By BeansBox.com on October 16, 2009

I wrote recently that Google Webmaster tools added two features in its fold. Googlebot simulation and malware reports are now available for webmasters to use. However, in a rather unceremonious move, Google decided to pull the plug on PageRank report on Google Webmaster tool.

This can be interpreted in various ways, depending on who you ask. But it appears that most industry experts agree that this is something Google had been harping for a long time. Google has just been more consistent of what it says in the past; to say ‘don’t spend a lot of time’ on PageRank and at the same time display PageRank in the Webmaster Tools smacks of hypocrisy. Thus the removal of this irrelevant report in Google Webmaster tool sets the tone clearer.

But wait, Google isn’t off the hook yet. If you have Google Toolbar installed into your browser, around this moment of writing, you should still see PageRank info. Maybe, Google will remove it soon. But until then, Google relies on PageRank information to make people believe that it is still a credible SEO metric. And so with PageRank removed from Google Webmaster tool, there is a need for some folks to download and keep the Google Toolbar’s PageRank feature, which is more popular than the Google Webmaster tool’s PageRank reports to begin with. However, even that PageRank at toolbar doesn’t work too.

Is it safe to say that with this development, PageRank should no longer be a topic of discussion but rather an abstract idea of how Google’s algorithm work?

To me, PageRank is still, of course, part of search engine factors, but trying to dissect this factor is like shooting in the dark. Instead of keeping ourselves busy evaluating websites through PageRank values, can’t we just ignore it for good and move on optimizing websites using Google’s best practice advice?

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