Google’s senior search advocate, John Mueller, responded to questions about why Reddit content outranks credible websites and expert advice.
The conversation occurred on LinkedIn, where an SEO expert asked John why Reddit content from an anonymous user outranks a named author and how Google sees this as credible content.
Why do Redditors rank higher than industry experts?
The person pointed out that anonymous Redditiors’ content ranked higher than other credible websites.
He wrote on LinkedIn:
- “As we can see, Reddit, popular for anonymous use, ranks much higher than many other websites.
This means that content from anonymous users is acceptable.
Can I conclude that a blog without any ‘about’ page or ‘author profile’ can also perform as well?”
Google aims to provide relevant search results
Mueller replied that Google aims to provide relevant and useful search results for its users, and there is more than one content source.
John`s reply:
Mueller’s answer provides further insights into how Google’s Search now defines helpful content and why it ranks Reddit over expert advice and articles, specifically regarding credibility!
Relevance and usefulness trump credibility
In a recent Google Search Off the Record podcast, Google`s Director of Product Management, Elizabeth Tucker, discussed how Google ranks pages, including topicality systems.
Elizabeth explained:
- “The word “topicality” means how something is relevant in the present moment. But when used in search, the word “topicality” is about matching the topic of a search query with the content on a web page.”
Tucker’s explanation backs up what Mueller said about Google providing users with relevant and useful search results.
Mueller used a clip of chef Gino D’Acampo to sum up his feelings regarding relevance, saying:
- I feel this might fit; perhaps you have seen it before!
Please embed the YouTube video here
Mueller seems to be telling us that Google ranks content relative to the search query and that credibility is only one quality of a website, so:
- “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”
What about authenticity?
The SEO expert replied to Mueller’s answer by asking why a credible site like PCMag, a reliable source, ranks below Reddit, which uses UCG and cannot guarantee authenticity.
He said:
- “I was referring to how important the credibility of the writer is now. If we search for ‘best product under X amount,’ we see, let’s say, PCMag and Reddit both on the first page.
PCMag is a reliable source for that product, while Reddit has UGC and surely doesn’t guarantee authenticity. Where do you see this in terms of credibility?
In my opinion, Google must be focusing more on this, especially after the AI boom, where misinformation can be easily and massively spread.
Do you think this is an important factor in rankings anymore?”
Mueller didn’t reply.
