Google slams the door on ‘low-quality sites’: What does it mean?

Now the search giant is targeting “low-quality” websites, which are often overloaded with text to affect search. Here’s what Google’s search czar Matt Cutts said in a blog post:

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.”

The move affects 11.8 percent of search queries. The changes are so subtle, Google said, that few people will notice them. The move applies to only U.S. searches, but the company plans to roll out the changes worldwide.

The company didn’t say that the move specifically targets “content farms,” but many are making that assumption.