E-E-A-T: Experience added to quality rater guidelines

What changed

Google revised its Search Quality Rater Guidelines to add an extra E for Experience, asking raters to consider whether content shows first-hand or life experience of the subject. Trust was described as the most important member of the family, with the other three supporting it. The guidelines govern human evaluation of search quality rather than ranking directly, but they signal what Google's systems aim to reward.

Timing

Rollout began 15 December 2022. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.

What it affected