42244 3 3 econsultancy_xml <p>Both Forbes and Engadget have dropped from a PageRank score of seven to five, while Search Engine Guide has dropped from seven to four and Washington Post from eight to five. SEOmoz has a <a href="http://www.seomoz.org/blog/toolbar-pagerank-losses-for-hundreds-of-websites">list </a>of the sites affected.  </p> <p>Andy Beard, whose own PageRank score has dropped from five to three, <a href="http://andybeard.eu/2007/10/pagerank-update.html">reported the news</a>. He says that many of the sites were part of blog networks and that interlinking between them could have been the reason. </p> <p>Google has been getting tough on the issue recently - two weeks ago, it punished a number of paid link directories, banishing them to the lower reaches of its results pages. </p> <p>Google has not given any reason for the move so far, though Search Engine Guide <a href="http://www.searchengineguide.com/jill-whalen/googles-paidlink-smack-in-the-face.php">speculates</a> that it may be for PR reasons and that Google is making a statement to sites that are buying and selling links. </p> <p> <strong>Related stories:<br /></strong> <a href="/blog/946-google-blog-search-ranking-explained">Google Blog Search ranking explained</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/1596-what-does-pagerank-mean-today">What does PageRank mean today?</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>Both Forbes and Engadget have dropped from a PageRank score of seven to five, while Search Engine Guide has dropped from seven to four and Washington Post from eight to five. SEOmoz has a <Link URL="http://www.seomoz.org/blog/toolbar-pagerank-losses-for-hundreds-of-websites" Window="Self">list </Link>of the sites affected.  </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Andy Beard, whose own PageRank score has dropped from five to three, <Link URL="http://andybeard.eu/2007/10/pagerank-update.html" Window="Self">reported the news</Link>. He says that many of the sites were part of blog networks and that interlinking between them could have been the reason. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Google has been getting tough on the issue recently - two weeks ago, it punished a number of paid link directories, banishing them to the lower reaches of its results pages. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Google has not given any reason for the move so far, though Search Engine Guide <Link URL="http://www.searchengineguide.com/jill-whalen/googles-paidlink-smack-in-the-face.php" Window="Self">speculates</Link> that it may be for PR reasons and that Google is making a statement to sites that are buying and selling links. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:<LineBreak /></Emphasis> <Link URL="/blog/946-google-blog-search-ranking-explained" Window="Self">Google Blog Search ranking explained</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1596-what-does-pagerank-mean-today" Window="Self">What does PageRank mean today?</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2007-10-25T10:23:00+01:00 2 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>A number of popular blogs and news sites have seen a sudden drop in their Google PageRank scores, with speculation suggesting that they are being punished by Google for paid linking.</strong> </p> <p>The drops have hit blogs like Engadget and Search Engine Guide, as well as news sites including Forbes.com and the Washington Post.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>A number of popular blogs and news sites have seen a sudden drop in their Google PageRank scores, with speculation suggesting that they are being punished by Google for paid linking.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The drops have hit blogs like Engadget and Search Engine Guide, as well as news sites including Forbes.com and the Washington Post.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 1872 364459 High profile sites hit by PageRank fall false 2007-10-25T13:08:00+01:00 high-profile-sites-hit-by-pagerank-fall 2009-04-28T23:00:19+01:00 2009-04-28T23:00:19+01:00 267