Utility Rating Guidelines
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Introduction to Utility Rating
Important Rating Definitions and Ideas
The Purpose of Search Quality Rating
Raters Must Represent the User
Browser Requirements
Ad Blocking Extensions
Internet Safety Information
We strongly recommend that you have antivirus and anti-spyware protection on your computer. This software must be updated frequently or your computer will not be protected. There are many free and for-purchase antivirus and anti-spyware products available on the web.
Releasing Tasks
Understanding the Query
Understanding User Intent
Task Language and Task Location (Locale)
Queries with Multiple Meanings
Query: [apple] Locale: English (US)
Classification of User Intent: Action, Information, and Navigation: Do-Know-Go
Action Queries: Do
Information Queries: Know
Navigation Queries: Go
Queries with Multiple User Intents (Do-Know-Go)
Understanding Websites
Important Definitions and Ideas
Identifying the Purpose of the Page
Pages with a Helpful Purpose
Understanding Web Page Content
Identifying the Main Content (MC)
Identifying the Supplementary Content (SC)
Identifying the Advertisements (Ads)
Summary of the Parts of the Page
Utility Rating Scale for Result Blocks
Vital (V)
Go Queries with Vital (V) Pages
Entity Queries with Vital Pages
Queries with No Vital Result
Vital Pages for People Queries
Vital pages for URL queries
Vital Pages and Geographic Location
Useful (U)
Examples of Useful (U) Result Blocks
Examples of Relevant (R) Pages
Examples of Slightly Relevant (SR) Pages
Examples of Off-Topic or Useless (OT) Pages
Porn (P) Flag
Porn Result Utility Rating
Utility Rating for Clear Non-Porn Intent Queries
Utility Rating for Possible Porn Intent Queries
Utility Rating for Clear Porn Intent Queries
Reporting Illegal Images
Child Pornography and Bestiality
Definition of Child Pornography
Definition of Bestiality
Reporting Instructions
Foreign Language Results
Using the Foreign Language (F) Flag
Utility Ratings for Foreign Language Results
English Language Results
Rating Results with Content that Doesn't Load
Using the Didn't Load (D) Flag
Rating Results that Do Not Load
Location and Utility Rating
Locale is Important
Queries that "Ask" for Nearby Results or Nearby Information
User Location and Understanding the Query
Queries with an Explicit Location
Vital Ratings for Queries with a User Location
Rating Queries with User Location and Explicit Location
Rating Local Intent Queries
Rating Examples with User Location, Explicit Location, and Local Intent
Introduction to Page Quality
Important Information about the Page Quality Guidelines
Your Money or Your Life (YMYL)
Landing Page Considerations
Identifying the Purpose of the Page
Lack of Purpose, Harmful Purpose, and Deceptive Pages
Identifying the Main Content, Supplementary Content, and Advertisements
Rating the Quality of the Main Content
High or Highest Quality Main Content
Low or Lowest Quality Main Content
Low or Lowest Quality Main Content Examples
Rating the Quantity of Helpful Main Content
Rating the Helpfulness of the Supplementary Content
So-so or Unhelpful Supplementary Content Examples
Helpful or Very Helpful Supplementary Content Examples
Rating the Layout of the Page/Use of Space on the Page
Use of Space Examples for Q&A Pages
Answering Homepage and Website Questions
Finding the Homepage of the Website
Is the Purpose of the Page Consistent with the Website?
Who is Responsible for the Content of the Website and the Content of the Page?
Website Owner and Content Creator are Different
Does the Website Have an Appropriate Amount of Contact Information?
What Kind of Reputation Does the Website Have?
Is the Homepage of the Website Updated/Maintained?
Additional Page Quality Rating Guidance
Assigning a Page Quality Rating to "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) Pages
Assigning a Page Quality Rating to Encyclopedia Pages
Assigning a Page Quality Rating to Pages with no Main Content/Error Messages
Balancing Page Level and Website Level Questions to Assign an Overall Page Quality Rating
How to Check for Copied Content
Example 1 - No clear original source
Example 2 - Clear original source
Assigning an Overall Page Quality Rating
Highest Quality Pages
High Quality Pages
Medium Quality Pages
Low Quality Pages
Lowest Quality Pages
Webspam: a Special Type of Lowest Page Quality
What is Webspam?
Looking for Technical Signals
Hidden Text and Hidden Links
Apply Ctrl-A to the Landing Page
Example of hidden text revealed by applying Ctrl-A:
Look Outside the Normal Viewing Area
Advanced Techniques
Example of hidden text revealed by disabling CSS:
Example of hidden text revealed by disabling JavaScript:
Example of hidden text revealed by viewing the source code:
Example of keyword stuffing that appears in the meta tags only and is not considered to be spam:
Keyword Stuffing
Recognizing keyword stuffing
Keyword Stuffing in the URL
Keyword Stuffing in the URL Example
Sneaky Redirects
Recognizing sneaky redirects
Using "Who Is"
Sneaky Redirect Example
Non-Sneaky Redirect Example
Cloaking
% Frame Example
Ads and Spam Pages
No Main Content
No MC Example
Recognizing Parked/Expired Domains
Parked Domain Examples:
Fake Search Page Examples
Fake Forum/Message Board Posts
Copied MC and Ads
Copied Content Example
Auto-generated Main Content and Ads
Computer-Generated Text Example Computer-Generated Page Example
Unhelpful MC Examples
Doorway Pages
Thin Affiliates
Recognizing Thin Affiliates
Recognizing True Merchants
Please note the following:
Method 1 - Checking properties of an image on the page
Page Quality Rating FAQs
The Relationship between PQ and Utility
Queries with Multiple Interpretations and Intents
Specificity of Queries and Landing Pages
Utility and Freshness
Misspelled and Mistyped Queries and Results
Misspelled and Mistyped Queries
Name Queries
Spelling Suggestion Result Blocks
Non-Vital Results for URL Queries
Product Queries: Action (Do) vs. Information (Know) Intent
Mobile Landing Pages