Appen faces $82.8 Million contract termination from Google, impact on search quality raters
As a result of this decision, thousands of search quality raters will lose their jobs. It is unclear what will happen to the search quality rating process in the future.
Appen Limited (ASX: APX) has received notification from Google LLC that Google will be terminating its global inbound services contract with Appen, effective March 19, 2024. This contract represented $82.8 million of Appen's FY23 revenue.
Search Engine Land reports the Australian data services company was hired by Google for a large number of its third-party search quality raters.
Google search quality raters are contractors who evaluate search results to ensure they are relevant, helpful, and accurate. They do this by following a set of guidelines that Google has developed, and they provide feedback on the quality of the results they see.
Search quality raters are an important part of Google's process for improving its search results. Their feedback helps Google to identify and fix problems with its search engine, and it also helps to ensure that the results are meeting the needs of its users.
As a result of this decision, thousands of search quality raters will lose their jobs. It is unclear what will happen to the search quality rating process in the future, but it is possible that Google will develop its own AI-powered tool to replace the human raters.
BIG shakeup for Google Quality Raters
— Cyrus SEO (@CyrusShepard) January 22, 2024
Google cancels contract with Appen/RaterLabs (the company that employs me as a Quality Rater)
No idea what this means to the Quality Rater program pic.twitter.com/rzScBe4Dvn
Last quarter, Google announced an update to its Search Quality Rater Guidelines, effective November 16, 2023. The updated guidelines aim to simplify the evaluation process for search raters and provide clearer guidance for assessing the quality of web pages.
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