Search Quality Rater Guidelines
The Search Quality Rater Guidelines are a publicly available document Google provides to its human quality raters, outlining how to assess webpage quality—including the E-E-A-T framework—to help train and validate Google's ranking algorithms.
What is Search Quality Rater Guidelines?
Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG) is a comprehensive document (over 170 pages) that Google uses to train and calibrate its thousands of contracted 'quality raters'—human evaluators who assess search results and webpage quality. These raters don't directly change rankings, but their assessments feed into the machine learning systems that do. The guidelines are publicly available and represent Google's most explicit public statement about what it considers high-quality web content.
The QRG introduced and defined the E-E-A-T framework (originally E-A-T, with the first E for 'Experience' added in December 2022), which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. The document explains in detail how raters should evaluate each dimension: Experience refers to first-hand experience with the topic being discussed; Expertise refers to formal or demonstrated knowledge; Authoritativeness refers to recognition from others in the field; and Trustworthiness is the most important dimension, referring to the overall accuracy and honesty of the content and site.
The QRG also defines the concept of 'Your Money or Your Life' (YMYL) pages—content that could significantly impact a person's health, financial stability, safety, or happiness. YMYL pages (medical advice, financial guidance, legal information, news) are held to the highest E-E-A-T standards because inaccurate information on these topics can cause real-world harm. The guidelines specify that YMYL pages require demonstrably high expertise—a medical article, for instance, should ideally be written or reviewed by a licensed healthcare professional.
Practically, the QRG defines 'Lowest Quality,' 'Low Quality,' 'Medium Quality,' 'High Quality,' and 'Highest Quality' page characteristics. Pages in the lowest categories feature characteristics like: spreading hate or harm, deceptive content, pages that fail to achieve their purpose, or sites with little or no E-E-A-T on YMYL topics. Highest quality pages have very high E-E-A-T, satisfy the user's needs comprehensively, and demonstrate clear expertise and trustworthiness signals.
Why It Matters for SEO
The QRG is the closest thing to a direct window into Google's quality evaluation philosophy. While it doesn't reveal specific algorithm signals, it clearly articulates the principles that Google's systems are trying to approximate. Content and SEO strategies aligned with QRG principles are more resilient to algorithm updates because they're built on Google's stated quality standards, not manipulation.
Examples & Code Snippets
E-E-A-T Signals Checklist
// E-E-A-T Implementation Checklist per QRG Standards
const eeeatSignals = {
experience: [
"First-hand anecdotes and personal case studies",
"Original data, research, or experiments",
"Before/after examples from real projects",
"Author bio showing relevant personal experience",
],
expertise: [
"Author credentials and professional background",
"Citations from authoritative sources",
"Technical depth and accuracy",
"Content reviewed by subject matter experts",
],
authoritativeness: [
"Backlinks from recognized industry publications",
"Author profiles on external authoritative sites",
"Speaking engagements, podcast appearances",
"Social proof: testimonials, client logos",
],
trustworthiness: [
"HTTPS encryption",
"Clear privacy policy and terms of service",
"Transparent about-us page with real team info",
"Factual accuracy with cited sources",
"No deceptive ads or misleading claims",
"Clear disclosure of commercial relationships",
]
}Practical implementation of QRG-aligned E-E-A-T signals.
Download and read the full QRG at least once—especially the sections on E-E-A-T and YMYL. Then audit your highest-traffic pages against the 'High Quality' and 'Highest Quality' criteria. Ask: Does this page clearly demonstrate expertise? Does it have clear authorship with verifiable credentials? Does it serve the user's needs comprehensively? Use your answers to prioritize content improvements.
Frequently Asked Questions
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