The Google Quality Rater's Handbook

The Google Quality Rater's Handbook (version 2.1 dated April 6, 2007)(pdf) was leaked recently. Download while you can! Essentially, the Rater's Handbook tells you what Google deems important when judging the quality and relevance of a webpage.

As Pandia Search Engine News reports "in spite of what many say, Google does not entirely rely on automatic computer-based algorithms in its search engine rankings. They do employ human editors that control the quality of selected sites and they may give a boost to sites these reviewers deem especially useful." See also Spying on Google: What is Spam? What is Relevant? Read This to Find Out and SearchEngineLand's synopsis of the handbook.

Hat tip to Ron Jones. [JH]