Google Search Quality Raters Handbook Updated With Mobile Guidelines, Local Queries & Know Queries
It's been a year since we have seen coverage of a new Google Search Quality Rater’s Guide. Here is what is new.
It has been more than a year since we mentioned the Google Search Quality Raters, and today, The SEM Post reports there is a new version out that’s just a few weeks old.
In the new version, Google added a lot more detail around mobile-related guidelines, as well as local queries and something known as “know queries.” Search Engine Land does not have a copy of the guidelines, nor has Jennifer Slegg from The SEM Post posted a copy, so we recommend you review Jennifer’s detailed post covering the new version of the Google Search Quality Raters handbook.
The new document covers topics such as mobile usability of a mobile-friendly web site. It also covers local queries, for instance, when a searcher does “explicit location” searches, such as New York City hotel and so forth, as well as many other local-based queries without explicit intent. It also covers Know Queries & Know Simple Queries,
Jennifer Slegg explains “Know Simple queries to be the type of queries that often show a featured snippet or other type of knowledge boxes.” And she explains “Know Queries to be ones were the result couldn’t be answered in a short list or 1–2 sentences.”
The major caveat here is that the Google Search Quality Raters handbook is not the secret sauce to the Google ranking algorithm. It is used by outsourced Google quality raters to validate the algorithm but not explicitly dictate the rankings.
For more on the changes to this document, see The SEM Post.
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