, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Ads

Google Merchant Center Gains More AI Features

Jul 24, 2026 - 7:51 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Fading Out Related Searches On Hover

Jul 24, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads AI Max For Shopping Campaigns Expands

Jul 24, 2026 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Poll Results: Social Required To Compete In Search Rankings