Just a month after removing PageRank data from webmaster tools, Google have decided to update their toolbar PageRank values, giving a conflicting message to webmasters.

Here’s the statement Google made when removing PageRank values from their webmaster center:

"We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it."

If this is Google’s stance, why bother updating their toolbar PageRank values? Doing so is only going to create a stir in the webmaster community. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it would be much more effective to remove it from both webmaster tools and the Google toolbar at the same time.

It’s also important to remember that toolbar PageRank values can be a couple of month’s old, so you’re not likely to notice any changes in your ranking from the update.