Thursday, November 22, 2007
Why I'm a lame blogger, reason #78 - I don't "get" Page Rank
Recently there has been some brouhaha over Google demoting the Page Rank of sites it considers to be art of link farms. (TechCrunch has covered this a few times...more generally here and then more specifically about Iza (nee Pay Per Post) here.
I will now confess to you: I don't know what Page Rank really is; I don't know any of my blogs' Page Ranks; I've never tracked my Page Rank.
And further: since Page Rank is something calculated mysteriously and controlled by company over which one has no control, it really seems more like a mythological creature, rather than a quantitative metric I should care about.
Now, I'm not all up in the "Google is evil" camp. I like Google just fine. I use Google. I generally find their search results reliable and authoritative, so I would totally agree that they have the credibility to rank how relevant certain sites or individual hyperlinks are to a given search query.
But the concept of an overall page rank for a site that somehow people attach great meaning to without context seeming to matter? I really don't get it. And I mean that literally - is that even what Page Rank is supposed to represent?
You may ask, what do I track? No, I'm not one of those bloggers who says I blog only for myself and don't really care who or how many read me. I track my traffic. I track if anything if I've written spurs someone else to write something. I track if any post seems to generate a lot of interest and comments. I care about these things, truly.
So, am I missing the boat. Is Page Rank one more thing I should obsess over? Or is it just looking for some mysterious pat on the head from an Internet father figure holding us all at arm's length?
Inquiring minds kinda want to know, but will probably never do anything different about it, because I'm already a lame blogger for 77 other reasons, and caring about Page Rank probably won't save me.
I will now confess to you: I don't know what Page Rank really is; I don't know any of my blogs' Page Ranks; I've never tracked my Page Rank.
And further: since Page Rank is something calculated mysteriously and controlled by company over which one has no control, it really seems more like a mythological creature, rather than a quantitative metric I should care about.
Now, I'm not all up in the "Google is evil" camp. I like Google just fine. I use Google. I generally find their search results reliable and authoritative, so I would totally agree that they have the credibility to rank how relevant certain sites or individual hyperlinks are to a given search query.
But the concept of an overall page rank for a site that somehow people attach great meaning to without context seeming to matter? I really don't get it. And I mean that literally - is that even what Page Rank is supposed to represent?
You may ask, what do I track? No, I'm not one of those bloggers who says I blog only for myself and don't really care who or how many read me. I track my traffic. I track if anything if I've written spurs someone else to write something. I track if any post seems to generate a lot of interest and comments. I care about these things, truly.
So, am I missing the boat. Is Page Rank one more thing I should obsess over? Or is it just looking for some mysterious pat on the head from an Internet father figure holding us all at arm's length?
Inquiring minds kinda want to know, but will probably never do anything different about it, because I'm already a lame blogger for 77 other reasons, and caring about Page Rank probably won't save me.
Labels: Google, Page Rank, TechCrunch
Thursday, November 08, 2007
This month's Silicon Veggie
The Vegan Wedding, Part Deux
Or: Why aren't there any upscale veg restaurants in the South Bay? I'm sure I could singlehandedly keep them in business, particularly if they delivered or teamed up with Waiters on Wheels.
Or: Why aren't there any upscale veg restaurants in the South Bay? I'm sure I could singlehandedly keep them in business, particularly if they delivered or teamed up with Waiters on Wheels.
Labels: Silicon Veggie
Friday, November 02, 2007
Shameless Plug: Voting open for Weblog Awards...
And BlogHer is nominated for Best Online Community.
You can vote here.
And you can vote once per day.
So, if so inclined, please do.
You can vote here.
And you can vote once per day.
So, if so inclined, please do.
Labels: blogher, Weblog Awards
Thursday, November 01, 2007
BlogHer is a Weblog Awards finalist
In the category of Best Online Community. See all the nominees here.
BlogHer's competition?
Oh, only some little blogs called:
DailyKos
Little Green Footballs
Fark!
9rules Network
Slashdot
Groklaw
My Left Wing
Gather
Television Without Pity
Jeez.
Voting apparently starts tonight, and I think each person can vote once per day per computer.
Here's the FAQ about the Awards.
So, start your engines, and start your voting...tonight.
Thanks to the Weblog Awards team for including us as a Finalist.
and thanks to, of course, the editors and community members at BlogHer, since any nominee for Best Online Community would kind of be nowhere without their actual community!
BlogHer's competition?
Oh, only some little blogs called:
DailyKos
Little Green Footballs
Fark!
9rules Network
Slashdot
Groklaw
My Left Wing
Gather
Television Without Pity
Jeez.
Voting apparently starts tonight, and I think each person can vote once per day per computer.
Here's the FAQ about the Awards.
So, start your engines, and start your voting...tonight.
Thanks to the Weblog Awards team for including us as a Finalist.
and thanks to, of course, the editors and community members at BlogHer, since any nominee for Best Online Community would kind of be nowhere without their actual community!
Labels: blogher, Weblog Awards
