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

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 1, 2026

Jul 1, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google

Google AI Mode Improves Links For Recipes, Again

Jul 1, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google AI Overviews Showing Markdown Files In Snippets Unexpectedly

Jul 1, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests AI Generated Summaries Under Descriptions

Jul 1, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Fraudulent DMCA Takedowns Wreak Havoc In Google Search

Jul 1, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google AdSense

Google AdSense Ad Intents To Add AI-Gemini-Generated Content

Jul 1, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Poll Results: Social Required To Compete In Search Rankings