Google has announced five updates to its Search Quality Rater Guidelines, with an updated version of the document issued too which gives a brief explanation about each update. Although these guidelines and updates will have no direct impact on your ranking, but they’ll help you know the aspects that Google considers while assessing content quality. These guidelines can also help you understand the future direction Google may be headed towards in its algorithmic changes, and the types of nuances it looks for while evaluating content and E-A-T. Let’s know take a look at the five updates that have been made to Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines.
Update 1 – Expanded the definition of the ‘Groups of people’
Google’s YMYL content includes a section about ‘Groups of people’ which till now included information related to age, nationality, religion, ethnic origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, and disability. Keeping these groups as it is, Google further added some more classifications. These include caste, gender expression, immigration status, sex/gender, victims of a major violent event and their kin, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization. This proves how Google is working to expand its notions of YMYL content to include a variety of identities and socioeconomic conditions.
Update 2 – Refreshed guidance on researching reputation information
- Earlier, Google stated that “reputation research is necessary for all websites”. But now, it states that reputation research is only necessary “to the extent that an established reputation can be found”.
- Google also encourages raters to consider whether a topic is YMYL or not, and assess reputation accordingly. For instance, user reviews are helpful for an online store, but not as much for a medical information website.
- Earlier, Google only considered the number of positive reviews for a website, but with the new update, it’s going to focus on detailed and trustworthy positive reviews to be an evidence of a good reputation.
- Google also adjusted its definition of how reputation should be measured on an individual or website level, by giving an example that “for individual authors and content creators, biographical information articles can be a good source of reputation information.”
- Google switched its language from “when a high level of authoritativeness or expertise is needed” to “for YMYL informational topics.”
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