The Relationship between PQ and Utility
‌

The utility rating is based on both the query and the result. For this reason, the utility rating slider is labeled "query- dependent." You must carefully think about the query and user intent when assigning a utility rating.

The PQ rating slider is labeled "query-independent," meaning that it does not depend on the query. Do not think about the query when assigning a PQ rating to the LP.

Here is some guidance about assigning utility and PQ ratings:

• Useless results should always be rated OT, even if the landing page is high quality. Useless is useless.

• On-topic, helpful, but low quality results should get lower utility ratings than on-topic, helpful, high quality results. The utility scale encompasses all aspects of "helpfulness," and many users find low quality results less helpful than high quality results. Your ratings must reflect this.

• The U rating should be given to helpful, high quality pages which are a good fit for the query. The U rating may also be used for results which are very helpful, medium quality, and have other very desirable characteristics, such as very recent information.

• Do not use the U rating if a page is low quality or has any other undesirable characteristic, such as outdated information, or if it is a poor fit for the query. We have very high standards for the U rating.

• SR is often a good rating for low quality but on-topic pages. However, a page can be so low quality that it is useless for any query. Gibberish pages are good examples of this and should be rated OT.

• The V rating is special and does not depend on the quality of the landing page. If the user intent of the query requests a specific page, then that page should get the V rating, even if it is low quality.

Query and User Intent	LP of the Result Block, Result Block, PQ Rating, Utility Rating	Explanation
[how do electric cars work], English (US) Find information about how electric cars work.	Landing Page: LP	PQ: Read this content out loud. The article on the LP is shallow and unintentionally humorous. There are four paragraphs of text, but it basically says that electric cars use electricity and have to be charged. Utility: This page would be helpful for few users.
	Landing Page: LP	PQ: There is a lot of helpful MC on the landing page. Utility: The query asks how electric cars work, but the article on the LP is about mobility scooters.

Query and User Intent	LP of the Result Block, Result Block, PQ Rating, Utility Rating	Explanation
[symptoms of dehydration], English (US) Find information about the symptoms of dehydration.	Landing Page: LP	PQ: This is a YMYL topic. The page has many characteristics of low quality: no contact information, no indication of who wrote the contact, no evidence of medical expertise/authority and heavy monetization from Ads which distract from the MC. This page is not trustworthy. Utility: Even though the article is topical, the information is not reliable and potentially misleading or dangerous.
	Landing Page: LP	PQ: This is a YMYL topic. This page is on a highly authoritative medical website and has a lot of reliable and accurate MC. This page is very trustworthy. Utility: This result would be very helpful for most users.

« Previous Next »