Google PageRank updates have become as important to bloggers as Wordpress upgrades, and getting recognized as being proper writers: in other words, ultra important. But in the wake of the algorithm changes implemented over the last two months, some people, particularly PayPerPost users, are looking for an alternative.

PayPerPost bloggers, or Posties to give them their self imposed nickname, are bloggers who eschew using Google Adsense, or other forms of advertising, and instead make money through posting what amounts to promotional material on their blogs, while getting paid a small fee for doing so.

This model was already controversial, splitting opinion down the middle as to whether it was a legitimate business plan, or just a way of cheating the system. Once Google became directly involved, and gave their opinion on it by cutting PayPerPost bloggers sites PageRank down substantially, often to zero, Izea, the business behind PayPerPost, knew they had to do something major.

So to prevent their 100,000 plus bloggers from giving up, and trying other forms of revenue making, they introduced RealRank. I wonder where they got the idea for the name from?

Two weeks ago, quite swiftly after Google made the first attack in this battle, Izea invented RealRank, which is similar to PageRank in how it works, but according to the company “more accurately reflects participating blogs’ traffic and influence, based on a variety of factors.”

Ted Murphy, founder and CEO of Izea claims that despite many reports to the contrary, the stance Google made against his business, is not going to cause the PayPerPost market to crash just like that. He told Wired:

“We’re pretty lucky in that our marketplace hasn’t seen any change in the liquidity, though the people that had their PageRank taken away are upset and vocal about it.”

“I can think of seven or eight times over the past year where people said the sky is falling. The thing people have to take into account is that our blogger base is growing exponentially.”

Murphy further states that up to 60% of PayPerPost advertisers have now downloaded the RealRank kit which allows them to use the system when deciding which bloggers to hire.

So it seems PayPerPost are fighting back, and not just taking Google’s PageRank decimation of their users sites lying down. It remains to be seen however, what long term effects the loss of a Google PageRank will have on Posties ability to draw traffic, and consequently make any money.

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Entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 3:03 pm under Blogosphere, Google, Internet.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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