Are You Linking To Me?- Better Take Those Links Down!!!

By Vlad Zablotskyy October 24, 2007

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Well, I am not surprised. Evidently Google has decided to punish me as well. At least this may be looked as a consolation to other bloggers out there. Noticed I said consolation not justification.

The drop in page rank from PR4 to PR2 is significant I would say. So am I a bad neighborhood? I wish Google would put out a list of websites that are qualified as “bad websites to link to”. There are about 500 blogs out there that link to me, some have a site-wide blogroll links pointing my way. If you are one of those please consider to remove your link to my website. I am very serious about it- no offense will be taken.

55 Comments

By Josh Spaulding, October 24, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
I'll continue to link to you, Andy and any other blog I find useful. If they penalize me then they have some serious issues to work out!! As a matter of fact, you'll see a link come in here in a few hours.
I know it's probably too early for you to tell, but have you heard of any of these blogs losing SERP positions or just toobar PR?
By Vlad, October 24, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Besides John Chow case it looks like only toolbar PR- at least for me. I still rank for the terms I was ranking few days ago. So maybe entire thing is nothing. I do think it will have some financial implications and I just hope it will involve a giant like eBay to pull the plug on PPC and make Google dance one more time.
By lucia, October 24, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
My knitting blog got socked with a toolbar PR lowering too. Oh well….
But as for BigBucksBlogger, all good sites in this area monetize. So, all either run affiliate links, paid links, sponsored posts etc. Obviously I'm not going to stop linking or ask them to stop linking to the sites that give good SEO / monetizing advice. I mean… sheesh!
By Josh Spaulding, October 24, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
I’ll continue to link to you, Andy and any other blog I find useful. If they penalize me then they have some serious issues to work out!! As a matter of fact, you’ll see a link come in here in a few hours.
I know it’s probably too early for you to tell, but have you heard of any of these blogs losing SERP positions or just toobar PR?
By Vlad, October 24, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Besides John Chow case it looks like only toolbar PR- at least for me. I still rank for the terms I was ranking few days ago. So maybe entire thing is nothing. I do think it will have some financial implications and I just hope it will involve a giant like eBay to pull the plug on PPC and make Google dance one more time.
By lucia, October 24, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
My knitting blog got socked with a toolbar PR lowering too. Oh well….
But as for BigBucksBlogger, all good sites in this area monetize. So, all either run affiliate links, paid links, sponsored posts etc. Obviously I’m not going to stop linking or ask them to stop linking to the sites that give good SEO / monetizing advice. I mean… sheesh!
By Affiliate Marketing Guide, October 24, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Although a lot of blogs have reported a loss of PR, very few have actually commented on the effect on traffic and SERP position.
Perhaps it is too early to tell
By Affiliate Marketing Guide, October 24, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Although a lot of blogs have reported a loss of PR, very few have actually commented on the effect on traffic and SERP position.
Perhaps it is too early to tell
By Teli Adlam, October 24, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
First of all, to ask people to stop linking to you is in a way saying that your site is dependent solely on Google's will.
People tend to forget that it's not necessarily about PageRank, but it's about your “traffic” rank (to invent a word). If the people who link to you do so with good intentions, then let those links be.
What truly matters are the people they are sending to read the valuable content you have here.
Keep providing good content, helping people, and everything should sort itself out in time. Nothing is carved in stone yet, and until your Google rankings and traffic start dropping, it's nothing to worry about really.
Just my 2 cents.
~ Teli
By Vlad, October 24, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
Yes Teli,
I forgot to say they should stop linking if they depend on Google- I stand corrected . Nice to see you here.
By Teli Adlam, October 24, 2007 @ 5:54 pm
First of all, to ask people to stop linking to you is in a way saying that your site is dependent solely on Google’s will.
People tend to forget that it’s not necessarily about PageRank, but it’s about your “traffic” rank (to invent a word). If the people who link to you do so with good intentions, then let those links be.
What truly matters are the people they are sending to read the valuable content you have here.
Keep providing good content, helping people, and everything should sort itself out in time. Nothing is carved in stone yet, and until your Google rankings and traffic start dropping, it’s nothing to worry about really.
Just my 2 cents.
~ Teli
By Vlad, October 24, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
Yes Teli,
I forgot to say they should stop linking if they depend on Google- I stand corrected . Nice to see you here.
By mark, October 24, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
That sucks. Some sites are hit even worse:
http://andybeard.eu/2007/10/pagerank-update.html
By mark, October 25, 2007 @ 12:01 am
That sucks. Some sites are hit even worse:
http://andybeard.eu/2007/10/pagerank-update.html
By MacBros, October 25, 2007 @ 3:04 am
Took my PR5 away and gave a a wimpy PR3. Google can suck my *bleeep!*
By MacBros, October 25, 2007 @ 4:04 am
Took my PR5 away and gave a a wimpy PR3. Google can suck my *bleeep!*
By joske, October 25, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
O no, my site is going down. the almighty page rank. I quit, it is so unfair. boohoo Stop linking please. STOP THE LINKS NOW. I'm sereous. please stop linking.
By joske, October 25, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
O no, my site is going down. the almighty page rank. I quit, it is so unfair. boohoo Stop linking please. STOP THE LINKS NOW. I’m sereous. please stop linking.
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 29, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
Google lowers PR for websites using green in their design… Didn't anyone mention that to you?… Joke aside.
I can tell you why it has really happened. It's because you link out too much. You have links to every widget imaginable on your site.. you freely link out to other websites and you're not getting enough links pointing at you to bring back all that pagerank you're giving away. Pagerank flows like water,, or electricity. If you have a bunch of leaks you'll lose a lot,, if you keep it tightly fit then you'll keep it secure and flowing in your direction.
Now, are you in a “bad neighborhood”, I don't know. It of course depends on who links to you and who you link to. If you're linking to only authority type sites then you're ok. You can't be penalized for people linking to you.. or can you?
If you could be penalized for a certain person linking to you then you could essentially ruin anyones ranking simply by pointing tons of links to your site from some crappy link farm or other.
Pagerank in my opinion doesn't mean that much anymore. I wouldn't be worried too much about it unless your traffic drops way off. In that case it might be time to move the site. Your domain isn't that easy to remember. I had to search google to find your site… even after we have already talked.
I'm not a fan of Google anymore… They've pissed me off in more ways then one and I'm no longer supporting them… meaning I'm getting rid of using their services.. slowly but surely. Enough is enough and I see someone else taking over. It would be a breath of fresh air.
Anyway, keep your head high no matter what. Google can't stop you from doing what you want. Never forget that.
Regards,
Jeff
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 29, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
Google lowers PR for websites using green in their design… Didn’t anyone mention that to you?… Joke aside.
I can tell you why it has really happened. It’s because you link out too much. You have links to every widget imaginable on your site.. you freely link out to other websites and you’re not getting enough links pointing at you to bring back all that pagerank you’re giving away. Pagerank flows like water,, or electricity. If you have a bunch of leaks you’ll lose a lot,, if you keep it tightly fit then you’ll keep it secure and flowing in your direction.
Now, are you in a “bad neighborhood”, I don’t know. It of course depends on who links to you and who you link to. If you’re linking to only authority type sites then you’re ok. You can’t be penalized for people linking to you.. or can you?
If you could be penalized for a certain person linking to you then you could essentially ruin anyones ranking simply by pointing tons of links to your site from some crappy link farm or other.
Pagerank in my opinion doesn’t mean that much anymore. I wouldn’t be worried too much about it unless your traffic drops way off. In that case it might be time to move the site. Your domain isn’t that easy to remember. I had to search google to find your site… even after we have already talked.
I’m not a fan of Google anymore… They’ve pissed me off in more ways then one and I’m no longer supporting them… meaning I’m getting rid of using their services.. slowly but surely. Enough is enough and I see someone else taking over. It would be a breath of fresh air.
Anyway, keep your head high no matter what. Google can’t stop you from doing what you want. Never forget that.
Regards,
Jeff
By Vlad, October 29, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
Jeff,
Thanks for stopping by. Strangely enough it looks like my site is back to PR 4- I guess now I do look like a fool…
But what about this coincident? My site is green and the bar is green!
By Ian Lee, October 29, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Looks like your PR is down to 2 again! I am going to remove all my links to your Blog Just kidding Vlad! Not to worry, your blog is still doing it's job. Keep up the great work!
By Vlad, October 29, 2007 @ 11:52 pm
Jeff,
Thanks for stopping by. Strangely enough it looks like my site is back to PR 4- I guess now I do look like a fool…
But what about this coincident? My site is green and the bar is green!
By Ian Lee, October 30, 2007 @ 12:36 am
Looks like your PR is down to 2 again! I am going to remove all my links to your Blog Just kidding Vlad! Not to worry, your blog is still doing it’s job. Keep up the great work!
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 30, 2007 @ 2:10 am
Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you'll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I've never seen them do.
It's all a waiting game but I'd say if you are seeing a new pagerank # then that's what it will stay at once the google dance is all over.
Anyway, pagerank isn't all it's cracked up to be so I wouldn't worry about it.
Peace,
Jeff
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 30, 2007 @ 3:10 am
Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you’ll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I’ve never seen them do.
It’s all a waiting game but I’d say if you are seeing a new pagerank # then that’s what it will stay at once the google dance is all over.
Anyway, pagerank isn’t all it’s cracked up to be so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Peace,
Jeff
By charisse@ gum disease treatmen, October 30, 2007 @ 8:24 am
Don't try to stress out too much over it. No one knows what Google is really up to and it took forever for them to implement these new “ranks” anyways. Just put out good content and let whomever link to you link to you. What else can you do?
By charisse@ gum disease treatment blog, October 30, 2007 @ 9:24 am
Don’t try to stress out too much over it. No one knows what Google is really up to and it took forever for them to implement these new “ranks” anyways. Just put out good content and let whomever link to you link to you. What else can you do?
By Teli Adlam, October 30, 2007 @ 11:35 am
Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you’ll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I’ve never seen them do.
Not necessarily so, Jeff.
You're correct that one shouldn't take too much stock in the green bar they see in their browser, but Google does fluctuate and the lowest number isn't always the final number.
Take Copyblogger for intance; although Brian's PR dipped down to 4, his final PR is 7 although it fluctuated between 4 and 7 for days. 4 was his new number, but it wasn't his final number.
If you truly want to see what your future/final pagerank will be, have a look at the PR Digger site that Brian linked out to. It gives you an general overview of what numbers the datacenters are giving off and you can guess your final number by looking at what the majority of them are saying.
In Vlad's case, it looks like you may be heading into a PR2 direction, though I must admit, I didn't take the time to count them.
~ Teli
By Teli Adlam, October 30, 2007 @ 11:46 am
I also wanted to add, Vlad, that if this change is of enough concern to you, you may want to consider following Loren's instructions for getting Google to reconsider — that's if you weren't selling links, of course.
On another note, your comment spam plugin may be affecting your site's rendering after a comment is submitted. The last time around, I received a page filled with your site's HTML code (took a quick screen shot if you need it, just e-mail me).
~ Teli
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 30, 2007 @ 11:55 am
Teli, in my 6 years of doing SEO I've noticed a few things. One is that if you have a solid PR for awhile and all the sudden it dips or increases that means googles updating pr and from what I've seen whatever that new # is you get a glimpse of is what you're going to get.
Of course google changes all the time and no one can say for sure what they'll do next so it's up to each SEO or webmaster to track it for themselves.
I am not tracking copyblogger's pr but I can tell you it takes then more then a few days for the PR to settle,, it's more like weeks even months I've seen.
Jeff
Oh and Vlad,, you might want to start hiding your affiliate links with javascript so it doesn't look like that's all you are promoting. I believe google might penalize for sites that link out with a lot of affiliate links. Peace.
By Teli Adlam, October 30, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you’ll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I’ve never seen them do.
Not necessarily so, Jeff.
You’re correct that one shouldn’t take too much stock in the green bar they see in their browser, but Google does fluctuate and the lowest number isn’t always the final number.
Take Copyblogger for intance; although Brian’s PR dipped down to 4, his final PR is 7 although it fluctuated between 4 and 7 for days. 4 was his new number, but it wasn’t his final number.
If you truly want to see what your future/final pagerank will be, have a look at the PR Digger site that Brian linked out to. It gives you an general overview of what numbers the datacenters are giving off and you can guess your final number by looking at what the majority of them are saying.
In Vlad’s case, it looks like you may be heading into a PR2 direction, though I must admit, I didn’t take the time to count them.
~ Teli
By Teli Adlam, October 30, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
I also wanted to add, Vlad, that if this change is of enough concern to you, you may want to consider following Loren’s instructions for getting Google to reconsider — that’s if you weren’t selling links, of course.
On another note, your comment spam plugin may be affecting your site’s rendering after a comment is submitted. The last time around, I received a page filled with your site’s HTML code (took a quick screen shot if you need it, just e-mail me).
~ Teli
By Jeff Hendrickson, October 30, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Teli, in my 6 years of doing SEO I’ve noticed a few things. One is that if you have a solid PR for awhile and all the sudden it dips or increases that means googles updating pr and from what I’ve seen whatever that new # is you get a glimpse of is what you’re going to get.
Of course google changes all the time and no one can say for sure what they’ll do next so it’s up to each SEO or webmaster to track it for themselves.
I am not tracking copyblogger’s pr but I can tell you it takes then more then a few days for the PR to settle,, it’s more like weeks even months I’ve seen.
Jeff
Oh and Vlad,, you might want to start hiding your affiliate links with javascript so it doesn’t look like that’s all you are promoting. I believe google might penalize for sites that link out with a lot of affiliate links. Peace.
By tech guy, January 27, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
im new to blogging. Don't much about PR. sorry to hear about the PR drop. But you can rebuild it right? Goodluck! Technology Tweaks and Tricks
By tech guy, January 27, 2008 @ 7:05 pm
im new to blogging. Don’t much about PR. sorry to hear about the PR drop. But you can rebuild it right? Goodluck! Technology Tweaks and Tricks
By jen, April 2, 2008 @ 5:43 pm
Lame, I hope your PR goes back up. Google really likes to mess around with PR a lot, mine goes up and down quite a bit on my various sites.
By jen, April 2, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
Lame, I hope your PR goes back up. Google really likes to mess around with PR a lot, mine goes up and down quite a bit on my various sites.
By Infomaroto, May 6, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
Google can be evil for everyone =/
By Wasim, September 25, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
If I go and submit links to Google.com on all the bad neighborhoods and spam sites then will the google PR decrease from 10 to 5?….
This is indeed ridiculous how Google has slapped such a nice blog here. Sageblogger has always been a wonderful resource for all of us. And we all know that this site doesn’t deserve a 0 PR. Someone should make Google understand this.