I also agree. In fact Matt Cutts has mentioned this in a video recently released on his YouTube channel. He was very clear that the search team at Google does not utilize the data available through the Webmaster`s Tool for ranking results.
No, bounce rates don't affect search engine rankings because as Resell Rights Ebooks pointed out Google is not using the data available in the webmaster tools or analytics. You don't have to worry if your bounce rate is high, it may be because you advertise on PTC or traffic exchange sites.
I added finding the video I mentioned in my previous post above to my task list with the purpose of posting it here.
Matt Cutts specifically calls out in the YouTube video exactly what I have said above. Below is the "edited" link to that video on YouTube as I am unable to post full links here yet.
On my flag ship site my bounce rate can fluctuate between 24% to 38% depending on the week.
@David
In regards to editing the link in my previous post to show the YouTube video. Thanks from one Canadian to another. Was I surprised to discover you were a fellow Canadian
I personally think it has no impact on rankings but I do think it has an impact on your site over all such as conversion rates and the quality of content. It is important to look at this stat (and many others) in light of what is happening from the visitor point of view. We all want all visitors to be completely satisfied with what they see on the landing page.
I personally don't think bounce rate should be used when determining rankings.
But, in some cases, user behavior is used...how about this, when you search for a celebrity name, most of the time you'll get image results in your main SERP. Does Google do this because user behaviour shows that lots of people that search for a celebrity name then go onto use Google Images?
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