Is Google Changing the PageRank Algorithm?

Has Google Changed it's PageRank Algorithm?
The latest news around the blogosphere is that Google PageRanks of large sites have been hurt. Sites penalised are as follows:
Here is a list that I gathered with big blogs that supposedly lost PR on this issue:

■Engadget (from 7 to 5)
■AutoBlog (from 6 to 4)
■Problogger (from 6 to 4)
■Copyblogger (from 6 to 4)
■Search Engine Journal (from 7 to 4)
■Quick Online Tips (from 6 to 3)
■Search Engine Roundtable (from 7 to 4)
■Blog Herald (from 6 to 4)
■Weblog Tools Collection (from 6 to 4)
■JohnTP (from 6 to 4)
■Coolest Gadgets (from 5 to 3)
Update: It looks like mainstream websites that were selling links were also penalized:

■Washington Post (from 7 to 5)
■Washington Times (from 6 to 4)
■Charlotte Observer (from 6 to 4)
■Forbes.com (from 7 to 5)
■SFGate.com (from 7 to 5)
■Sun Times (from 7 to 5)
■New Scientist (from 7 to 5)
■Seattle Times (from 6 to 4)

Andy Beard thought the drop was because of text selling which was reported about a week or so ago. This turns out not to be the case.

Techcrunch reported that Google didn't drop the page ranks because of the selling of text links, but because of link farms. Links farms are where each site in the network provides hundreds of outgoing links on each page of the blog to other blogs in the network, in some cases creating tens, even hundred of thousands of cross links.

This all comes a week after the linking characteristics of Techcrunch was analysed. Where it was reported that 1/3 of all Techcrunch outgoing links where to related Techcrunch sites. Hence, link farms do explain why the Techcrunch page rank hasnt changed, but the Crunchbase ranking is now at 0.

These changes will affect a lot of blog networks that survive on text link ads and related sales that depend on strong Google page ranks. A drop from a PR7 to PR4 should really affect traffic too heavily but it will make the tough job of selling ads much tougher. In the coming months and years I think we will see a lot of small blog networks starting to struggle and trying to find another way to survive.

About 1 months ago now I saw a decrease from a PR3 to a PR2 for one of my site and I found it difficult to work out why, and about a month ago when Google announced that selling text link ads would bring in a punishment, I finally found out why.

So, why the decrease? As I wait to research on the decrease, there are many reasons why Google may be changing it's PageRank algorithm.

Paid Linking : The easy excuse is that they’re targeting paid links, but not all sites which experienced the drop sell or buy links.

Mass Linking : Do we link out to too many sites via Blog Rolls? Does Linkbait just result in TOO MANY links, even if they are natural. Do blog networks use influential linking to their advantage? I think PageRank has been spread too thin and Google is changing its PageRank formula to address the mass publishing which has taken place over the past 2 years.


Devalue PageRank : PageRank is seen by many as the end all value of a web site. Our PageRank dropped but we are receiving more Google search traffic than ever. PageRank does not define site rankings in Google or traffic and it should not be mistaken as so.