SEOs and Webmasters always wondered how long it took for a typically site to pass along a PageRank value from one URL to another via a 301 redirect. Google's Adam Lasnik answered this question, saying only about a couple weeks.
In a Google Groups thread Adam says:
301s pass PR and related signals appropriately. Usually takes a couple of weeks for things to smooth out, though.
I was a bit shocked by the statement of just "a couple of weeks" for 301s to "pass PR and related signals appropriately." I always thought it was a couple months or more.
Well, maybe Google picks up the changes within a couple weeks. I.e. the time it takes to crawl the new information and URLs. But maybe by the time all this data is processed it takes longer?
But then why would Adam use the words, "for things to smooth out." Meaning, search results to smooth out.
Forum discussion at Google Groups.
