Is it a Google ranking factor?

Link stability and its connection to search rankings has been questioned since a patent surfaced in 2006 describing “link churn.”

Some argue that the stability of a site’s links, or the length of time a link remains active on a page without being edited, generates signals used by Google’s algorithms.

Let’s take a look at the claims surrounding link stability as a ranking factor, where they come from, and whether there is any evidence to support them.

Disclaimer: Link Stability is a Ranking Factor

A link is described as stable when it remains on a page for a long time without any changes – changes that can destabilize the link include changing the URL and adjusting the anchor text.

When a website frequently changes outbound links on its pages, it is said to have a high “link churn rate”.

Google filed a patent in 2005 describing a possible update to its search algorithm in which link churn would be used as a ranking factor.

Here is an excerpt from the patent when it was discovered in 2006:

• 55. The method of claim 54, further comprising: determining an indication of link churn for linked documents providing link data; and adjusting the ranking of linked documents based on link churn.
• 62. The method of claim 61, wherein the indication of link churn is calculated as a function of a degree to which one or more links provided by the linked document have changed over time.
• 63. The method of claim 62, wherein adjusting the ranking includes penalizing the ranking if the link churn is above a threshold. “

These are three simple points:

• The algorithm update will evaluate the link churn of the website. This evaluation will be used to adjust the weight given to outbound links.
• Link churn is calculated based on the frequency of link and/or anchor text changes on a particular website.
• Google may penalize a site if its link churn rate exceeds a certain threshold.

Since the patent surfaced, it has been claimed that maintaining link stability is a factor in search rankings.

Based on these claims, should you be hesitant to adjust outbound links out of fear of this so-called negative signal?

Is there any reason to worry about link churn and link stability?

This is what the evidence says.

Evidence of link stability as a ranking factor

Google’s patent citation link loss was filed in 2005. file Still viewable on the web, but has since been modified several times.

version of Patents that exist today No mention of link churn or anything like that. This is a strong metric, and if link stability was ever a ranking factor, it hasn’t been relevant for years.

Also, a patent is just a patent. Companies have been filing patents containing ideas that never made it to the market.

Google sometimes has to remind us not everything It’s patented for search results.

Link Stability as a Ranking Factor: Our Verdict

There’s no solid evidence that Google measures how fast a site modifies outbound links.

Additionally, there is no evidence that editing outbound links produces a negative signal called link churn.

Based on the available evidence, we are confident that link stability is unlikely to be a ranking factor.

Featured image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Magazine