PageRank

Definition

PageRank - Google's original algorithm (patented by Larry Page) that ranked pages based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to them. While Google now uses hundreds of signals, link-based authority remains a foundational ranking factor.

In more depth

PageRank was the insight that made Google's founders billionaires: instead of treating all web pages equally, rank them by how many other pages link to them, weighted by the authority of those linking pages. A link from a highly-linked page passes more PageRank than a link from a low-linked page. This recursive, self-referencing calculation gave Google dramatically better results than keyword-matching search engines of the era.

Google officially stopped updating the public PageRank toolbar score in 2016 and no longer publishes any PageRank data. However, the underlying concept remains central to how Google assesses link authority. What's changed is the sophistication: modern Google uses machine learning to assess link quality, context, anchor text, the relevance of the linking page to the linked page, and hundreds of other signals alongside raw link quantity.

The practical implication of PageRank for modern SEO: links still flow through a site. A page that receives many high-authority external backlinks has high PageRank. When that page links to another page on the same site via an internal link, it passes some of that PageRank forward. This is the theoretical basis for the internal linking strategy of pointing links from high-authority pages toward conversion-critical pages that need a ranking boost.

Related terms: Backlink - Link Building - Authority (Domain Authority / Domain Rating) - Internal Linking

Frequently asked questions

Is PageRank still used by Google?

Yes, as a concept - though not as the simple 0-10 public metric that existed until 2016. Google's internal ranking system still uses link-based authority signals that are conceptually similar to PageRank, alongside hundreds of other signals. Third-party metrics like Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Moz's Domain Authority are modern proxies for estimating this link-based authority.

What happened to Google's PageRank toolbar?

Google discontinued updating the public PageRank toolbar scores in 2016 and removed the feature entirely from Google Toolbar and Chrome shortly after. The decision was partly to discourage the gaming of PageRank scores and reduce the market for paid links. Today, third-party tools like Ahrefs and Moz provide link authority estimates based on their own calculations.