recent reduction of link power via 301 redirects

[PhilipSEO]

Right after Google rolled out Caffeine, it caught my eye that Google rankings propped by 301 redirects had dropped. (I made a post about this in another SEO forum to check if others had noticed it too, but there was no response at the time.) For instance, a site I used to market was ranked at #1 for a certain keyword (and variations) because exact match domain that had originally ranked at #1 for the that keyword had been redirected to that site with a 301. Those rankings lasted for several years. Since Caffeine, the site's ranking for that keyword (completely unrelated to the site, by the way) had lost a number of positions but was still near the top of page 1. Now, however, the site is not even on in the first 20 pages for that keyword. And I have seen other similar examples.

Last March Google announced officially for the first time that link juice degraded through 301s to some degree, but the rankings I am describing were unaffected at the time.

Now I see that other people are observing this effect too:
Since MayDay/Caffeine is PageRank Being Diluted More When 301 Redirected?

It looks like 301 are not what they used to be!

[SEO Training Alliance]

Interesting post Phillip! I always thought 301 redirect powers seemed too good to be true, a real gap in the Web spam team's defenses. They have obviously decided to plug this, though no doubt to the detriment of those using 301 redirects for actual domain changes.

[GeorgeKuipers]

Yeap, that would be a logic step in the Google strategy in stripping out all artificial backlinking. I guess in the future, this kind of ending is inevitable for other spammy types of backlinks: forum profiles, blog comments, blogrolls, etc.

Thanks for the 301 info, by the way!

[HunterSnake]

Google's doing the right thing in that they're trying to create a search index that's truly organic and not littered with the results of cheaters, or people who try to manipulate search results. Most people here and elsewhere seem like they argue with Matt Cutts' advice. However, those who listen to his advice might not get to the top as fast, but they'll get there eventually and stay there, where people who look for the shortcuts will only enjoy temporary elevation followed usually by a long-term or permanent demise.

[jayuk76]

If the 301 redirect is on the same domain for SEO purposes I dont beleive it has made a diff...as none of my sites have had an issue

IE

www.domain.com/folder/producta.html

301 - www.domain.com/productnewname.html

[McBrett]

PhillipSEO - Good info to know. Make a pretty little graph and you could easily submit your findings to SEOMoz or other SEO authority for some notoriety.

[seolbs]

Thank you for the news, I knew this day will come...

[PhilipSEO]

Originally Posted by jayuk76

If the 301 redirect is on the same domain for SEO purposes I don't believe it has made a diff...as none of my sites have had an issue

IE

www.domain.com/folder/producta.html

301 - www.domain.com/productnewname.html

Can you tell us more about how you keep track of whether or not you have an issue?

But I would say that it would makes sense to dilute cross-domain 301s.