Conversational Media Marketing

I'm no big fan of PPP, though I do think of Ted Murphy as a stand-up guy. A few months ago I had the chance to sit next to him on a panel dealing with blog marketing.  His responses to questions from the audience were forthright, and I had no reason to believe they were less than genuine. Plus, the fact that he was willing to take on the often bulldogish Jason Calacanis on his own turf is impressive.

There are those, like Robert Scoble, who diminish PageRank's influence, and others who suggest PageRank doesn't matter, calling it a "webmaster fetish." I'm not sold on that notion, simply because PageRank such a foundational element of Google's ranking algorithm.

I do think Google missed the mark with their recent PageRank update designed to punish link-farms and others who attempt to scam the system. They ended up doing injury to some very credible blogs and/or blog networks in the process. (And have since tried to rectify that mistake.)

Though I won't go so far as to call it a conspiracy, it does appear that Pay Per Post has been singled out. Not to be outdone, Murphy has plans to roll out his own ranking system, called RealRank.

His rationale is explained in no uncertain terms in the first paragraph: "The problem with Google PageRank is that it is both self serving and irrelevant to actual traffic and influence. The arbitrary and unpredictable nature of this ranking system has left both bloggers and advertisers longing for accurate statistical data since long before PayPerPost."

I'll try to keep an ear to the ground should more develop in this saga (as it obviously will). In the meantime, let me leave you with one last reference, the response from TechCrunch to Murphy's suggestion they should be equally vilified. Seems he has no love for them either.