A public relations associate recently shared the persistent question of a client that I thought I would provide an answer to here.

Q: XYZ person and ABC company keeps talking about Page Rank. I have told him that we do not look at Page Rank in that way. Do you have a good explanation of why Page Rank is not worth obsessing over?

A: The data that supplies Google toolbar PageRank scores (the green bar) is 3-4 months older than the actual PageRank variable used to sort search results when someone queries Google. Also, PageRank is one of 200+ factors or "signals" as Google calls them, used to sort search results. It would be like focusing on the spark plugs of a race car to determine the winner of a race. They're important, but not the only consideration.

What do you think? Do you think it's worth spending time considering tool bar PageRank?