Google's YMYL requirements for websites

SEO specialists are familiar with the abbreviations YMYL and E-A-T, but the website owner may not know that his web resource belongs to a special category.

In this article, we'll decipher the meaning of YMYL, discuss the transformation of website requirements, and explain why the E-A-T algorithm helps you earn Google's trust.

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YMYL is an abbreviation for Your Money or Your Life (literally from English -your money or your life). This wording applies to the content of the site, the content of which may affect (directly or indirectly) the financial well-being of people or their health and safety. 

The abbreviation YMYL first appeared in 2014 in the Google Quality Assurance (QA) guidelines.

Who are Google assessors?

Raters are Google's expert team. The company employs approximately 10,000 raters worldwide. They determine how well Google search results meet user needs.

Raters can't directly influence search results, but their opinions help the Google search team evaluate the effectiveness of a particular setting. Raters typically review both old and new results and determine which is better.

When were the YMYL updates implemented?

The acronym YMYL gained widespread recognition in August 2018, when Google implemented major changes known in professional circles as the "medical update."

As a result of these changes, many medical websites began to lose traffic and search rankings. Webmasters and SEO specialists working on these sites were faced with a dramatic change in the rules of the game, and many were unsure how to adapt to the changes.

It's worth noting that all major Google algorithm updates are linked to patents. For example, in July 2014, Google received a patent for "Algorithm for processing web pages based on content quality" (the legendary "Panda"), which was created to remove "junk" content from search results.

In 2018, when Google drastically cut medical search results, a new patent also emerged. A neural network began sorting websites by topic, level of expertise, authority, and other evaluation parameters.

The YMYL is based on the E-A-T algorithm, where:

• E — Expertise (expertise);
• A - Authoritativeness;
• T — Trustworthiness.

What are the benefits of E-A-T?

Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are truly important to Google's search engine. Raters use the E-A-T model to rate web pages.

Experts check resources using a specially developed process. They collect feedback so that future search engine algorithms can better distinguish high-quality pages from unhelpful ones.

Based on the results of the check, assessors assign ratings that help "train" the neural network. The system then automatically draws conclusions about the quality of a particular website.

What influences the quality of websites?

E-A-T factors are key, but far from the only, parameters for assessing the quality of website pages. Ranking algorithms are more complex and are not limited to these criteria.

• For each specific resource type, there are more detailed requirements.
• According to various estimates, the number of criteria ranges from two hundred to several thousand.

Google deliberately doesn't disclose all the factors that influence its ranking system. It's only logical that the company doesn't want to give webmasters and social media managers a chance to "cheat" the search engine.

Is there an E-A-T rating for websites?

Google representatives have repeatedly noted (including in an interview with CNBC) that their search engine does not compile E-A-T ratings for websites.

• Assessors' ratings do not directly influence websites' positions in search results.
• However, they do impact page quality assessment algorithms.

So, since 2018, Google has become more picky about websites whose content, to one degree or another, may have a certain impact on the Internet user, in particular, on his well-being and health.

Much time has passed since then, but the implemented changes are relevant and continue to be improved. Each new update influences the selection algorithms for YMYL sites. And the number of such factors is growing.

Should You Ignore YMYL Filters?

Of course, you can ignore the new changes. However, if a site falls into the YMYL category, it will sooner or later come to the attention of assessors.

And if the experts' work results in a negative rating for the site, Google will take action. As a result, your website will lose rankings, and your business will lose organic traffic.

It may take some time to restore lost rankings. This will require hard work to create truly high-quality content and prove the authority and reliability of the online resource.

General Guidelines 

Detailed information on the selection criteria can be found directly in Google's General Guidelines for assessing the quality of sites.

The 167-page document consists of three main sections:

1. Recommendations for assessing the quality of a page.

This section identifies and describes the main criteria that assessors should pay attention to when evaluating a website, namely:

• page purpose;
• E-A-T signals;
• content quality;
• website owner;
• site reputation.

2. Needs of mobile device users.

Here's a detailed description of how Google views user interactions with mobile versions of websites.

3. Assessing compliance with user expectations

Recommendations for satisfying the requirements for ranking in relation to the content of blocks, landing pages.

The official guidelines are regularly updated to remain current. The latest revisions were adopted in the summer of 2022.

Specifically, clarifications were made to the list of requirements for YMYL resources, allowing for a more precise definition of the topics of sites requiring special attention to prevent significant harm to internet users. A new table of examples was also added and existing ones were updated.

Following a previous update in October 2021, the guidelines for finding information about website reputation and content creators were updated.

What do Google raters evaluate?

According to the General Guidelines, to determine whether a topic is YMYL, assessors must evaluate whether harm may occur:

  ●Human health or safety

These are topics that may negatively impact mental, physical, or emotional health or harm any form of safety (physical safety or online safety).

  ●Financial security of people

Topics that may negatively impact a person's ability to provide for themselves and their family.

  ●The state of society and its security 

Topics that may have a negative impact on groups of people in matters of public interest, public trust.

In addition, experts carefully analyze topics related to self-harm, criminal acts, or violent extremism.

What sites does Google classify as YMYL?

It's important for website owners to understand whether their website meets the strict evaluation criteria. In general, Google considers websites related to the following topics to be YMYL:

• medicine and drugs;
• mental health and psychology;
• finance, investments, taxation, pensions, insurance;
• jurisprudence and law;
• politics and legislation (including official portals of government agencies);
• purchase and rental of housing;
• news resources that cover the current agenda, international events, scientific achievements and technological developments;
• online stores, etc.

Formally, a site is automatically identified as YMYL if the information, goods or services it offers can in any way:

• to influence the reader's state;
• may change his views;
• negatively affect life.

For example, resources with recommendations on finding a job or getting a driver's license are also YMYL sites.

If a website allows financial transactions (such as online payment for goods or services), it also falls under these rules. Google evaluates such pages more critically.

Why does Google rate websites so strictly?

Google wants its algorithm to reward high-quality content and avoid harmful and useless content. Therefore, the primary goal of strict criteria is to reduce the negative impact of websites on users by filtering out low-quality pages.

So, if your website falls into the YMYL category and you don't want to lose traffic, it's important to consider E-A-T parameters. Read the following article for more details on page quality assessment criteria.

Conclusion

Google is quite rigorous in its trustworthiness checks. Ignoring these requirements is a bad idea, as it can leave you marginalized in search results. It's better to accept the rules and implement the necessary changes to your site. This will give you a number of advantages over competitors who haven't made any significant changes.

To understand what state yourwebsite, it's worth conducting a full audit. It's best to entrust this to specialists who know exactly where to look for problems and how to solve them.

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