Evidence Authority & Trust

Rater judgements calibrate algorithms rather than directly ranking pages

Google states that quality rater ratings do not directly affect the ranking of any individual page but are used to evaluate and improve search algorithms.

ID
SS-EV-004
Confidence
High · 85
Evidence
Established
Updated
2026-07-08

The claim

E-E-A-T is not a single measurable ranking signal; it is a conceptual framework Google uses to align its systems with human quality judgements.

What the evidence shows

Google has repeatedly clarified that human rater scores are aggregate feedback used to test and refine ranking systems, not per-page ranking inputs. This means E-E-A-T should be treated as a target the algorithms approximate through many observable signals, rather than a dial that can be set directly.

Source

Source
Google Search Central documentation
Type
Google documentation
Year
2023
Strength
Moderate

How SearchScore applies it

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