Come on people, Google originally created the pagerank system to basically show how good a site is. To simplify it completely, it’s based off of quality inbound links. Lovely natural inbound links from people who genuinely think that your site is good. Not links that you’ve paid loads of money for to try and give the impression that your site is good so that you can ultimately use that false impression of greatness to sell links from your site.

And you wonder why Google finally decided to clamp down on Pageranking and what constitutes a quality link?

“But what about Statcounter and PHPBB?” you say.

Come on, think about it. Google want to measure PR and a website’s importance by the QUALITY of inbound links. Are all these millions of footer links to those sites quality links? They’re not backlinks by choice due to the site’s quality, they’re linking back to those sites because PHPBB put that link in their script and ask you to keep it.

Compare those former PR8 and PR9 sites to sites that have come out of the update with their high PR in tact. Apple for example. Where are all their backlinks? They don’t get a backlink every time you download iTunes or use your iPod, but they get the benefit of having their branding there – much link a footer link on PHPBB. All those Apple backlinks are natural, not planted, and not bought.

So stop whining about Google, and start complimenting them on finally taking a stand and sorting out the backlinks from the craplinks.

Here’s the blurb from Google regarding it:

You may already be using AdSense referrals to direct your users to Google products like Google Pack or Google AdWords. Now, you can expand the earning potential of your website even further by directing users to products and services from our base of AdWords advertisers.

In just a few minutes you can hand-pick and display ads that will appeal directly to your users’ tastes and interests. After choosing relevant ads or keywords, you will be able to customize referrals units that complement the look and feel of your site. Then you can start directing visitors to the products or services you’ve selected.

With referrals, you’ll be paid when your visitors click through to an advertiser’s site and complete an action defined by your advertisers, such as a sale or sign up. Because these actions are often more involved than a simple click or impression, advertisers pay more for these referrals, which can translate into higher earnings for your site. Further, you’ll see the expected earnings and advertiser performance ahead of time, so you can make the best decisions about what to refer. You can also choose to target the keywords that will ensure you get the highest-paying referrals for your ad space.

This feature is currently available on a limited basis as part of our beta test.

After being accepted into the program, I’m not really convinced I see the point of it. The products aren’t particularly appealing – not compared to affiliate networks – and you’ve got no flexibility on how you promote these products. The ads just look like regular Adsense, so aren’t likely to get a high CTR, and the image alternatives are quite limited.

I know Google are slowly taking over the world, but affiliate networks need not be worried here!