Google PageRank: A Strange Case Of Hyves

This is one the most bizarre things I’ve seen come down the pike in a long time. Let’s see if you agree: According to this post on Mediadonis, you can check if Google has penalized a domain or not by simply adding the word hyves as a subdomain and then checking the PageRank of that […]

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This is one the most bizarre things I’ve seen come down the pike in a long time. Let’s see if you agree:

According to this post on Mediadonis, you can check if Google has penalized a domain or not by simply adding the word hyves as a subdomain and then checking the PageRank of that subdomain. Use my two primary blogs as examples:

https://hyves.smallbusinesssem.com/ – doesn’t exist, but will show toolbar PR7
https://hyves.hyperlocalblogger.com/ – ditto

According to the post, using “hyves” as a subdomain will produce one of three results:

PR7 means that the domain is perfectly fine
PR4 means that the domain got penalized by Google
PR0 means that the domain got banned in Google

So, the fact that my two domains show up as PR7 when “hyves” is added as a subdomain means they’re not penalized. In all the domains I’ve checked, this works. But at least one comment on the original post, and one in the discussion on our sister site, Sphinn, says it doesn’t always work as described.

What’s your experience? Does it hold true for domains you’re aware of that have been penalized by Google?


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Matt McGee
Contributor
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

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