Authority on Technorati - are some links more equal than others?

So, after posting on LeWeb3 / Le Web 3 (gives different search results btw) today, I thought I would see if there was any other analysis on the subject now that the kerfuffle has gone down - i actually think it was a very interesting object lesson.

Out of interest I started playing with the "Authority" thingy.

Now, Broadstuff is a new blog and has 21 links, so I up the filter and yup, we have a little authority. Up it again to "some authority" and we disappear.....

But,wait a minute - there are still other blogs with less links than us still being quoted. Authority is supposedly a function of linkages. What gives?

So, putting on my mathematicians hat I start thinking about the algorithms - clearly its not based solely on number of links

1. Time story was posted - nope, these other posts occur before and after my post.

2. Freshness of Links...nope...one, a 13 linker (67% of my "authority"), with a last link 6 days ago compared to my last one of 1 day ago is up there and I am in the null box

3. When blog was started...ok, got me there, I'm newer.....but equating authority with age is a very risky approach I would think.

4. Weighting the blog authority according to the authority of those linking to it....well, at this point I am too lazy to track back through all the relevant links to see whose net authority is higher.

I read back through the announcements on technorati "authority", and I saw nothing about this way of doing things. But it does seem the most likely explanation.

But what I did see was a few of the A listers fulminating on how terrible this filter was when it all started, as it reinforces the the A list - some of their best friends are Z listers (to quote one post). And an A lister complained yesterday that an aggregator blogsite (with his post on) was quoted when he wasn't.

Hmmm, thinks I - what algorithm would I write to keep my authority filter going and shut up the potentially damaging complaints from A listers whose Z list buddies were being discriminated against.......

Right!

You would increase the weight of a blog's links according to the authority of what was linking to them! Quietly of course, because all the other Z listers would raise quite a gerfuffle if it was made clear. All animals are equal dont y'know.

And maybe a little tweak to favour blogs that have been around longer...all these new blogbarians at the gate!

And I would claim, if found out, that it was an attempt to remove splogsites that is still in test

Now, I am sure there is a more innocent explanation, though Patrick's Razor states that the most cynical explanation is usually correct.

Anyway, I love a good conspiracy theory, even if I have to do it myself