The claim
Content written primarily to satisfy people, with demonstrable first-hand value, is favoured over content written to game rankings.
What the evidence shows
Google's 'creating helpful, reliable, people-first content' documentation sets out self-assessment questions covering originality, depth, first-hand expertise and whether a page leaves the reader satisfied. It explicitly warns against search-engine-first content produced mainly to attract visits. This guidance frames why thin and derivative pages decay while genuinely useful pages endure.