There are still a number of lessons to be learned from last week’s targeted Pagerank update. To recap, six months or so ago, Google said it would lower the value of the Pagerank assigned to sites that broker in bought and/or sold links. Last Wednesday the search engine followed up on the threat by significantly devaluing the visible Pagerank assigned to such websites. Caught in the ruckus were a large number of websites which had either stopped the practice or had never even participated in it. Google has since restored the visible Pagerank value to many of those sites that would be considered innocent bystanders.

There are a few lessons we in the SEO/SEM industry can and should learn from last week’s October surprise, the least of which is that Google has the right to treat any website reference delivered to its users any way it wishes.

The most important lesson drawn from last week is that of diversification. Putting all of the eggs in one basket is rarely seen as a smart move in any endeavor.
As Debra Mastaler wrote a column in yesterday’s Search Engine Land, “Is it Time to Change Your Linking Attitude?“,

“I don’t want to say the recent changes in Google’s algo have been a wake up call, but it’s certainly been a reminder not to depend on “just one thing.” It’s time to diversify and take advantage of all the tremendous news, networking, social communities, and search venues springing up.” 

With so many traffic driving opportunities out there it borders on negligence to rely solely on front page Google rankings for a business or client’s success. Though it is by far the leading source of search driven traffic, Google can not be considered a stable environment as rankings can change at any given time.

In this case, the update has not appeared to affect the rankings of the sites targeted however that might change over time. It is possible Google was sending a sub-textual message to those who use the green toolbar Pagerank indicator to gauge the commercial value of links on unique documents.

If the rankings of sites with lowered visible Pagerank values are not affected in the coming weeks, perhaps the green toolbar Pagerank indicator is as meaningless as many SEOs think it is. Do you really think Google ranks sites on a scale from 1 – 10?
If rankings are affected over time, the update will serve to teach us a little more about how visible Pagerank plays in the placement of websites and documents in Google SERPs.

Ultimately the update and subsequent chatter about it could appear to be a tempest in a teapot, albeit a fairly interesting one, to most outside observers but it cuts to the core of a number of private business and public philosophical ideas about the value of virtual property, the responsibilities of private companies operating as public portals, and the responsibilities of those of us who know how to best use those very public portals to promote our private interests or those of our clients. It is going to be interesting to see how debate plays out over time.