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Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines: Key Insights About AI Use

Learn how Google's updated Search Quality Rater Guidelines address AI-generated content in 2025 and what it means for your SEO strategy.

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Introduction

Our text compare tool is a fantastic, lightweight tool that provides plagiarism checks between two documents. Whether you are a student, blogger or publisher, this tool offers a great solution to detect and compare similarities between any two pieces of text. In this article, I will discuss the different ways to use the tool, the primary features of the tool and who this tool is for. There is an FAQ at the bottom if you run into any issues when trying to use the tool.

What makes Originality.ai’s text comparison tool stand out?

Keyword density helper – This tool comes with a built-in keyword density helper in some ways similar to the likes of SurferSEO or MarketMuse the difference being, ours is free! This feature shows the user the frequency of single or two word keywords in a document, meaning you can easily compare an article you have written against a competitor to see the major differences in keyword densities. This is especially useful for SEO’s who are looking to optimize their blog content for search engines and improve the blog’s visibility.

Ways to compare

File compare – Text comparison between files is a breeze with our tool. Simply select the files you would like to compare, hit “Upload” and our tool will automatically insert the content into the text area, then simply hit “Compare” and let our tool show you where the differences in the text are. By uploading a file, you can still check the keyword density in your content.

URL compare

Comparing text between URLs is effortless with our tool. Simply paste the URL you would like to get the content from (in our example we use a fantastic blog post by Sherice Jacob found here) hit “Submit URL” and our tool will automatically retrieve the contents of the page and paste it into the text area, then simply click “Compare” and let our tool highlight the difference between the URLs. This feature is especially useful for checking keyword density between pages!

Simple text compare

You can also easily compare text by copying and pasting it into each field, as demonstrated below.

Features of Originality.ai’s Text Compare Tool

Ease of use

Our text compare tool is created with the user in mind, it is designed to be accessible to everyone. Our tool allows users to upload files or enter a URL to extract text, this along with the lightweight design ensures a seamless experience. The interface is simple and straightforward, making it easy for users to compare text and detect the diff.

Multiple text file format support

Our tool provides support for a variety of different text files and microsoft word formats including pdf file, .docx, .odt, .doc, and .txt, giving users the ability to compare text from different sources with ease. This makes it a great solution for students, bloggers, and publishers who are looking for file comparison in different formats.

Protects intellectual property

Our text comparison tool helps you protect your intellectual property and helps prevent plagiarism. This tool provides an accurate comparison of texts, making it easy to ensure that your work is original and not copied from other sources. Our tool is a valuable resource for anyone looking to maintain the originality of their content.

User Data Privacy

Our text compare tool is secure and protects user data privacy. No data is ever saved to the tool, the users’ text is only scanned and pasted into the tool’s text area. This makes certain that users can use our tool with confidence, knowing their data is safe and secure.

Compatibility

Our text comparison tool is designed to work seamlessly across all size devices, ensuring maximum compatibility no matter your screen size. Whether you are using a large desktop monitor, a small laptop, a tablet or a smartphone, this tool adjusts to your screen size. This means that users can compare texts and detect the diff anywhere without the need for specialized hardware or software. This level of accessibility makes it an ideal solution for students or bloggers who value the originality of their work and need to compare text online anywhere at any time.

With the January 2025 update to the Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines, Google is directing quality raters to look for low-quality generative AI content and is working harder than ever to ensure the best results reach the top of the SERP.

But what are the Google Search Quality Rater guidelines, and how do they tackle AI usage?

Here, we will break down the guidelines in more detail, so you can stay up to date with the 2025 guidelines and continue to outperform your competition.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

  • There are about 16,000 external search quality raters who classify or rate content. These ratings provide feedback that influences how Google improves its algorithm.
  • Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines show clear signs of addressing AI-generated, low-quality content.
  • The January 2025 update includes guidance on the definition of generative AI, as well as rating spam, low-quality content, scaled content abuse, and filler content.
    • Google’s definition of generative AI acknowledges its value as a helpful assisting tool for content creation (with the caveat that it can also be misused).
  • Further, Google notes that if all or nearly all of the main content is auto- or AI-generated (with little or no added value), raters should apply the lowest rating.
  • Overall, the updates emphasize that brands should continue prioritizing people over algorithms during content creation.

Maintain transparency and publish your content with confidence. Check out Originality.ai’s AI Checker and Site Scan.

What Are The Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines?

Firstly, before we dive into Google’s recent updates to its Search Quality Rater guidelines, let’s quickly explain what they are.

The Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines are a set of instructions Google has in place for its human evaluators, allowing them to assess and score search results.

In 2020, Google noted that there were more than 10,000 people across the globe working as search quality raters. According to Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines Overview, dated November 2023, this number has since risen to approximately 16,000 external search quality raters.

Now, it’s important to note that the human raters can’t directly affect rankings in the SERP. However, they can offer feedback that impacts the Google algorithm.

Google describes these ratings as a “data point that, when taken in aggregate, helps us measure how well our systems are working to deliver great content…Google further notes that they have conducted 719,326 search quality tests.

So, while the ratings may not directly change a ranking, what ratings can do is influence how Google decides to improve the algorithm.

The guidelines themselves are tailored to focus heavily on E-E-A-T signals, content quality, and relevancy, allowing raters to establish whether or not a chosen page meets a reader’s requirements.

Recent Google Search Quality Rater Guideline Updates Regarding AI

In January of 2025, Google made some significant updates to its Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

We’ve curated some of the top highlights to pay attention to in the updated guidelines from the context of spam and generative AI content:

A new generative AI definition

One of the biggest highlights of this update is the definition and guidance around AI-generated content

In the guidelines, Google refers to generative AI as a ‘useful tool’, but also highlights that bad actors could potentially misuse its capabilities.

“Generative AI can be a helpful tool for content creation, but like any tool, it can also be misused.” - Google (Section 2.1, Important Definitions)

What does that mean for you? 

It’s clear from this language that Google is aware of the many benefits of generative AI. For instance, AI for copywriters can be beneficial for planning, keyword research, and content ideation

However, generative AI can also be overly relied on, resulting in mass content production where quality takes a back seat — posing clear problems for Google’s people-first content approach that values high-quality and relevant content with unique insights or research.

Spam and low-quality content

Alongside highlighting the potential misuse of generative AI in its documentation, Search Engine Journal, which also reported on the guidelines updates, noted that Google has also updated its spam definitions.

In particular, it focused on updates around section 4.0 (Lowest Quality Pages) and 4.6 (Spammy Webpages) with additional subsections and more focus on the ramifications of producing low-effort content.

In the context of generative AI, Google notes that scaled content abuse may include:

Using automated tools (generative AI or otherwise) as a low-effort way to produce many pages that add little-to-no value for website visitors as compared to other pages on the web on the same topic.Google (Section 4.6.5, Scaled Content Abuse)

This key insight here is that if a search quality rater finds that a website is misusing AI to scale and create high quantities of low-effort and low-value content, then the rater should classify it as the ‘lowest’ quality.

Image Source: Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines

Further, in the next section (4.6.6), Google adds that “The Lowest rating applies if all or almost all of the MC on the page (including text, images, audio, videos, etc) is copied, paraphrased, embedded, auto or AI generated or reposted from other sources with little to no effort, little to no originality, and little to no added value…

Meaning that if a rater finds that the majority of the main content on a page is created with AI and no additional value, insight, or original concepts have been added, the rater should mark that content with the ‘lowest’ rating.

Image Source: Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines

This update falls in line with the major search engine changes we saw from the company back in 2024 that shook the content marketing world. Learn more in our study on Google’s Penalties for AI Content.

What does that mean for you? 

This change in language and clear increased focus on low-quality content should come as a warning to any brands that find themselves relying too heavily on AI for content creation. 

For anyone who is worried about the presence of AI content on their website, we recommend checking out the Originality.ai Site Scan to identify potential instances of AI-generated content.

AI and ‘filler’ content

One common issue that often occurs when using generative AI tools is that they tend to produce very wordy content that is full of filler and lacks substance.

There is now a specific section within the rater guidelines that addresses filler content, which states:

“Filler can artificially inflate content, creating a page that appears rich but lacks content website visitors find valuable.” - Google (5.2.2, Filler as a Poor User Experience)

What does that mean for you? 

Prioritizing high-quality content with innovative insights, stats, and research, which is written for people, is a must.

Get a best-in-class suite of patented content quality tools from Originality.ai, including an AI checker, plagiarism detector, and predictive SEO tool that rewards genuine content improvements.

Next Steps

Overall, Google’s updated Search Quality Rater Guidelines are designed to give their human raters a clearer perspective on the use of AI-generated content, spam or low-quality content, and filler content.

Google notes that generative AI is “a helpful tool for content creation,” acknowledging that it can be a useful part of publishing content. However, the caveat is that AI does have the potential to be misused, like other tools. 

As such, Google emphasizes that if raters are reviewing scaled content that is filler or adds little to no value (such as content created by AI tools), then raters should mark it as the ‘lowest quality.’ Additionally, if the majority of a page’s main content is auto- or AI-generated and original or unique value has not been added, then it should also be given the ‘lowest’ rating.

Ultimately, brands should continue focusing on creating great content for users first.

Ready to check if there’s AI content present on your website? Check out the Originality.ai Site Scan or AI Checker today.

FAQS About Google Search and AI

How does Google use AI in its search engine?

Google uses artificial intelligence to better understand search queries, improve the results it presents, and support additional features like AI Overviews.

Is Google Search changing with AI?

Yes, Google is evolving Search to become more conversational and interactive. Consider the release of features like AI Overviews, as AI search allows users to get more context-aware answers rather than a list of links, like in traditional search.

Graeme Whiles

My name is Graeme, a passionate writer with a strong Content Marketing background. Over the last seven years, I have developed an extensive portfolio of SEO Content writing, helping various brands improve their organic traffic, customer experience, and, ultimately, profits!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to fill out the entire form?

No, that’s one of the benefits, only fill out the areas which you think will be relevant to the prompts you require.

Why is the English so poor for some prompts?

When making the tool we had to make each prompt as general as possible to be able to include every kind of input. Not to worry though ChatGPT is smart and will still understand the prompt.

In The Press

Originality.ai has been featured for its accurate ability to detect GPT-3, Chat GPT and GPT-4 generated content. See some of the coverage below…

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Featured by Leading Publications

Originality.ai did a fantastic job on all three prompts, precisely detecting them as AI-written. Additionally, after I checked with actual human-written textual content, it did determine it as 100% human-generated, which is important.

Vahan Petrosyan

searchenginejournal.com

I use this tool most frequently to check for AI content personally. My most frequent use-case is checking content submitted by freelance writers we work with for AI and plagiarism.

Tom Demers

searchengineland.com

After extensive research and testing, we determined Originality.ai to be the most accurate technology.

Rock Content Team

rockcontent.com

Jon Gillham, Founder of Originality.ai came up with a tool to detect whether the content is written by humans or AI tools. It’s built on such technology that can specifically detect content by ChatGPT-3 — by giving you a spam score of 0-100, with an accuracy of 94%.

Felix Rose-Collins

ranktracker.com

ChatGPT lacks empathy and originality. It’s also recognized as AI-generated content most of the time by plagiarism and AI detectors like Originality.ai

Ashley Stahl

forbes.com

Originality.ai Do give them a shot! 

Sri Krishna

venturebeat.com

For web publishers, Originality.ai will enable you to scan your content seamlessly, see who has checked it previously, and detect if an AI-powered tool was implored.

Industry Trends

analyticsinsight.net

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to check for plagiarism?

Tools for conducting a plagiarism check between two documents online are important as it helps to ensure the originality and authenticity of written work. Plagiarism undermines the value of professional and educational institutions, as well as the integrity of the authors who write articles. By checking for plagiarism, you can ensure the work that you produce is original or properly attributed to the original author. This helps prevent the distribution of copied and misrepresented information.

What is Text Comparison?

Text comparison is the process of taking two or more pieces of text and comparing them to see if there are any similarities, differences and/or plagiarism. The objective of a text comparison is to see if one of the texts has been copied or paraphrased from another text. This text compare tool for plagiarism check between two documents has been built to help you streamline that process by finding the discrepancies with ease.

How do Text Comparison Tools Work?

Text comparison tools work by analyzing and comparing the contents of two or more text documents to find similarities and differences between them. This is typically done by breaking the texts down into smaller units such as sentences or phrases, and then calculating a similarity score based on the number of identical or nearly identical units. The comparison may be based on the exact wording of the text, or it may take into account synonyms and other variations in language. The results of the comparison are usually presented in the form of a report or visual representation, highlighting the similarities and differences between the texts.

String comparison is a fundamental operation in text comparison tools that involves comparing two sequences of characters to determine if they are identical or not. This comparison can be done at the character level or at a higher level, such as the word or sentence level.

The most basic form of string comparison is the equality test, where the two strings are compared character by character and a Boolean result indicating whether they are equal or not is returned. More sophisticated string comparison algorithms use heuristics and statistical models to determine the similarity between two strings, even if they are not exactly the same. These algorithms often use techniques such as edit distance, which measures the minimum number of operations (such as insertions, deletions, and substitutions) required to transform one string into another.

Another common technique for string comparison is n-gram analysis, where the strings are divided into overlapping sequences of characters (n-grams) and the frequency of each n-gram is compared between the two strings. This allows for a more nuanced comparison that takes into account partial similarities, rather than just exact matches.

String comparison is a crucial component of text comparison tools, as it forms the basis for determining the similarities and differences between texts. The results of the string comparison can then be used to generate a report or visual representation of the similarities and differences between the texts.

What is Syntax Highlighting?

Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors and integrated development environments (IDEs) that helps to visually distinguish different elements of a code or markup language. It does this by coloring different elements of the code, such as keywords, variables, functions, and operators, based on a predefined set of rules.

The purpose of syntax highlighting is to make the code easier to read and understand, by drawing attention to the different elements and their structure. For example, keywords may be colored in a different hue to emphasize their importance, while comments or strings may be colored differently to distinguish them from the code itself. This helps to make the code more readable, reducing the cognitive load of the reader and making it easier to identify potential syntax errors.

How Can I Conduct a Plagiarism Check between Two Documents Online?

With our tool it’s easy, just enter or upload some text, click on the button “Compare text” and the tool will automatically display the diff between the two texts.

What Are the Benefits of Using a Text Compare Tool?

Using text comparison tools is much easier, more efficient, and more reliable than proofreading a piece of text by hand. Eliminate the risk of human error by using a tool to detect and display the text difference within seconds.

What Files Can You Inspect with This Text Compare Tool?

We have support for the file extensions .pdf, .docx, .odt, .doc and .txt. You can also enter your text or copy and paste text to compare.

Will My Data Be Shared?

There is never any data saved by the tool, when you hit “Upload” we are just scanning the text and pasting it into our text area so with our text compare tool, no data ever enters our servers.

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Will My Data Be Shared?

This table below shows a heat map of features on other sites compared to ours as you can see we almost have greens across the board!

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