So, if you’re like me and have updated to Wordpress 2.3, you may have also noted that on the Wordpress dashboard, the “inbound links” list is now being populated by Google’s Blogsearch and not Technorati.
There’s been some talk about how relevant Technorati has been (including a particularly shrill post by yours truly), and perhaps because it *hasn’t* been, getting Google to index inbound links, therefore, is a Good Thing.
But is it?
Is Google’s Blogsearch *good* at finding those inbound Blog links?
Now, a quick look by myself shows that for Deep Jive Interests, the answer is resounding “HELL NO.” The last time Google shows any inbound link is October 30th, but in fact I have inbound links all the way until yesterday. In fact, Technorati is able to find blogs that have linked to me within the minute those posts (that have those links) are published. Google looks like its about a week behind.
Now the caveat here is that I am still waiting for my blog to get re-indexed by Google after I was hacked. So, maybe *that*’s the reason why Google doesn’t look so good, right?
Well, I had a few cursory looks at a few of my other favourite blogs, and the same sort of pattern emerges. Technorati is able to find the “reactions” within minutes of those inbound links actually being published.
Google? It has trouble.
Now, I don’t know the actual “why’s” for this happening; perhaps its because everyone and their sister who has a blog registers it formally *with* Technorati so they can follow their own Authority ranking and so on. And furthermore, because by Default, Wordpress pings Pingo-matic, which by default usually pings Technorati.
On the other hand, I’ve read that Google also monitors Pingo-matic, and should therefore also update whenever Pingo-matic updates. If that’s the case, then, I don’t know — perhaps actually registering your site (and pinging) with Technorati makes it easier to work these kinds of relationships out and in a much quicker fashion.
In any case, I suggest you try and figure this out for yourself.
1. Go to Google’s BlogSearch at http://blogsearch.google.com/
2. For the search term, enter “link:URL_OF_YOUR_BLOG” –> and of course replace the URL of your blog as necessary.
3. Note the results which are sorted by default according to date. Marvel at how dated some of these results are.
4. Then, go to Technorati at http://www.technorati.com (naturally)
5. Enter your own blog URL again, and note the number of reactions. Marvel at how fresh these results are.
If you find that I’m totally off my rocker, let me know. However, in the few blogs that I’ve checked I’ve come up with similar results. Maybe I *will* install this plugin now. ;)
