Rumors suggest Google may reset PageRank, launch VR ratings, change AdSense clicks, remove backlink data, and replace nofollow with dofollow this November.
All the information in this article is based on circulating rumors from SEO communities and informal discussions. None of these updates are officially confirmed by Google. Treat this as speculation, not verified truth.
Google’s Alleged Plan for a Major Algorithm & AdSense Overhaul
Recent discussions in SEO circles suggest that Google may be preparing a massive update planned for release sometime in November. During a conversation with a Google engineer (as claimed in the rumor), it was mentioned that Google might roll out changes targeting blackhat SEO, PageRank manipulation, and invalid AdSense clicks.
If these rumors turn out to be accurate, the impact could be huge—affecting SEO strategies, link-building practices, AdSense earnings, and even how Google evaluates website authority.
Below is an expanded walkthrough of each rumored update.
Google PageRank Reset: A Complete Shutdown of PR
For years, Google PageRank (PR) has been one of the most recognized metrics in SEO. The green PR bar on the Google Toolbar became a symbol of trust and authority on the web. But according to the rumor, this iconic metric may soon be gone forever.
⭐ What the rumor claims:
- All PageRank values on the Google Toolbar will be reset to zero.
- Google will stop updating PR entirely.
- The toolbar will never again display PR metrics.
- This is reportedly the reason Google has delayed PR updates for months.
⭐ Why would Google do this?
The claim is that Google wants to permanently shut down:
- Link-selling markets
- Artificial PR boosting
- Black hat link schemes
- Automated PR manipulation tools
Since PageRank became highly commercialized, many websites sold links solely based on PR. Removing PR from public view would immediately destroy this market.
Introduction of VR (Visitor Rating): The Replacement for PageRank
According to the rumor, Google plans to replace PR with a new system called Google VR (Visitor Rating). This system would roll out through the Google Toolbar Version 4.2, expected mid-November.
⭐ What is Google VR?
VR is described as a Digg-style voting system where users can “rate” websites through a toolbar button.
⭐ VR may consider:
- Number of votes from visitors
- Ratio of visitors vs. total votes
- Traffic sources (search engine, referral, direct)
- How many visitors return to your website
- Engagement over time
The VR score will appear as a blue bar (similar to PR’s famous green bar).
⭐ Anti-Manipulation Measures
The rumor claims Google has built protections to stop:
- Competitors giving negative votes
- Fake or automated voting
- Mass downvoting campaigns
If true, VR would be much harder to manipulate compared to PageRank.
Two-Click Confirmation for AdSense: A Major Blow to Earnings
Google has long battled accidental clicks, click fraud, and invalid AdSense activity. The rumor suggests a completely new method to protect advertisers:
⭐ The new “Two-Click AdSense System”
When a user clicks an ad:
- A pop-up appears:
“This is a paid advertisement. Do you want to visit this sponsor?” - If the user clicks YES, the publisher earns money.
- If they click NO, no revenue is generated.
⭐ Expected impact on publishers:
Some speculate:
- Publishers may lose 70–75% of their earnings.
- Click rates will drop dramatically.
- Only truly intentional clicks will count.
- However, CPC (cost per click) may rise since advertisers pay more for high-quality, verified traffic.
This update, if real, would drastically change how bloggers and marketers depend on AdSense income.
Google Removing All Backlink Data from Search, Webmaster Tools & Analytics
The link: operator in Google search has always been incomplete and unreliable. But this rumored update goes a step further.
⭐ What will be removed?
- link: operator from Google Search
- Backlink reports from Google Webmaster Tools
- Backlink information from Google Analytics
⭐ Why remove backlink data?
According to speculation:
- Backlinks became a tool for manipulation.
- Many SEO services sold “backlink packages” purely for ranking influence.
- Google aims to prevent people from reverse engineering their ranking algorithm.
Without this data, website owners will no longer see:
- Who links to them
- How many backlinks they have
- Which backlinks are high or low quality
This would make link-building more transparent and natural but much harder to track.
rel=”nofollow” To Be Replaced by rel=”dofollow”
Google introduced rel=”nofollow” years ago to prevent the spread of spam links—especially in blog comments. But according to the rumor, Google believes nofollow wasn’t widely adopted enough.
⭐ What the rumor claims:
- rel=”nofollow” will be deprecated.
- Only links marked with rel=”dofollow” will be counted by Google.
- Googlebot will ignore any link without a rel attribute.
- All past backlinks—unless updated to rel=”dofollow”—will become useless.
⭐ Why this is dramatic:
If true:
- Millions of existing backlinks will lose value.
Linking - Bloggers will need to manually update all important outbound links.
- CMS platforms like WordPress may have to update their linking systems.
- Linking profiles across the entire web will change overnight.
This would shift SEO strategies drastically.
Final Thoughts: Should You Believe These Rumors?
While the SEO community is buzzing with these claims, none of them have been officially confirmed by Google. Historically, Google rarely makes such aggressive, sweeping changes all at once.
However…
Google has been known to:
- Hide public ranking metrics
- Reduce reliance on PR
- Crack down on black hat SEO
- Increase ad click accuracy
- Move toward user-generated quality signals
So while the rumors may be exaggerated, they are not entirely impossible.
For now, treat this as an interesting speculative discussion rather than fact. Only time will reveal whether these updates are real or just another wave of SEO myths.
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