Is Google PageRank Back to Relevance?

Like I said in a previous post, 2013 is definitely a year of surprises from Google as it does appear that Google is in a rush to reposition its properties for the new web!

But if you think we have seen the last of such surprises then wait for this…

… after about 10 months of silence, Google has again updated its Toolbar PageRank on December 6, 2013!

But why is this a thing of surprise?

Simply because it is against many webmasters’ belief.  Many have already concluded that the Toolbar PageRank is dead and therefore not relevant as far as SEO is concerned.

Even Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, would definitely be surprised also because he was the one who fueled this belief!

Here’s what Matt said about the Toolbar PageRank some time ago:

… if, after all the new algorithm updates and changes and after about 10 months of inaction on the PageRank toolbar, if Google has decided to again update the toolbar PageRank can we now say that PageRank is not dead after all?

Does it mean that those webmasters who went to town preaching that PageRank is no more relevant for search engine optimization underestimated Google’s unpredictable nature?

We only need to look at what Google is doing right now to understand the direction that Google is heading with this update.

I personally believe that those brains at Google, realizing that they have been able to clean up the web with all the Panda and Penguin updates and of course the introduction of their whole new search engine – Hummingbird, they now want to also “shakeup” their “filling cabinets” so as to put everyone where they belong.

Do not forget that every websites 0ut there was still holding onto the PageRank which they had at the start of the year. But considering the fact that most of these sites have “lost favor” with Google because they have been hit by the different updates and changes during the year, updating the toolbar PageRank at this time is simply a way  of rearranging their positions in Google’s reckoning!

So, to me this update is simply putting everyone in their right places!

Will This Continue In The Coming Year?

I cannot but say it again that we must be prepared for more surprises from Google in 2014. They may have tried to push so much surprises at us this year, but it is definite that 2014 will see more.

Besides, it is clear that if Google is in “rush” to put out so many things into the market this year, it stands to reason that they have some big plan for the coming years!

For now, we can deduce that Google still value back links as a ranking factor.  This PageRank update makes that clear since PageRank is about nothing but links. But where Google is going will only be quite clear in the coming months.

A Look At the Toolbar PageRank Update History (in reverse order!)

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2013

• December 06th 2013
• February 04th 2013

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2012

• November 07th 2012
• August 02th 2012
• May 02th 2012
• February 07th 2012

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2011

• November 08th 2011
• June 27th 2011
• January 20th 2011

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2010

• April 03rd 2010

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2009

• December 30th 2009
• October 30th 2009
• June 25th 2009
• May 27th 2009
• April 1st 2009

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2008

• December 31st 2008
• September 26th 2008
• July 25th 2008
• April 30th 2008
• February 29th 2008

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2007

• December 12th 2007
• October 28th 2007
• April 30th 2007
• January 25th 2007
• January 10th 2007

Google PageRank (PR) Update in the year 2006

• September 28th 2006
• July 30th 2006
• April 4th 2006
• April 7th 2006
• February 18th 2006
• May 27th 2006
• January 30th 2006
• January 4th 2006

So, what do you think about this Toolbar PageRank update? Share your thoughts with us in your comment below.