What Happened to Google PageRank?

Typically in the past, Google PageRank updates have occurred 4 to 5 times a year. However, this year, there has only been one update so far (February).

This delay has got a lot of people in the industry talking about what may have happened to Google PageRank. Some believe that Google is getting rid of it for good, while others think it is simply a delay. Whatever it is, it has many folks feeling anxious about the next update – if it ever comes.

When Matt Cutts was asked back in October whether there would be a PR update prior to 2014, he replied with “I would be surprised if that happened.” So, based on that statement, we can pretty much assume that a PR update isn’t going to happen this year.

While reading various webmaster forums and blog comments, I have been noticing that there is a split in opinions regarding Google PR. Like any other SEO topic, there always seems to a group that is “for” and a group that is “against.” The people that want it gone, are the ones that really have no use for it. While, the people that want the updates to continue, are the ones that regularly use PR data as a vital part of their business activities.

Although I don’t really use Google PR data for any major business decisions, I kind of don’t want it to go away. I guess I’m just old school and have gotten used to that green bar whenever I visit a website. It would be nice to just have it around, at least for entertainment purposes. I really don’t see the need to get rid of it. So what if people use the data for link building or whatever? With all these new updates to Google’s search algorithm, I don’t think it matters much anymore.

Your thoughts?