Google updates search quality raters guidelines

Google has updated its search quality raters guidelines for the first time in 2023 with a number of updates including simplifying the needs met scale, adding some more modern examples and some other minor changes. Google’s quality raters are used by outside consultants hired by Google to assess the quality of the Google search results. They do not directly influence the search results and quality raters cannot downgrade or upgrade a specific site in Google Search. Our page on how to create helpful, people-first content summarizes these concepts for creators to help them self-assess their own content to be successful in Google Search,” Google added. Although search quality evaluators’ ratings do not directly impact rankings, they do provide feedback that helps Google improve its algorithms.