Well, apparently Copyblogger’s Page Rank will not be dropping from 6 to 4, and is instead showing as 7 across 39 of 45 datacenters. Even though it likely means nothing from a practical standpoint, it’s nice to have my name cleared.
I didn’t have anything to do with talking to Google, as I was way too busy with Teaching Sells. But here’s what I was told about discussions between b5media and a Google representative.
b5: “Umm… Google?”
Google: “Yes?”
b5: “Is this PageRank thing supposed to penalize bloggers who are in blog networks?”
Google: “No, this is a warning to those who sell links.”
b5: “Umm… well, Copyblogger has never sold links.”
Google: “Really?”
b5: “Really.”
Google: “Whoops. Well, we have a problem.”
b5: “What’s that?”
Google: “We’re fresh out of PR 6 designations for this update.”
b5: “What? Are you kidding?”
Google: “How does a nice PR 7 sound?”
b5: “Let me ask Brian.” (pretends to call me)
b5: “Ok, he says that’s fine.”
Google: “Great. Sorry again.”
Note: The part about Google being out of PR 6 designations is a joke, as is the part about having to “give” me a 7. The 7 is the Page Rank the blog would have had anyway but for the “warning” that wasn’t applicable to me. Just to be clear.
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63 comments... add one
#1 iantrepreneur → 10.28.07 at 12:32 pm
LOL - that is great - pretends to call - ofcourse, why would you rather settle for a 5 - lol great!
#2 Azmeen → 10.28.07 at 12:38 pm
Puts a smile on my face reading this
#3 Jeremy Wright → 10.28.07 at 12:39 pm
Hey, you’re lucky we talked to them when we did, I hear they’re quickly running out of 7’s too!
#4 Dan and Jennifer → 10.28.07 at 12:49 pm
Hey Brian,
This past week our page rank dropped from a PR5 to a PR3, but our search engine traffic is up 50%.
Of course, we did see that in this pagerank checker tool they’ve got a a lot of 3s and a lot of 5s for our site, so who knows.
But in the end, who cares
Our focus is on putting out lots of solid, high quality content that really resonates with our readers and truly helps people.
After all, school’s out and it’s not about the grade, it’s about the traffic for us.
D&J
#5 Roberta → 10.28.07 at 1:03 pm
Too funny
Glad to hear that they’ve corrected the pagerank issue. My blog is with b5, too, and it’s PR dropped from a 4 to a 3, then it went up to a 5 with the new update.
#6 CompuWorld → 10.28.07 at 1:05 pm
congrats on that jump..!!
I guess problogger should have also been given same 7..why not?
by the way my 2 month old URL earned PR3 and I am loving it!!
#7 sanny → 10.28.07 at 1:18 pm
Ok, please please please forgive me for this complete newbie question. I read this blog for the copywriting hints, but I have no idea what this PR stuff stands for? Does PR7 mean page rank 7? Does that mean you’re 7th on googles page?
#8 Brian Clark → 10.28.07 at 1:53 pm Copyblogger
Sanny, I’m not sure any of us really know what Page Rank really means anymore, if anything. But some people still look at a site’s Page Rank for its home page as an indicator of how trusted and linked to that site is.
It’s not anything to focus on, really. But since several hundred blogs intimated that Copyblogger was penalized for selling links, I thought it appropriate to clear the air.
#9 vic berggren → 10.28.07 at 1:58 pm
I’ve never sold links either and I got dinged too.
#10 Valeria Maltoni → 10.28.07 at 2:00 pm
That’s good, because I got one… a PR6
Glad the confusion was resolved, even as you were clearly putting importance where it matters — on your readers and customers.
#11 lawton chiles → 10.28.07 at 2:24 pm
I had a PR of 4 or 5 a few months ago. Someone said that was a good or trusted page rank and that people were linking but not many are.
Content is king. I wonder though- everytime I do post to social bookmarks, do you think that is a waste of time too? Digg, twitter, delicious?
Thoughts?
I don’t digg many stories b/c the posts afterwards have many mean spirited people on there, I’d rather use FB, stumbleupon, and Del.i.cious
#12 Armen → 10.28.07 at 2:27 pm
lol
I just love this post. The good guys always win in the end…
#13 SageRave → 10.28.07 at 2:50 pm
Is this serious? When will posts get back to juicy things like writing great copy and stuff?
#14 Brian Clark → 10.28.07 at 2:52 pm Copyblogger
Tomorrow. Hey, it’s the weekend, and this was kind of a big issue in the world of blogs.
Back to regularly scheduled content tomorrow.
#15 lawton chiles → 10.28.07 at 2:57 pm
I still think this is a need discussion, what with all of the “engineer your way to great seo results” rather than focusing on our audience for that to happen naturally…
#16 Steve → 10.28.07 at 2:58 pm
Wow PR7 is very super now when many have been downgraded significantly. Or maybe you got very high PR backlinks?
I think its solid because you have (got from sort by pr)
PR8 (2 links)
PR7 (7 links and 1 with nofollow)
according to most reliable backlink checker tool at http://www.backlinkwatch.com
I think PR8 with only 77 outbound links from informl.com has helped you gaining PR7 firmly.
#17 Hyder → 10.28.07 at 3:18 pm
@#7 Sanny
You’re lucky you’re not brainwashed yet. Stay innocent.
#18 goinglikesixty → 10.28.07 at 3:48 pm
hubspot is down! What the hell’s that mean?
#19 goinglikesixty → 10.28.07 at 3:51 pm
dumass means you clicked on an ad in the RSS!
#20 Matt Larson → 10.28.07 at 4:04 pm
Next time wait a bit - maybe they’ll run out 7s and you can get a free upgrade to 8
#21 Novice SEO → 10.28.07 at 6:08 pm
I am wondering if basing a blogs “value” by number of RSS Subscribers instead of Google PR would work better. After all, wouldn’t the amount of subscribers to a rss feed be a better gauge of the relevance and quality of the content as opposed to an algorithm? Just a thought that wrote about today at NoviceSeo.com
#22 Brian Clark → 10.28.07 at 6:27 pm Copyblogger
Novice, that’s always been my gauge. I truly don’t think much else matters.
#23 ReviewSaurus → 10.28.07 at 6:41 pm
Hey Brian,
I’m not one of your new fan…its just that I post less comments….You rock and now Google too agrees to that!
#24 vangardx → 10.28.07 at 8:14 pm
hello brian, pr doesnt mean anything now to some blogger, better they concentrate on their post quality rather than thinking how to get the best pr
#25 Brian Clark → 10.28.07 at 8:17 pm Copyblogger
Yep, I think I’ve said that once or 50 times in the last 2 years.
#26 Miriam → 10.28.07 at 8:18 pm
Hi Brian,
I appreciated you stopping by my blog, and I’m very glad Copyblogger is now a PR7 (even if this has lost all meaning to almost all of us!).
You deserve every pixel you’ve got in the green bar.
#27 Aleksandroz → 10.28.07 at 8:36 pm
To good to be true
#28 Fare Soldi → 10.29.07 at 2:32 am
Great job Brian.
Congratulation for a well deserved PR 7.
Happy to hear Google fixed yours.
At the end, is it really true Google told B5 this was a penalization for TLA?
Francesco
#29 Google solucionando errores | adseok → 10.29.07 at 4:59 am
[...] esta ocasión me refiero a los errores de PageRank para penalizar la venta de enlaces. Copyblogger fue penalizado junto con otros muchos blogs, sin embargo, nunca había vendido enlaces. Por ese [...]
#30 Google reduce el Pagerank de Coppyblogger → 10.29.07 at 6:21 am
[...] (29-10-2007): Parece que fue una falsa alarma. Qué cosas hacen en [...]
#31 John@ScribbleSheet → 10.29.07 at 7:21 am
Lucky you!
#32 Dan Schawbel → 10.29.07 at 10:17 am
That is great luck. You should ask for a 10 next time.
#33 Brian Clark → 10.29.07 at 10:20 am Copyblogger
Dan, again… I was just joking. Copyblogger earned the PR 7 by attracting natural links, and if it weren’t for the misplaced “warning” this raise in PR would have happened regardless.
#34 Cop → 10.29.07 at 1:54 pm
Was this a real interview or a fake?
#35 Brian Clark → 10.29.07 at 2:01 pm Copyblogger
It’s an approximation of a discussion that took place that devolves into a joke.
#36 Adam Kayce : Monk At Work → 10.29.07 at 2:26 pm
Funny - I was going to ask how you get a PR in the first place, since every time I’ve checked, my site has had a 0.
I just checked, and I’m at a 5.
Whoop dee doo. Back to focusing on my patrons again.
#37 Steven Bradley → 10.29.07 at 2:43 pm
Glad to hear things got sorted out Brian. I never really thought the PR drop would significantly impact you, but it’s nice to be vindicated nonetheless.
#38 Fun Numbers - ShoeMoney® → 10.29.07 at 3:43 pm
[...] is the Google Pagerank that copy blogger Brian Clark ended up with after the b5 blog network brass called up Google and raised some hell. posted on [...]
#39 Yogesh → 10.29.07 at 4:31 pm
Thats funny as well
#40 serge → 10.29.07 at 4:56 pm
was that a real call, or just simulated?
#41 google publicidad → 10.29.07 at 7:06 pm
A PR7 is simply the minimum that you deserve, this is a great blog and I am sure that Google guys know it very well.
Keep Working hard !
#42 MyGoodFinds → 10.29.07 at 9:57 pm
Wow! I’m so confused! I just started getting good traffic 2 months ago and all this PR thingy is very interesting.
When I heard about google not liking TLA, I removed the affiliate banners. I didn’t get much luck with them anyway.
#43 Vivienne Quek → 10.30.07 at 12:02 am
Good blog deserves good rating!
#44 Ryan Galiotto → 10.30.07 at 12:12 am
Quite amusing. But you deserve a higher PR.
#45 Ian → 10.30.07 at 2:08 am
Dang. How do I get a call like that?
#46 Strategic Internet Marketing → 10.30.07 at 5:52 am
This is real funny, man. How could the G did something just like that and claim it a….?
Anyway, copyblogger deserve the upgrades of PR. Gratz!
#47 Quer um PR 7, é fácil, basta pedir! → 10.30.07 at 6:33 am
[...] Dialogo retirado do CopyBlogger. [...]
#48 anon → 10.30.07 at 11:47 am
Any idea what someone that has previously been selling links, but has since though better of it, should do? Is there a way of notifying Google that you’ve come clean? How did B5 go about getting their ear? If they could accidentally pummel copyblogger, then they could equally well continue pummeling other sites that have been selling links, even after they’ve cleaned up their act. I’m not really concerned about PR, but am worried what the next phase of their campaign might entail.
#49 marcus → 10.30.07 at 11:50 am
There’s a way to contact a Google representative? My PR decreased from 4 to 3 and I never sold or bought links or participated of link schemes.
#50 Brian Clark → 10.30.07 at 12:01 pm Copyblogger
All you have to do is ask Google for reinstatement. They have some guidelines for it, but as long as you’ve stopped the objectionable behavior, they will look at putting you back where you were.
Keep in mind that some drops in PR are not penalties, it just happens to be the current Google evaluation of the strength of your site.
#51 Nascar → 10.30.07 at 12:15 pm
Fantastic! Much better than all the loom and gloom thats been hovering over the Google slap down. It is good to know that content connects with readers will always trump a humanly devised pagerank rating.
#52 The Young Writers Society Blog » Blog Archive » Google Page Rank Update → 10.30.07 at 1:48 pm
[...] Most of the other writing sites appeared to have fared well; notably Copyblogger which moved from PR 6 to PR 7. [...]
#53 SEO is Dead, Google is Left Holding the Bloody Hatchet → 10.30.07 at 2:58 pm
[...] considered a contributing factor in the internet’s development. In a recent turn of events, B5Media has convinced Google to fix their network blogs Pagerank. I guess you have to be a network blogger and hooked up with B5Media to get anything done when your [...]
#54 So. Who’s going to make the next Top 100 List? » Make Money Online with MubinAhmed.com → 10.30.07 at 3:22 pm
[...] anyone read the story about copyblogger getting a PR7 because they complained to Google? How about them [...]
#55 Google Page Rank Checker » ADS-Links.com Internet Marketing - Ian Lee → 11.01.07 at 6:20 pm
[...] Brian Clark’s Copyblogger was reported to have been demoted to a PR4 but again, during the writing of this post, it is now at PR 7. [...]
#56 Astrit → 11.02.07 at 8:22 am
Rofl nice sarcasm. I am glad that copyblogger gained back their PR and actually got upgraded for 1 score, but I can’t say the same for problogger unfortunately…
#57 A Google Gift: PageRank Penalty → 11.03.07 at 5:15 am
[...] But of course, I’m not the one who set the rules. Google does. And Google did demote my site to PR4. I don’t know how Google come to conclusion that I sold text links. But I can only guess that their methods are not that sophisticated. One glaring example is what happened to Brian Clark. His CopyBlogger blog suffered a penalty, demoted from PR6 to PR4. This despite the fact that Brian doesn’t sell links on his blog. Fortunately Google restored CopyBlogger’s PR later to … PR7. [...]
#58 Hadiah dari Google: Penalti PageRank → 11.03.07 at 10:14 pm
[...] Tapi tentu saja bukan saya yang menentukan aturan di sini. Google yang menentukan. Dan Google akhirnya memutuskan untuk mengurangi PR situs saya tersebut menjadi PR4. Saya tidak tahu bagaimana caranya Google bisa sampai pada kesimpulan kalau saya menjual link. Tapi saya bisa menebak bahwa cara mereka tidak terlalu canggih amat. Buktinya ada pada kejadian yang menimpa Brian Clark. Blog CopyBlogger miliknya terkena penalti dari PR6 menjadi PR4. Ini terjadi walaupun kenyataannya Scott sama sekali tidak menjual link di blog miliknya. Untungnya kemudian Google memulihkan dan menambah PR CopyBlogger menjadi PR7. [...]
#59 Web Site Optimization » The Great Google Data Grab of 2007 → 11.09.07 at 5:28 am
[...] with Google, how easy will it be for them to force compliance on smaller webmasters? Given the indiscriminate attitude exhibited when Google recently hand edited PageRank scores, it seems there is good reason to not [...]
#60 SEO CheckList » Does PageRank Have Anything to do With your Rankings? → 11.25.07 at 6:35 am
[...] text links. And in truth, many of those de-ranked (me included) have not sold text links at all. Copyblogger, Brian Clark, was of the same sentiment. Other bloggers have hinted that his blog getting de-ranked was due to [...]
#61 Google Page Rank Checker - Many Websites Reporting a Drop in PR - PR9 to PR5 » How To Start And Grow Your Internet Business → 12.01.07 at 1:18 am
[...] Brian Clark’s Copyblogger was reported to have been demoted to a PR4 but again, during the writing of this post, it is now at PR 7. [...]
#62 Web 2.0 Traffic Trend Watcher → 01.12.08 at 9:02 pm
Page Rank has always been something that has confused me immensly. I see sites of excellent content with a lot of user response and Page Ranks of one or two. I then will find a site that is very basic without a lot of activity ranking 4 or 5. I have also conducted search terms on popular keyword phrases thinking that the #1 positions would have really high page ranks and sometimes they don’t . My site has a page rank of zero and I work hard at it getting contact and resourcing as much as possible and I remain at zero. I just kind of give up. PR in my opinion is over rated. As long as we get good google rankings and lots of search engine traffic then what does it matter what our PR is?
#63 Rozhovor s Aaronom Wallom zo SEObook.com | SEO chat → 03.16.08 at 12:07 pm
[...] Iné známe osobnosti ako Brian Clark mali PageRank upravený Google-om a potom, čo sa na to sťažovali, ich PageRank skóre bolo upravené späť. [...]
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