Jennifer Slegg reports that Google has completely revamped the Google Quality Rating Guidelines, which is used for Google contractors to manually review search results and send that feedback to Google's team to improve the overall algorithm.
The Quality Rating Guidelines have been leaked several times in the past.
Jennifer didn't post the document but claims that this is a "a brand new version, rewritten from the ground up, so it isn’t just a refresh of the old one." She said this new version was released a few months ago and is version number five of the guidelines.
She explained the major change is that in this document, "Google is now putting a high emphasis on sites that are considered to have a high level of expertise, authoritativeness or trustworthiness." This is known as EAT, expertise, authoritativeness or trustworthiness, within the document.
Jennifer summarizes the document on her blog. Again, I do not have a copy of this, so I cannot share it with you.
In a WebmasterWorld thread, one member tries to break down EAT:
EXPERTISE - Fame? (Everyone in his area knows who the person is?) - Accomplishments? (I did this, I did that. Braggadocio?) - Published works? (Piled Higher and Deeper?) - Large body of work? (Can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with BS?) - Uncontroversial? (Universally respected - never sticks their neck out?)
AUTHORITATIVENESS - IQ Test results? Mensa membership? - College? - Degree? - GPA? - Past job titles? - Current Employer? - Current job title?
TRUSTWORTHINESS - Web Rep? (No John Doe $ucks pages?) - Email address? (Is a graphic still OK to avoid harvesters?) - Contact page link on every page? (pound accessibility into them?) - Physical address required? (or just snail-mail address, PO Box) - Telephone number? (Is a graphic still OK to avoid harvesters?) - Privacy policy?
Anyone have a copy of this new document?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Update: Here is a link to view the new guidelines on scribd.com.
