Pagerank History and Evolution of Google's Algorithm

Google's algorithm has undergone significant changes since its inception. The first version of Google's algorithm was called Backrub, which was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996. It was based on a unique approach to ranking web pages called PageRank.

PageRank was a revolutionary concept that assigned a score to each web page based on the number and quality of links pointing to it. This score was calculated by analyzing the link structure of the web. PageRank was first introduced in 1998 as a part of Google's algorithm.

In 2000, Google introduced a new algorithm called Google Dance, which was a major update to the original PageRank algorithm. The Google Dance was a result of Google's need to refresh its index and re-calculate PageRank scores. This update led to significant changes in search engine rankings.

Google's algorithm continued to evolve, and in 2003, the company introduced the Google Sandbox, a filter that prevented new websites from appearing in search results until they had built up a reputation.

The patent expired on January 9, 2018, and was not renewed. Google first made PageRank public on March 15, 2000, when the Google Directory launched.

The Google Directory was a version of the Open Directory Project, but it was sorted by PageRank and was shut down on July 25, 2011.

Google first made PageRank public on March 15, 2000, with the launch of the Google Directory, a version of the Open Directory Project sorted by PageRank.

The Google Directory was shut down on July 25, 2011, marking the end of this early public display of PageRank.

The first PageRank patent was filed on January 9, 1998, and was titled “Method for node ranking in a linked database.”

This patent expired on January 9, 2018, and was not renewed.

Google launched PageRank in the Google toolbar on December 11, 2000, which was the version most SEOs obsessed over.

The PageRank shown in the toolbar used a simple 0–10 numbering system, but in reality, PageRank is a logarithmic scale where achieving each higher number becomes increasingly difficult.

Here are the key milestones in the history of PageRank:

PageRank has a rich history that dates back to the late 1990s when Larry Page and Sergey Brin were working at Stanford University. They were looking at information retrieval methods and came up with the idea of using links to determine the importance of each page relative to another.

The idea quickly turned into Google, which initially launched its search engine with no ability to earn revenue due to institutional belief in its approach. PageRank was the algorithm used to rank pages in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

In the early days of Google, the PageRank algorithm was made visible through a toolbar extension for browsers like Firefox, which showed a score between 0 and 10 for every page on the Internet. However, this made it clear that links were the easiest way to "game" Google.

Here are some key changes to the PageRank algorithm over the years:

Today, we know that Google still uses PageRank, and it's still easy to see the impact of links on search results.

PageRank is a system for ranking web pages developed by Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. Initially, every page on the internet is given an estimated PageRank score, which could be any number, historically presented as a score between 0 and 10.

The PageRank for a page is then divided by the number of links out of the page, resulting in a smaller fraction. This fraction is then distributed out to the linked pages. The same process is repeated for every other page on the internet.

The formula for PageRank also contains a "damping factor", which represents the chance that a person surfing the web might stop surfing altogether. This factor is applied before each subsequent iteration of the algorithm starts, reducing the proposed new PageRank. The methodology is repeated until the PageRank scores reach a settled equilibrium.

Here's a simplified representation of the formula:

In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B, but it also analyzes the page that casts the vote.

The original PageRank formula had a major flaw - it was mathematically incorrect. The formula published in the 1997 paper added up to more than 1, which is impossible since it was supposed to represent a probability distribution.

The formula was: PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn)). With a damping factor (d) of 0.85, it simplified to: PageRank for a page = 0.15 + 0.85 (a portion of the PageRank of each linking page split across its outbound links).

Each page would have a minimum PageRank of 0.15, which meant the total sum of PageRank for every page would be greater than 1. This was a problem, since a probability can't be greater than 100%.

The correct formula should divide (1-d) by the number of pages on the internet. This would give: PageRank for a page = (0.15/number of pages on the internet) + 0.85 (a portion of the PageRank of each linking page split across its outbound links).

This corrected formula makes sense, as it takes into account the vast number of pages on the internet and prevents the total sum from exceeding 1.

PageRank flows around the Internet between iterations.

As new pages come onto the Internet, they start with only a tiny amount of PageRank.

But as other pages start to link to these pages, their PageRank increases over time.

If a page starts with a value of 5 and has 10 links out, then every page it links to is given 0.5 PageRank (less the damping factor).

This means that the PageRank is distributed out to the linked pages, and the same is done for every other page on the Internet.

The PageRank flows around the Internet, from one page to another, until the PageRank scores reach a settled equilibrium.

Here's a simple breakdown of how PageRank flows:

Google's Algorithm is a complex system that relies on the democratic nature of the web to determine a page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.

Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, developed PageRank at Stanford University, which is the heart of their software. It's a system for ranking web pages based on the link structure of the web.

The PageRank Formula, which is fundamental to understanding links, is: "The PageRank of a page in this iteration equals 1 minus a damping factor, PLUS... for every link into the page (except for links to itself), add the page rank of that page divided by the number of outbound links on the page and reduced by the damping factor."

Google introduced the rel=“nofollow” attribute in 2005 to combat spam, encouraging users to add it to blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.

This attribute blocks links from getting any credit when Google ranks websites in its search results. Almost all modern systems use the nofollow attribute on blog comment links.

SEO professionals even abused nofollow by using it for PageRank sculpting, but Google eventually changed the system to prevent this.

In 2009, Google confirmed that PageRank would be distributed across links even if a nofollow attribute was present, but only passed through the followed link.

Google added more link attributes, including rel=“ugc” to identify user-generated content and rel=“sponsored” to identify paid or affiliate links, in 2019.

Google still uses PageRank as one of its algorithms, which is a system for ranking web pages developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.

PageRank relies on the link structure of the web as an indicator of a page's value, interpreting a link from page A to page B as a vote by page A for page B.

It looks at more than just the sheer volume of votes, analyzing the page that casts the vote and giving more weight to votes cast by pages that are themselves "important".

Google combines PageRank with text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search.

In modern SEO, PageRank is one of the algorithms comprising Experience Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

Google reps like Gary Illyes have confirmed that Google still uses PageRank and that links are used for E-A-T.

After 18 years, Google is still using PageRank, along with hundreds of other signals, in ranking.

Removing links using the disavow tool led to a noticeable drop in rankings, showing that links still matter for rankings.

PageRank is also a factor in crawl budget, with Google wanting to crawl important pages more often.

Pages with a higher PageRank are more likely to be chosen as the canonical version that gets indexed and shown to users.

The Google Directory was a place where pages were listed because human editors had selected them, rather than Google's crawling of the web.

It was based on work done by editors at the Open Directory Project and was added to Google's site in March 2000. The key difference between the Google Directory and the Open Directory was that the Google Directory sorted listings according to PageRank score.

Google's PageRank score is a measure of a web page's importance, as determined by Google's patented PageRank technology and other factors. The score is indicated by a green ratings bar next to each site in the Google Directory.

The Google Directory was once a key part of Google, but it was dropped from the Google home page and relegated to the More Google Products page in March 2004. As a result, it's not a priority anymore, and the listings are often out of date.

The Google Directory's listings are sorted by PageRank score, which is a measure of how important Google thinks a page is. This is different from the Open Directory, which lists all the pages, regardless of their PageRank score.

The first PageRank patent was filed on January 9, 1998, titled "Method for node ranking in a linked database." This patent expired on January 9, 2018.

Initially, Google's search engine, then known as "BackRub", launched with no ability to earn revenue due to institutional belief in its approach. The algorithm, PageRank, was computationally difficult to process but not impossible.

The calculation of PageRank took several days to process at the turn of the millennium, resulting in the "Google Dance", where the Google SERPs moved up and down. This erratic behavior was a challenge for SEO professionals.

PageRank was first made public when the Google Directory launched on March 15, 2000, and later included in the Google toolbar on December 11, 2000.

PageRank has a fascinating evolutionary history. The first PageRank patent was filed on January 9, 1998. It was titled “Method for node ranking in a linked database” and expired on January 9, 2018.

During its early days, Google's approach was met with institutional belief, allowing the business to launch its search engine with no ability to earn revenue. Google was initially known as “BackRub” and used PageRank to rank pages in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The Google Directory, launched on March 15, 2000, was the first time PageRank was made public. It was a version of the Open Directory Project sorted by PageRank and was shut down on July 25, 2011.

PageRank was introduced in the Google toolbar on December 11, 2000, and was last updated on December 6, 2013. It was eventually removed on March 7, 2016. The toolbar used a simple 0–10 numbering system to represent the PageRank, but PageRank itself is a logarithmic scale where achieving each higher number becomes increasingly difficult.

In 2005, PageRank made its way into Google Sitemaps (now known as Google Search Console), where it was shown in categories of high, medium, low, or N/A. This feature was removed on October 15, 2009.

Google's confidence in PageRank didn't last. The algorithm was initially believed to be "unspam-able" internally, but it started to become problematic as the backlink industry grew. Google withdrew it from public view, but continued to rely on it for its ranking algorithms.

The PageRank Toolbar was withdrawn by 2016, and eventually, all public access to PageRank was curtailed. But by this time, Majestic had been able to correlate its own calculations quite well with PageRank.

Google spent many years encouraging SEO professionals away from manipulating links through its "Google Guidelines" documentation and through advice from its spam team, headed up by Matt Cutts, until January 2017.

Link spam has been a major issue in the SEO world for years. Google has a list of link schemes that they consider to be spammy, including buying or selling links, exchanging links for money or services, and using software to automatically create links.

The systems to combat link spam have evolved over the years. Google has introduced several algorithms to detect and penalize link spam, including Penguin and SpamBrain.

Some examples of link spam include:

Google's Penguin algorithm was first launched in 2012 and initially hurt many websites. However, the algorithm was later updated to devalue spam links rather than penalize websites, making it easier for sites to recover.

Toolbar PageRank was a simplified version of the algorithm, shown as a score between 0 and 10 in the Google toolbar.

This representation made it easy for SEO professionals and consumers to quickly assess the importance of any page on the internet.

However, this also made it clear that links were the easiest way to "game" Google, and a secondary market formed around buying and selling links valued on the PageRank of the URL.

The more links, the better a page could rank in Google's SERPs for any targeted keyword.

In contrast, internal PageRank is the score Google uses as part of its ranking algorithm, constantly being updated.

Toolbar PageRank, on the other hand, is a snapshot of internal PageRank taken every few months.

A brand new site will likely have a low or no PageRank score reported in the Google toolbar, which might concern you.

But it will mostly impact whether you get crawled regularly, with higher PageRank scores making it more likely Google will revisit your pages.

After a few weeks, you'll likely have gained some internal PageRank, which might lead to more traffic.

However, outwardly, the Google Toolbar PageRank meter will still show your same old score until a new snapshot is made.

You can try the Future PageRank tool if you hear that a PageRank update is in progress for the toolbar, giving you an early glimpse at your score to come.

Google's algorithm uses PageRank to determine the importance of each web page. This means that the more important a web page is, the higher it will rank in search engine results.

The algorithm assigns a numerical value to each web page, with 10 being the highest. This value is then used to determine the ranking of each page. In the early days of Google, the algorithm was much simpler, but it still relied on PageRank to determine page importance.

PageRank is calculated based on the number and quality of links pointing to a web page. The more high-quality links a page has, the higher its PageRank will be. This is why link building is still an important aspect of SEO today.

Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, has said that PageRank is a key factor in determining the ranking of web pages. He believes that it helps to separate the high-quality content from the low-quality content.

Google's search rankings aren't just about PageRank, as many people think. In fact, PageRank is just one of many factors used to produce search rankings.

The search results show a PR8 score for Movies.com, which is outranked by Internet Movie Database with a PR9 score. This shows that PageRank isn't the most important factor in search rankings.

Google uses another system to show the most important pages for a particular search, and it lists them in order of importance for what you searched on. This means that adding PageRank scores to search results would just confuse people.

PageRank does make more sense when you're looking at a single page, such as when you're surfing the web.

Google still uses PageRank as one of the algorithms in modern SEO, specifically in the Experience Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) assessment.

Google's algorithms identify signals about pages that correlate with trustworthiness and authoritativeness, and PageRank is a key signal that uses links on the web to understand authoritativeness.

Google reps like Gary Illyes have confirmed that Google still uses PageRank and that links are used for E-A-T (now E-E-A-T).

After 18 years, PageRank is still being used by Google in ranking, along with hundreds of other signals.

Removing links using the disavow tool can significantly impact rankings, indicating that links still matter for rankings.

PageRank is also a confirmed factor in crawl budget, making sense that Google wants to crawl important pages more often.

Pages with a higher PageRank are more likely to be chosen as the canonical version that gets indexed and shown to users.

PageRank is not the only factor in how pages are ranked, but it's still an important signal for Google.

Google's corporate philosophy page emphasizes that PageRank is just one of many factors used to determine the importance of every web page.

PageRank evaluates all the sites linking to a web page and assigns them a value, based in part on the sites linking to them.

The Google Directory, a place where human editors select pages, is sorted by PageRank score, showing the importance of PageRank in Google's ranking system.

The Google Directory's help pages explain that the green ratings bars are a measure of the importance of a web page, as determined by Google's patented PageRank technology and other factors.

Google's algorithm was initially called Backrub, but was later renamed to PageRank in 2000.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, developed PageRank as a way to rank websites based on their importance.

PageRank was initially designed to rank websites based on the number and quality of links pointing to them.

The PageRank algorithm was patented in 2004 by Google.

PageRank was a major factor in Google's success, helping the search engine to quickly gain popularity and become the leading search engine on the internet.