I've done it as well. Got a brand new site with virtually no content or links already just one place behine a massive authority site with hundreds of pages on topis and tens of thousands of aged links and a high PR.
Google LOVE sites built in the last couple of months and you can outrank established authority sites easily at the moment.
Why?
No real idea but a couple of theories.
Google is between 2 MAJOR authority (PR) updates.
This is the longest gap for 4 years and something larger is going on - possibly putting new factors into authority algorithm (and possibly preparing for the end of using PR as the main authority algo) New features being added to authority algo? Here's my guesses
Author accreditation,
Interlinking of URL's
+1's,
Aged links from other authorities (meaning powering up your links is even more important then ever)
"Brand" metrics
In the mean time - I think many of these factors have been removed from the system altogether and temporarily count for next to nothing while they are being revamped.
In a couple of the niches I work in I have just created new sites and seen them outrank or catch up in SERPS with my older sites within days, and stay yhjere for weeks/months.
Brand new sites that have overpowered 16 year old sites with thousands of articles, hundreds of videos and tens of thousands of UV's per day in some cases going back 16+ years. Taken down by sites I threw up in May/June
I have a prediction. In fact somerthing I'm certain of.
This won't last. The next authority update and major Panda refresh will hammer this - but short term a new site is a decent way forward to make a few quick bucks.
Currently Google is ranking new, unoptimized, unlinkied and overtly commercial ahead of most things - it's ass-backwards - but it won't last.
Scritty
