Google is being bombarded with complaints.

Senator Figueroa from California is drafting a bill to block Google's Gmail.

Certainly an unprotected system could be open to abuse, but are we saying that we would rather be spammed than have targeted messages. Google seems to be one of the few companies in the world with enough foresight to actually want to save me time everyday. BUT we are concerned about our privacy...it is my choice if I want to trust Google with that information, let me.

"Those who are ready to sacrifice freedom for security ultimately will lose both."
-Abraham Lincoln

Also, The New York Times just published an artilce further turning up the heat on Google for it's search result for the word "Jew."

I know I personally could outrank a measly PageRank 5 page showing less than 60 backlinks in Google. Not a single person who is complaining about this issue cares enough to change the automated results. Do these religious believers not believe in communinty? Is it not their faith that is in doubt? Obviously they believe in a higher power, and certainly they can't say that power is Google. Why can't they think in groups?

Google is sick of the crap everyone is giving them. As of midnight they will cease operations. In preparation for their upcomming closure you can read on their new services page. "This space intentionally left blank." Alright, so that services page has been blank for a while and Google has no intent to close up shop. Is your life better because Google exists? Yes or No, and WHY?

Update: Tim O'Reily says what I am trying to say a bit more eloquently than I can.

Google Updated PageRank a few days back (on the 7^TH). Even though some people have got good PageRank (MSN Watch is already up to PR6), it is not enough to get good PageRank. Nowadays we want more for our money!!!

People want everything their way. They want small email boxes. They want popups and slow loading banners. They don't want relevant ads. Privacy groups hate the Gmail product. They would rather be spammed or pay for bad services. Perhaps they want an undercooked McChicken Sandwitch like the one I ate a few days back.

Have it Your Way! the Subservient Chick

This post was brought to you by Burger King.

It is amazing how quickly Google AdSense stat tracking software has became a commodity. You can pay $100 one time license fee to track the clickthroughs specifically by page. This license allows unlimed usage across all of your domains.

(found in http://www.forobuscadores.com/foros/)

Also, these AdSense charts provided by DigitalPoint are free.

This entry was inspired by a recent article from Danny Sullivan.

Lots O good Google PageRank info below. Still not much out on Yahoo Webrank though... What is Google PageRank?
Google PageRank is a mathematical approximation that a random web surfer would cross any given page prior to starting to surf over again. It is a measure of link popularity on a 1 - 10 logarithmic scale. One powerful link from a strong site is worth way more than many links from small sites.

How do I check PageRank?

• You can download the Google Toolbar (with advanced features).

• PageRank also shows in the Google Directory (it is on a slightly different scale though).
• Top25Web has a free PageRank checking tool.
• Rusty Brick also created a tool for figuring out future PageRank which is somewhat questionable in it's exactness, but fun to look at. It has been telling me that this site will rank as a 10 or 11, so that will require you providing manu links into me :)

How do I check my Competitors PageRank?

• The same way you would check your own. OR

• There are automated tools which process portions of the web to help you find link partners quicker. Here are two interesting tools:
  • SEO Guy has a tool which allows you to set PageRank levels and perform a search for any given term. It will return a list of top ranking websites which have a PageRank equal to or greater than the # you requested.

  • For deeper link analysis, OptiLink link analysis software - orders the backlinks of your competitors in order of PageRank so you can Quickly view his most important backlinks (in the eyes of Google).

More on PageRank
PageRank is only one aspect of website promotion. It does play a huge role in the current Google ranking system, but there are many other factors. Generally some sites could really do well by making sure their site is well integrated into their local community and then buying a link or two to suppliment their rankings.

The web does self organize into micro communities and PageRank does not take that into account as well as search engines such as Teoma do (see also: Teoma review).

Buying PageRank
It is probably worth it for many sites to buy 1 or 2 PR7 or so links. I have been able to locate them for under $100 a month and sometimes cheaper than $50...a few times even free. I have seen run of the site PR7 links around $200 per month.

There are many many reseller networks of people selling PageRank. You want to make sure you are as close to the source as possible when buying links. IE: you may want to buy off a website, a link broker, or link brokers friend, but you start to run into heavy inflation when you buy links off a link broker from a different link broker from a link broker...

The prices of the links are spread extremely wide. There are many important factors such as

• How well the webmaster knows what their links are worth.

• The PageRank of the page.
• The number of links on the page.
• How well that page fits the theme of your site.
• The direct traffic that link will bring.
• The length of the contract.
• Sometimes you can get discounts for quantity buys.

On my other site I have listed more PageRank resources and more in depth Google PageRank coverage.

Yahoo! Webrank
As you can see there is a ton of info out there on PageRank. Since Yahoo! Webrank is new and expiremental there is no solid data out there on it.

They are currently testing Yahoo! Webrank in a beta test which is closed. In Danny Sullivan's article he pointed me to a backdoor link he found in Webmaster World which will allow you to download the toolbar that will show the Yahoo! Webrank. In addition Digital Point has a Yahoo! Webrank tool which sometimes provides sporadic or random results. Its inaccuracies may actually be due to the fact that Yahoo! Webrank is still in a beta test.

In an email I got about 3 minutes ago Google has claimed the following changes to the AdSense program.

Better and Better Ad Relevance
Now, in addition to understanding the overall meaning of a page, our technology determines the relevance of concepts found on a page to pick better performing ads.
Smarter and Smarter Pricing
With the new AdWords pricing model, we’ll also automatically adjust the price of clicks across the Google Network based on their expected value to the advertiser. A number of factors will be taken into account when calculating the expected value, including the keywords or concepts that triggered the ad. For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.

I believe that Google may use the clickthrough tracking offered from some AdWords customers to determine the value of a site as compared to other ad distribution (other sites, email distribution, and search results). Most likely this will cause a decline in click price as many large marketers have stated that contextual ads (on average) are worth approximately 30% the value of the same ad placed in search results.