(5)
About 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:
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.
Comments:
Michael Martinez
04/13/2012 05:15 pm
Discontinuing a method of analysis does not have to mean they stopped counting a signal they were using before. It could mean only that they are using a different method of analysis.
Webstats Art
04/13/2012 08:16 pm
yeh, maybe one that is not logical - like a slot machine algo
DaveKeys
04/16/2012 04:43 pm
I think it's a bit too unilateral to simply "pick a factor" IMO. The net effect of an algorithm change may produce some results that look like one thing or another, but as a database programmer in a former life, I know that if you want intelligence to arise from a data set, you create a series of tests that create a type of flag. Then you apply another test to those flagged results and so on. You can isolate some pretty amazing things by using processes that hunt for a series of negative and positive tests. I once created an app for my employer that showed when an employee was spending over an established threshold of calls to businesses that were related to personal activity rather than their assigned daily calls. A flag occurred when an employee was using too much company time on personal business. More attention was then given to call quotas, etc. I'm not even that great of a developer (not doing it much at all these days) but Google has very massive and sophisticated resources so it's not likely that they simply "turned off" a factor in such a simple way as this survey solicits.
MattJanaway
04/19/2012 02:04 pm
I would be my bottom dollar that it isnt any of the listed - I dont suppose anybody will ever know for sure! All I know is that some of my rankings have dropped but my main keyword has increased :D
friv
06/08/2012 03:12 pm
I think this is one of the most interesting articles I’ve read on this subject. You have made your points interesting, unique and I agree with most. I am glad I found your article today.