PageRank Dilution Explained

Jul 15, 2004 - 12:43 pm 4 by

Simple works best, so no complex numbers here. Just a picture and words.

PageRank is a number. If you put a link from page A to page B, page A will distribute PageRank to page B. Page A's PageRank does not get diluted by linking out, but the links are worth less, in terms of the value of the PageRank, when there are more links on the page A. In other words, the PageRank to the pages page A links to does get diluted but not the PageRank of page A itself.

For example, page A has 5 links and page B has 50 links. Both page A and B have the same PageRank value. The pages receiving links from page A, will get a higher PageRank value then pages receiving links from page B. Why? Because the PageRank of a page can only give off a distributed fraction of its own PageRank. So pages with less links on them, are more profitable in terms of PageRank building.

The picture below is from a Google Image search on "dilution". Its not meant to explain how PageRank is diluted from page to page (it was meant to explain bacterial growth dilution), but I think it works in our case of PageRank dilution.

On the left is the most concentrated form of a colored liquid. Then you see the concentration is diluted as you pan across to the right of the image. Think of these test tubes as pages and the colored liquid as PageRank. As links develop from page A to page B to page C and so on, the PageRank value of those links dilute from the original numeric value. Kind of similar to how dilution works with the image below.

pagerank-dilution.gif

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 1, 2025

Apr 1, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Ranking Reddit AI Translated Pages Too Well

Apr 1, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google AI Overviews Tests Check Important Info Disclaimer

Apr 1, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests New Sitelinks Hover Shadow & Related Search Designs

Apr 1, 2025 - 7:31 am
Bing Search

Bing Copilot Answer Buttons To Image & Video Search

Apr 1, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

April 2025 Google Webmaster Report

Apr 1, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Provide SEO / SEM Services or Web Services