By Randy Roberts
Google has lost the plot.
Google highlights certain pages in its Quality Rater Guidelines as the “highest-quality” examples on the internet. Yet many of these sites have been hit hard by Helpful Content, Core, and Spam Updates
Last week, I came across a LinkedIn post by Charles Floate (who had seen a post by Fery Kaszoni) that revealed how many of the case study websites featured in Google’s publisher stories have been negatively impacted by helpful content updates.
I decided to take it a step further and run a similar analysis, but using the Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG) instead of Google Publisher stories. In the QRG, Google lists examples of what it considers the “highest quality pages” on the internet. These are Google’s own gold-standard examples of superior quality content.
Here’s the surprising part: many of these websites have been hit hard by Google’s own algorithm. In some cases, they were impacted by helpful content updates, and in others, by multiple spam updates.
What Are the Quality Rater Guidelines?
If you’re not familiar, Google has a team of human reviewers who analyze search results and provide feedback to improve its algorithm. These reviewers follow a 181-page document that outlines how to evaluate search results, web pages, and indicators of high-quality content.
Within this document, there are 23 pages listed as examples of the “highest quality pages.” These were selected because their main content was “created with a very high level of effort, originality, talent, or skill.” The domains were also chosen for having a “Very Positive Reputation” and demonstrating a “Very High Level of E-E-A-T.” The examples are broken down into several categories, and all 23 are listed below.
| Page Description | Page Type | URL |
| Tampa Bay Times Article | News | Link |
| Los Angeles Times Article | News | Link |
| Snopes – was a mermain discovered in the river john in 1918 | Informational | Link |
| The Knot – Ball Gown Wedding Dresses | Informational | Link |
| Yosemite National Park | Government Agency | Link |
| Microsoft at Work – excel quick tips and tricks | Technical 1 | |
| The Linux Kernel Archives | Technical 2 | Link |
| Annual Credit Report .com | Financial 1 | Link |
| IRS Forms & Publications | Financial 2 | Link |
| The Atlantic – Secret Fears of the super rich | Magazine Article 1 | Link |
| Rolling Stone Music – miley cyrus on why she loves weed | Magazine Article 2 | Link |
| NIH BMI Calculator | Medical 1 | Link |
| Mayo Clinic – Meningitis | Medical 2 | Link |
| CDC – Seasonal Flu | Medical 3 | Link |
| Cleveland Clinic – about a hospital | Medical 4 | |
| LL Bean – Backpack Product Page | Shopping | Link |
| Citi Bank – Online banking login page | Login | Link |
| Direct Relief Home Page | Charity | Link |
| UCLA Campus Map | Link | |
| Handle The Heat – Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe | Recipe | Link |
| OK Go’s music video for the song “This Too Shall Pass” | Video 1 | Link |
| “Henri 2, Paw de Deux” video | Video 2 | Link |
| Saturday Night Live video on the TV network’s website | Video 3 | Link |
To be fair, some of these pages have not experienced significant traffic declines. They belong to highly credible sources such as:
- National Park Service
- The IRS
- The Mayo Clinic
- The CDC
There are also examples that are not evergreen content or are not really intended to drive meaningful organic traffic, such as:
- UCLA Campus map
- Citi Bank Login Page
- The Linux Kernel Archives
- Los Angeles Times (timely investigative journalism story)
- Youtube Videos
That being said, several of these pages and websites have been hit hard by Google updates. These are the very examples Google handpicked as superior demonstrations of high-quality content, yet they still cannot keep up with Google’s constantly shifting goalposts.
Here are a couple of my favorite examples:
Example 1 – Recipe Blog
https://handletheheat.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies/
This recipe page was highlighted because “The author of this blog has documented her extensive experimentation with a chocolate chip cookie recipe (Experience), and her expertise and skill is demonstrated in the large quantity of unique, original, and very satisfying main content.”
That description is accurate. In this article, the author tests a variety of chocolate chip cookie recipes and shares the results. On paper, it is an excellent example of E-E-A-T. This makes it even more ironic that the page was clearly impacted by the last two Spam Updates in June and December 2024.
Example 2 – News Site
projects.tampabay.com/projects/2021/investigations/lead-factory/gopher-workers/
This page is a hard-hitting investigative journalism story that was heavily impacted by both a Spam Update and a Core Update.
It was selected as a “highest quality” page because “it has won numerous awards (very positive reputation of the website)” and because its “very satisfying main content achieves the purpose of the page very well.”
Even if that is true, it apparently was not enough to prevent the algorithm from treating it as “spam.” Despite being praised in the QRG as an example of “very positive website reputation” and “very high E-E-A-T for the purpose of the page,” the Tampa Bay Times domain has been on a steady decline toward irrelevance for the last five years.
In the QRC it said about the Tampa Bay Times domain as a whole that it had “Very positive website reputation…” and “very high E-E-A-T for the purpose of the page”
The domain as a whole has been on a slow decline to irrelevance for the last 5 years.
Example 3 – Informational
https://www.theknot.com/fashion/ball-gown-wedding-dresses
This e-commerce category page was hit in the November 2024 Core Update and again at the start of 2025, likely due to AI Overviews reducing its impression share.
According to Google, this page is considered high quality because “an abundance of pictures, plus options to view by price range, style, etc., are part of what makes this page so satisfying (effort demonstrated in the depth and types of content).”
Example 4 – Magazine Article
This page has been completely dead, with no traffic or keywords, for over a year. It was highlighted because it “won multiple National Magazine Awards (very positive reputation for this type of article). The article has an in-depth main content that is unique and original (effort, skill, original content).”
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/04/secret-fears-of-the-super-rich/308419/
The domain as a whole is also noted for having a “very positive website reputation for the topic of the page,” but it has been on a long, slow decline.
I’ll copy what Charles Floate said that got me looking into this.
Google told the industry: “Be like these sites.” We checked. The sites showcased have, on average, been destroyed.
That isn’t an accident. That isn’t a blip. That’s the business model.
Stop treating Google like a benevolent referee. It’s a casino. And the house always wins…”
The Bigger Picture
What does this mean?
- “Just Make Great Content” Is Not Enough – Google has long said to “just focus on making great content and you’ll get traffic.” This proves that is not true. You should still make great content, but that alone is not enough. You must play the SEO game if you want a chance at gaining traffic from Google.
- Do What Works, Not What Google Recommends –Google does not care about your business. Google cares about Google. When they give you guidelines, remember those guidelines are designed to benefit them, not you.
- SEO Is Not Dead, But It Is Changing – What used to work may no longer work, and what does work will continue to evolve. If you are not investing in strong SEO talent, you are on borrowed time before Google passes you over.
- Brand Building Is Not Optional – Organic search is still a viable way to acquire new customers, but you must also build a lasting brand outside of search. You need a way to capture and retain people’s attention without relying on Google whether through email newsletters, Substack, private communities, or other channels.
