FeedFrom PR5 to PR9 in Google - Is It Possible?
By Ian Lee on May 14, 2008 in Internet Marketing, Technology
A few months back when Google began penalizing sites for selling direct text links, I talked about a specific case where computer.org went from a PR9 to PR5 literally overnight. A few months later, I noticed it is also possible to go from a PR5 to PR9.
When computer.org took a PR dive from 9 to 5, they looked to be selling sponsored text links near the bottom of their website. I checked their web site today and gone are the sponsored text links - replaced by three 120×600 AdSense skyscraper ads. Talk about trying to get back into Google’s good books! As of the writing of this blog post, their PR is at 9. Compare Computer.org’s ad units (placed at the bottom of their website) below.
There is no way to validate if search engine traffic was affected when their PR dropped from a 9 to a 5 but given that this was a temporary drop, I would guess not. So it looks like it is possible to go from PR5 to PR9!
Is it just a coincidence that many websites who offered text links also saw their Google PR drop? Anyone else see a drop or rise in PR in relation to sponsored text links on your site?
In light of all the Page Rank changes, here is a cool tool to check your PR. Just enter your domain and click Check Domain to see your Page Ranks at various
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11 Comment(s)
By Haydn on May 14, 2008 | Reply
Can you get penalised for being associated with sites that get penalised for selling text links??
im new to this website/seo game and want to try and keep my nose clean.
By Mr. Wrinkles on May 20, 2008 | Reply
Google will ding you for selling links. If they find out, they typically lower your PR to get your attention. Computer.org got their PR back quickly because they had a quick response to Google’s demands.
By Sam on May 21, 2008 | Reply
I’m not sure I agree with google doing this. It’s your site you should be allowed to do what you want with it. They should allow link buying if there is a nofollow tag or something.
By Ian Lee on May 22, 2008 | Reply
@Haydn: I think you have the right idea. Keeping it clean will serve you well in the long run.
By kg lew on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
google will slap down your website hard if you are selling links/ etc.. but if you start abiding by their standards then they will show mercy
By Tom Liebessprüche on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
So Adsense seems to be the key, of getting high PR.
but serious, it was still a 9
5 was just the visible PR… i guess
By Evan on Jun 23, 2008 | Reply
Nice post…ya you don’t want to mess with the big G.
By Judy McKelligott on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Nice post. Won’t touch those selling links! Keep it clean and neat.
By Science on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
I read on digitalpoint forum, that one guy also had PR dropped to 0, but his SERPS were intact, so it seems PR drop is only illusory.
By Science on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
And your kind-a-captcha code is invisible in firefox 3 - I had to use IE to see it.
By Rasim on Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
I went from a page rank 4 to 0 in two weeks.