If all links on the internet were nofollow links, where would that leave Google?

A Test for rel="nofollow" links and google PageRank

Just listening to Link Building in Depth with Peter Kent, specifically "Examining social networking links" explaining that Google has stated that a link with rel="nofollow" does not contribute to a pages PageRank. He goes on to say that they have also stated that it is up to the social network sites to manage which links are nofollows

Surely Google should manage which it thinks are worth looking at, as it is their search results that are affected. If all links on the internet were nofollow links, where would that leave Google?

It is an almost certainty that they do use links with rel="nofollow", they simply don't admit to it. A simple test would be:

Perhaps a more thorough test would be:

1. To create two sites or pages, with the same 'unique content'.
2. ONLY use nofollow links to get to one of the page from indexed sites (perhaps only Facebook)
3. Finally do a search on Google

If the site which has the nofollow links is higher then the page with no links, then Google is using rel="nofollow" links

Cheers