A Study on PageRank Values of Paid-Result Search Engines

PPC Pagerank Values: Theoretical, Ethical and Business Issues Surrounding Pagerank

Available Now » Report 2
WPSS: A General Framework for Web Page Scoring Systems
Another independent study finds more flaws! Entire theoretical framework is questioned.

The AfterMath

After the publication of this work some self-appointed "expert forums" with vested interests, W3C unvalid code and that are never found at the top of the search results criticized this report just to later on taste the many fallacies and flaws of the PageRank metric. Stories of "Miserable Failures", "Florida", "Texas" and Google "Bombs" highlighted the obvious, so as the following events

1. An independent report from Chris Raimondi in which Google allegedly assigns to itself a PageRank value of 11 out of 10 in the Google Directory. The complete report is available at
   SearchNerd.com/pagerank/
2. An independent research work from Diligenti, et al, in which the PageRank, HITS and PageRank-HITS algorithms are explicitly derived as special cases of a generalized webpage scoring system for horizontal and vertical searches. The proposed framework reveals serious theoretical flaws in the PageRank model. The complete report is available at
   http://www2002.org/CDROM/refereed/629/.
   A simplified review is available at http://www.miislita.com/searchito/wpssreview.html
3. In the SearchKing vs Google case, the Oklahoma Federal Court findings putting into question the 'truth' of the PageRank system" and its integrity as a scoring system.
   http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=863
4. The USPTO guidelines stating that devices, processes, methods, inventions that are or involve new art are patentable only if the subject matter is "useful." The term "useful" in this connection refers to the condition that the subject matter has a useful purpose and also includes operativeness, that is, a machine which will not operate to perform the intended purpose would not be called useful, and therefore would not be granted a patent.
   See General Information Concerning Patents
5. In the SearchKing vs Google case, Google attorneys claims and the Oklahoma Federal Court finding stating that PageRank values are just subjective opinions, not to be taken or proved true or false and, therefore, protected under the First Amendment as free speech. (Case No. CIV-02-1457-M)
6. The USPTO guidelines stating that the laws of nature, physical phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable; a patent cannot be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion.
   See USPTO: What Can be Patented. Since opinions are mere speculatives or subjective ideas, they are not patentable. However, Larry Page (Google co-founder) has applied for a patent on PageRank
   (See Patent No. 6,285,999). Whether or not the Oklahoma Federal Court findings could lead to the invalidation of the PageRank patent is something to be elucidated before the corresponding forums.
7. Los Angeles Supreme Court position against Nike in a case in which the company claimed Freedom of Speech protection. Nike, appealing a judgment by the California highest court, had invoked the First Amendment to defend criticisms and claims allegedly involving unfair trade practices and misrepresentation of facts to consumers. The court's position indicates that Freedom of Speech is an individual right, not a corporate right, hence The First Amendment applies to individuals not to corporations. (Ruled weeks after the SearchKing-Google case was resolved).
8. Say "Adios" to PageRank and Google Relevance with More Bombs from Pranksters. This is an old news on Google "Bombs".
9. Bloggers Confirm the Obvious, a Year Later: PageRank is Dead! According to Jeremy Zawodny's Blog, PageRank is dead.
10. WebMasters of the World Agree: Google Does Manipulates Results According to this forum at WebMasterWorld.com, Google is a victim of its own technology. Finally most agree on the obvious. They do manipulate pagerank values. The question now is: Why? Is it because they have to or because they want and can do it? Either way, the soo many fallacies of Google's PageRank can no longer be sustained.
11. Selling Links with High PageRank through Google's AdWords This article in WebProNews.com reports that others are now marketing in Google's AdWords links to sites with high PageRank values. The very same practice criticized by Google and SEOs is now allowed in Google's AdWords. Ads like "find link partners with high PageRank", "swap links with high PR values", etc... are common in Google. Oh don't do Evil, Christ and the crisis of the hypocrisys. Merrycrisis in July. It seems that now everybody is showing their true colors, following into the steps of SK. Links for Sale, Here.
12. PageRank-for-Sale Ads Showing in Google According to this WebmasterWorld.com's thread Google AdWords is displaying text ads offering the selling of links in connection with PageRank. No matter how others will want to justify the practice, it sends the message that Bob Massa and SearchKing were right after all. What SEOs from certain "expert" discussion forum and that criticized this report would say now? On Fools and Hypocrits...!

The legal "truth" about the PageRank metric as the "validity" of the so-called "pagerank toolbars" and "pagerank calculators" are now clear. You -the reader- must decide who was right.

INTRODUCTION

Link connectivity patterns and link connectivity metrics are important tools in the study of site importance and citation on the Web. They can also be used to model web traffic and user behavior. This is the first in a series of studies on link metrics and link connectivity patterns on the Web. Since at the time of the study Google's PageRank is taken by many researchers, webmasters and the public for a fair metric for link connectivity, we start with PageRank. This is not a study about search engine ranking algorithms for query relevance or ranking performance in the form of recall and precision of search results, but about PageRank values assigned to web properties in a given market space or industry. First-page ranking results and PageRank are two different but interrelated metrics; two different "animals".

Our main goal is to investigate PageRank, not in a computer lab but "in action"; that is, how PageRank values are assigned across the Web and across destination sites with very dissimilar business models, database sizes, all sort of strategic alliances or vested interests. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Why do we want to do that? Well, this is the actual nature of the Web.

The study focuses on a given industry: search engines. We plan to conduct studies with other topic-specific industries and marketing environments, using PageRank and other metrics that measure link connectivity and weight propagation across the Web.

Prior to the sampling part of the study, we investigated two issues in connection with PageRank:

1. Google tends to assign low PageRank values to sites that participate in what is called by many webmasters "free-for-all" or link-farm" structures. These are structures highly interlinked, regardless of the presence or absence of commonalities in terms of site content or relevance. On the other hand, many of these structures are topically connected. Some are reciprocal link programs, too; i.e., programs involving exchange of links or banners. Some are indeed topic-specific. Many can be described as structures describing a specific link connectivity pattern (web rings, tree-like structures, hubs and the like), while others do not seem to exhibit any pattern at all.
2. A lawsuit filed by SearchKing, Inc against Google, Inc. (5)

Consequently, our study elaborates on whether or not our findings may be relevant to these cases. We would like to point out that this is a scientific marketing research study. That is, we use a scientific approach to try to understand marketing issues and business reality, regardless on how irritating or brutal that reality or those issues can be.

Sections

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Procedure
• Conclusion

Available Now » Report 2
WPSS: A General Framework for Web Page Scoring Systems
Another independent study finds more flaws! Entire theoretical framework is questioned.

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