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🚨 Exactly how Google judges your content now
Published 18 days ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader!
You've heard the news.
Google’s quality raters are now flagging AI-generated content as the lowest quality. (Took them long enough, right?)
According to SEL, in its January 2025 update to the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, Google directed raters to label content as Lowest quality if it's clearly AI-generated, paraphrased, or lacks originality and value.
Here's what Google will be looking for (here's a checklist you can download to give your content peeps):
AI-generated or auto-generated content: Main content is created using AI or automation with little to no human effort.
Lack of originality or value: Content adds no unique insights or usefulness for users.
Self-serving page purpose: Pages created mainly to benefit the site owner, not the visitor (e.g., for ad revenue).
1. Tell me more about yourself and your journey into content. I'm a former teacher turned writer. In 2018, I quit my teaching job in the States to move to and teach in Vietnam. Pretty quickly, I stopped teaching because I wanted to work remotely and travel around Southeast Asia. I dabbled in blog writing for a bit and eventually dove more into freelance writing when I decided I didn't want to become an employee again. After moving back stateside in 2020, I started my writing business full-time. I'm now an SEO writer and consultant, so I help people get their websites on Google. Most of my work is SEO-friendly blog writing, which I love! It's such a fun way to write helpful content and generate strong leads, and I love how evergreen website SEO marketing is. 2. What is one evolving search trend content marketers can't afford to ignore in 2025? In 2025, we must meet people's desire to read real-life experiences and recommendations. People get bored quickly, and they need a reason to read content.
Content needs to be authentic and relatable to connect with readers. Relevant examples and personal experiences help with this. We can also use sources for this if needed. In technical terms, this is known as E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Not only are Google's ranking systems looking for content that demonstrates E-E-A-T, but it's also beneficial in any content writing on any platform where you want to build trust with an audience.
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Subscribe now to grow your content marketing and writing muscles! Each week, you'll get an expert interview from a leading content marketer (free consulting—yay!), quick & actionable writing tips, and content marketing trends you may have missed delivered straight to your inbox. It's an easy decision—join 7000 other content marketers now!
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