.gov and . edu links have no advantage over other links

A recent comment by Matt Cutts.

"This is a common misconception - you don't get any PageRank boost from having an .edu link or .gov link automatically. If you get an .edu link and no one is linking to that .edu page, you're not going to get any PageRank at all because that .edu page doesn't have any PageRank. [...] We generally treat all links the same - be it from .gov or .edu or .info sites."

source: http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help/web/q-a-from-the-3rd-live-chat-oct-2008?pli=1

(12 paragraphs down)

 

It's a myth made by owners of .gov and .edu domains

 

why would they make that myth? government / educational sites have nothing to gain from it. they are loaded anyway.

 

they could be saying to prevent spam and all those of us that are too eager to go get some EDU and GOV backlinks

 

I always thought they were good links

 

BTW the gov and edu sites are usually not promoted As people themeselves come and use them

 

As for me, his words could be understood as "not all links from .edu or .gov are really valueable".
Obviously, it's an questionable benefit to register free blogs on .edu domains thinking about their authority without any incoming links on them.

But, he said it about PageRank which is not the only factor the Google use. Edu and gov domains usually have a good TrustRank, so links from these sites (not an orphaned pages!) still highly valuable.

 

Hi guys

Of course its a myth, if this was the case then the top 10 of the search engines would be full of these kind of sites, if they had an advantage, this clearly never happens, so therefore there is no differece !

Woc

 

A myth to get money !

 

Its a misinterpretation that many people have. its not valuable just because its a .gov or .edu link. However in most instances edu and gov web pages are some of the few unmonetized strictly to get their point across sites left on the web. Because of that many of them are high authority, high pr, well ranking in SEs, and GREAT backlinks. But of course it has nothing to do with what type of TLD it is, its just by volume 100 .edus are going to be better quality sites that provide stronger backlinks than 100 .infos

 

Maybe so, but anyway, most of the webmasters won't stop searching for good gov and edu links.

 

Get on the FBI's top ten most wanted list and get some free .gov backlinks. By the time you get out of prison they should have good PR!

 

It isn't a new thing, Matt Cutts has been saying for a long time that .edu and .gov links gain their link authority since so many other reputable sites are linking to them. Just as .info and .net can do just as well as a .com in the SERP's.