Is this what Google will use instead of the PageRank algorithm?

Google recently announced that the PageRank toolbar won't be updated anymore. Does this mean that Google won't use PageRank as a ranking factor anymore? A Google patent that was granted in September indicates that Google might use some kind of PageRank 2.0 to rank pages.

New methods that Google uses to rank web pages

Google's new patent with the name "Onsite and offsite search ranking results" lists several on-site and off-site factors that Google might use to rank web pages. This could be something like PageRank 2.0.

1.       On-site data that Google might use

On-site data is data that can be retrieved from the analyzed web page and the complete website. According to the patent, Google might consider this information:

•             The frequency of the searched keyword on the web page or website.

•             The location of the searched keyword on the page.

•             The placement of the web page in the structure of the web site. For example, the home page might  be regarded as more important than a page the requires several clicks before it can be viewed.

•             How often a web page is linked from other pages of the same website.

2.       Off-site data that Google might use

In addition to on-site data, Google also uses off-site data to determine the position of a website. Off-site data refers to ranking signals that can be identified without accessing the web page:

•             The number of links to a page or website from other websites.

•             The number of times a web page has been clicked in the search results for a particular keyword.

•             Other statistical data about the relevance of a site.

•             Topical relevance to other sites: if many sites that are relevant to the keyword link to the same site, the linked site becomes more relevant.

•             Authoritative relevance to other site: the number of links to the site can indicate a high authority of the site. Websites with a high level of authority could be trusted more.

•             Web pages that have links from websites with high authority get a higher authority than websites that are linked from sites with less authority.

•             According to the patent, websites with a higher number of links get a higher authority.

Google Releases Penguin 3.0 — First Penguin Update In Over A Year

Google confirms that a new version of its Penguin filter aimed at fighting spam went live on Friday

Google has confirmed to Search Engine Land that it updated its Penguin filter on Friday. Penguin targets sites deemed to be spammy, especially those found in violation of Google’s guidelines about linking.

Some noticed major changes in Google search results beginning late Friday night US time and speculated that this was due to the long-awaited Penguin Update that Google had said to expect this month.

Google verified to us today that this has happened, when we asked about it. Google hasn’t yet given more details on the percentage of search results the latest version of Penguin has impacted or if there were any major changes made to it since the last release. We’ll update if we get these details.

Penguin Releases Over Time

This is the sixth release of Penguin. Google itself hasn’t given it a number, but we’re calling it Penguin 3.0 because it’s been so long since the last release of Penguin that it’s worth counting as a major release.

Here are dates of all Penguin releases:

• Penguin 1.0 on April 24, 2012 (impacting ~3.1% of queries)
• Penguin 1.1 on May 26, 2012 (impacting less than 0.1%)
• Penguin 1.2 on October 5, 2012 (impacting ~0.3% of queries)
• Penguin 2.0 on May 22, 2013 (impacting 2.3% of queries)
• Penguin 2.1 on Oct. 4, 2013 (impacting around 1% of queries)
• Penguin 3.0 on October 17, 2014 (impact not yet released

Note that Penguin 1.1 and Penguin 1.2 were previously reported by us as Penguin 2 and Penguin 3, because Google itself hadn’t given them numbers, so we did. But when the fourth release happened, Google declared that to be Penguin 2.0.