The webmaster world has been sent buzzing by recent changes to Google's toolbar PageRank, according to a post at Search Engine Land.

While Google hasn't commented on changes it has made to the toolbar, a number of webmasters have reported a dramatic shift in their scores.

The news broke across a slew of forums ranging from WebmasterWorld.com, to Search Engine Watch.

For its part, Google has long maintained that toolbar-based PageRank isn't the same as the internal scoring method the company uses to measure the popularity of websites. According to Barry Schwartz, who wrote about the news for Search Engine Land, the story is much ado about nothing.

"My advice remains the same as always. Do not worry about PageRank," Schwartz wrote. "Try on focusing on building out a better site, with better content and a better community."

But rumors have persisted that the change initiated by Google is part of a larger effort from the search giant to make life difficult for those sites that buy and sell links. Last fall, Forbes broke the news that Google had become quite serious about cracking down on paid links. 

Whether Google's latest change is part of that campaign or simply a shift in a stat the search giant insists doesn't mean much remains unclear. However, one thing is obvious: Google has certainly sparked a debate among webmasters and SEO consultants about the importance of PageRank.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on the growing controversy in the comments section below.