In the past few days, a number of webmasters reported a decrease in the page rank of their websites/ blogs.  This is following warnings (for a while now) from Google that it would crack down on paid links.  The funny thing is that some sites who have seen their PR decrease did not sell links.  What conclusion can we derive from this?

This PR update or readjustment did not only affect paid links but the way links are weighted by Google in general.  In other words, since Google’s main concern is to provide better search results, its ultimate goal is to allow for accurate linking between sites.  Paid links are only part of the problem, albeit a visible one.

The rate someone is willing to pay for a link depends largely on its PR value and the traffic it can bring.  With this recent change, those rates are bound to be affected.  Paid links will probably remain as search engines still base themselves on link networks to come up with their results.  As long as this remains true, paid links will stay.

That being said, let’s see if those sites that lost some PR will also lose traffic.

Microsoft is known for being one of the, if not the major player in the software world. Yet, with Google entering the field by offering products online and free of charge, that led Microsoft to readjust its business model.

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From CDs that most people buy to install their programs, Microsoft will slowly shift towards “software delivered as a service.” This means that consumers will not necessarily have to pay for the cost of the software upfront. Instead, Microsoft will earn revenues through many streams, such as subscription revenues, transaction revenues (like PayPal, for instance), or ad revenues. Don’t we love those advertisers?

Microsoft Powers Up for Change, Telegraph.co.uk