What Is PageRank? Google's Original Link Algorithm Explained
Abbreviation: PR
PageRank is the original link-analysis algorithm developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford, which scores a web page's importance based on the number and quality of other pages linking to it.
Last reviewed: 3 August 2026 · Reviewed by iNet Ventures Link Building Team
In plain English
The core idea is that a link is a vote of confidence, and not all votes count equally — a link from an already-important page carries more weight than one from an obscure page. PageRank models this recursively: a page is important if important pages link to it, and that importance passes through the web's link structure in a way that can be calculated mathematically for every page at once.
Technical definition
Published in Brin and Page's original 1998 Stanford paper, PageRank is calculated iteratively across the entire link graph until the values stabilise, using the formula below — where PR(A) is the PageRank of page A, T1 through Tn are pages linking to A, C(T) is the number of outbound links on page T, and d is a damping factor set at 0.85 in the original paper.
The formula is intuitively described via the "random surfer" model: a hypothetical user randomly clicking links, with an 85% chance of continuing to click and a 15% chance of jumping to a random page instead.
The original patent, held by Stanford University and exclusively licensed to Google, expired in 2019; Google has stated PageRank remains part of its ranking systems alongside hundreds of other signals, though the modern implementation is understood to differ substantially from the 1998 formula.
PR(A) = (1-d) + d × (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))Quick example
A page linked to only by a small personal blog will have low PageRank. The same page, if linked to by a small number of major, high-PageRank news sites, would have meaningfully higher PageRank — even with fewer total links — because those citing pages themselves carry more weight.
Quick facts
| Meaning | Google's original link-based algorithm for scoring page importance |
|---|---|
| Main category | Link building |
| Used by | Historically the core of Google's ranking system; still referenced by Google as one signal among many today |
| Difficulty | Advanced |
| Importance | High |
| Common examples | The conceptual basis for most modern link-authority metrics, including Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Moz's Domain Authority |
| Still relevant? | The original public-facing PageRank score (Toolbar PageRank) was discontinued in 2016, but Google has confirmed the underlying concept remains part of its modern ranking systems. |
Why PageRank matters
PageRank is the foundational idea behind essentially every link-based ranking signal and third-party authority metric used in SEO today.
It introduced the concept that links are weighted votes
Before PageRank, ranking systems relied heavily on keyword matching and simple citation counts. PageRank's insight — that a link's value depends on the importance of the page granting it — remains the conceptual root of link building strategy.
It is the ancestor of DR, DA, and every similar metric
Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Moz's Domain Authority are both built on PageRank-style iterative link-graph calculations, applying the same core logic at domain level rather than page level.
Google has confirmed it is still in use
Google's Gary Illyes publicly confirmed in 2017 that PageRank was still part of Google's ranking systems, alongside hundreds of other signals, nearly two decades after its original publication.
The publicly visible score is gone, but the concept isn't
Google discontinued the public Toolbar PageRank score in 2016. This removed visibility into the specific number, not the underlying algorithm's role in ranking.
How it works
The mechanics of the original PageRank calculation.
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1. Every page starts with an equal baseline score
In the initial state of the iterative calculation, before any link data is factored in, every page in the graph is assigned an equal starting PageRank value.
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2. Pages "vote" for pages they link to
Each page passes a portion of its own PageRank to each page it links to, divided evenly among all of its outbound links — a page with many outbound links passes less to any single one of them.
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3. The damping factor models a "random surfer"
The 0.85 damping factor represents the probability that a hypothetical random web surfer continues clicking links rather than jumping to an unrelated random page, preventing any page from being undervalued just because few pages happen to link to it directly.
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4. The calculation repeats until scores stabilise
Because a page's score depends on the score of pages linking to it, which in turn depend on other pages, the calculation is run iteratively across the whole graph until the values converge.
Best practices
Modern link building strategy applies PageRank's core logic even without the visible score.
What to do
- Prioritise links from pages that are themselves well-linked-to and reputable, not just any page with a pulse
- Consider how many other outbound links a potential linking page has — fewer outbound links means more concentrated value per link, all else equal
- Treat internal linking with the same logic — internal links distribute a site's own accumulated authority to its other pages
- Use third-party metrics like DR or DA as rough, imperfect proxies for the underlying concept PageRank first formalised
What to avoid
- Assuming PageRank sculpting via internal nofollow links is worthwhile — Google's own engineers have said this isn't a productive use of time
- Treating any modern third-party score as literally "PageRank" — Google's current internal implementation is understood to be substantially different from the original 1998 formula
- Believing the discontinued Toolbar PageRank score would be visible or relevant if it still existed today
Common mistakes
Confusing Toolbar PageRank with the underlying algorithm
The public-facing 0-10 Toolbar PageRank score was discontinued in 2016. The algorithm itself, in some evolved form, is confirmed by Google to still be part of its ranking systems — the two are not the same thing.
Assuming DR or DA is literally PageRank
Third-party metrics like Ahrefs' DR apply PageRank-style iterative link-graph logic, but they are independent calculations built from each company's own crawl data, not Google's actual algorithm.
PageRank sculpting via internal nofollow
A once-popular practice of nofollowing internal links to try to concentrate PageRank on specific pages. Google's own webmaster team has stated this isn't a productive use of time compared to building genuinely strong link architecture and content.
Still the conceptual backbone of link building, decades later
It is remarkable that a formula published in 1998 remains, by Google's own admission, part of a modern ranking system operating at a completely different scale. What has changed is less the core insight — that links are weighted, not equal, votes — and more everything built around it: spam detection, quality signals, and hundreds of additional factors that temper how much raw link-graph position alone can influence outcomes. Understanding PageRank's actual mechanics is still the fastest way to understand why link relevance and source quality matter more than link volume.
- PageRank introduced the foundational idea that links are weighted votes, not equal citations
- Google confirmed in 2017 that some form of PageRank remains part of its ranking systems
- The public Toolbar PageRank score was discontinued in 2016, removing visibility but not the concept
- Every major third-party authority metric (DR, DA) is a descendant of PageRank's core logic
How iNet Ventures approaches pagerank
PageRank's core principle — that link quality and source importance matter more than raw volume — is the underlying logic behind how we vet every placement.
Quality and relevance over volume
We prioritise fewer, stronger, more relevant placements over high-volume low-quality links, directly reflecting the weighted-vote logic PageRank first formalised.
Continue learning
Frequently asked questions
Does Google still use PageRank?
Google's Gary Illyes confirmed in 2017 that PageRank remains part of Google's ranking systems, used alongside hundreds of other signals. The publicly visible Toolbar PageRank score was discontinued in 2016, but that only removed the visible number, not the underlying algorithm's role.
Is Ahrefs' Domain Rating the same as PageRank?
No, but it is conceptually descended from it. DR applies a similar iterative, link-graph-weighted calculation to Ahrefs' own crawl data at domain level, whereas PageRank was Google's original page-level algorithm and calculation.
What is the damping factor in PageRank?
The damping factor, set at 0.85 in the original formula, represents the probability that a hypothetical random web surfer continues clicking links rather than jumping to a completely unrelated page. It prevents pages with few direct links from being undervalued.
Can I still check a page's PageRank score?
Not the original public Toolbar PageRank score, which Google discontinued in 2016. Third-party tools like Ahrefs (Domain Rating) and Moz (Domain Authority) offer their own independent, PageRank-inspired metrics instead.
Written directly from Brin and Page's original 1998 Stanford paper and the original PageRank patent, cross-checked against Google's public statements on PageRank's continued use.
- Written by:
- iNet Ventures Editorial Team
- Reviewed by:
- iNet Ventures Link Building Team
- Published:
- 3 August 2026
- Last reviewed:
- 3 August 2026
Sources and further reading
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