5. Characteristics Which May Be Evidence of Low Quality

We have very different standards for pages on large, professionally-produced business websites than we have for small amateur, hobbyist, or personal websites. The type of page design and level of professionalism we expect for a large online store is very different than what we might expect for a small local business website.

All PQ rating should be done in the context of the purpose of the page and the type of website.

The following sections discuss page characteristics which may be evidence of Low quality. Occasionally, these same characteristics may be present on smaller amateur or personal websites and are not a concern. Please use your judgment when deciding whether these characteristics are evidence of low quality on the page you are evaluating, or merely a sign of non-professional but acceptable small, amateur, or personal website design, for example, “Uncle Alex’s Family Photos” website (a hypothetical High quality example).

6.5.1 Unhelpful or Distracting Supplementary Content

Some webpages are designed to encourage users to click on SC that is not helpful for the purpose of the page. This type of SC is often distracting or prominently placed in order to lure users to highly monetized pages.

Sometimes, distracting and unhelpful SC is actually Ads. We can consider this both unhelpful/distracting SC as well as deceptive/misleading page design. Here is an example of a page with highly distracting SC in the right-hand column under the label “Top Posts & Pages.”

As another example, porn ads on non-porn pages can be very distracting and potentially provide a poor user experience. Please refresh the page a few times to see the range of Ads on that page, and also use your knowledge of the locale and cultural sensitivities to make your rating. For example, an ad for a model in a revealing bikini is probably acceptable on a site that sells bathing suits, however, an extremely distracting and graphic porn ad may warrant a Low rating.

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Look carefully at the SC. If it is unhelpful or distracting, think about why it is included on the page. Unhelpful or distracting SC that benefits the website rather than helping the user is a reason for a Low rating.

6.5.2 Lacking Supplementary Content

Some pages have a small amount of SC and other pages have no SC at all. You must use your judgment when deciding whether such pages should receive the Low rating.

Some “webpages” are actually PDF files or image files (such as PNG or JPEG files) which many browsers now display. We would not expect a PDF page or an image file to have any SC at all.

Other types of pages may have a small amount of SC. Local libraries, small local businesses, small community organizations, etc. often exist to benefit the local community, and may not have a professional web designer for their website. A lack of SC on these types of small, local websites may not be an issue since the purpose of the page is often to provide information to a small community of users.

For example, Uncle Alex created “Uncle Alex’s Family Photos” website (a hypothetical High quality example) to share photos with family and friends. There is not a large amount of MC and not a lot of content to navigate, therefore, a small amount or even no SC is acceptable.

However, we do expect websites of large companies and organizations to put a great deal of effort into creating a good user experience on their website, including having helpful SC. For large websites, SC may be one of the primary ways that users explore the website and find MC, and a lack of helpful SC on large websites with a lot of content may be a reason for a Low rating.

To summarize, a lack of helpful SC may be a reason for a Low quality rating, depending on the purpose of the page and the type of website. We have different standards for small websites which exist to serve their communities versus large websites with a large volume of webpages and content. For some types of “webpages,” such as PDFs and JPEG files, we expect no SC at all. Please use your judgment.