What's up, Google?!

Short answer: nothing mystical — Google was rolling data and algorithm changes in that period, and the public metrics (backlink counts and the Toolbar PageRank) are snapshots that can look wildly inconsistent while they roll out. The May 2005 “Bourbon” work is part of that era’s churn, and Toolbar PageRank is published only infrequently and can appear differently from data center to data center. (See Matt Cutts’ explanation and a 2005 timeline of updates.) (mattcutts.com)

Why a “million backlinks” or sudden PR8 for a tiny site can happen: public backlink numbers are noisy and sampled, and site‑wide links (toolbars, sharing widgets, syndicated copies or mirrored content) can massively inflate raw counts. The public “link:” reports and even Webmaster Tools/links reports are samples, not exhaustive lists, so a spike in reported links doesn’t always mean a real, lasting change in Google’s ranking view. The AddThis/toolbar phenomenon is a concrete example of how third‑party widgets can create huge-looking link counts. (seroundtable.com)

What the green 0–10 bar means (and doesn’t): the Toolbar number is a coarse label, not the internal continuous PageRank used by Google, and it’s updated only every few months (and rolled out by data center). It can be stale, partial, or even hijacked by tricky redirects. Google later removed public Toolbar PageRank entirely, so the visible bar was never a reliable single metric to judge site health. (mattcutts.com)

Practical checks to close the loop: register the site in Google Webmaster/Search Console to view Google’s link sample; inspect server logs for real referrers; search for sitewide widgets, syndicated feeds, or mirrored subdomains that could produce many links; and cross‑check with independent link indexes (Majestic, Ahrefs) before assuming a massive link profile. In most cases the anomalies settle as Google finishes its refresh; panic is rarely warranted. This explains the odd readings seen by @Dani and @Antonbomb22. (seroundtable.com)