§3.3.13 Evaluation of websites

69. A provider of an online search engine may take into account certain characteristics of websites in order to evaluate them in terms of the trust they enjoy among users or their safety, authenticity, popularity or technological features. If a provider does so, it should consider and explain to what extent its evaluation of a website’s characteristics affect ranking, to the extent that such factors constitute ‘main parameters’. 70. This entails that providers assess on an individual basis what they do to evaluate websites and how this affects ranking. This may include, for example, how providers develop specific scores of websites calculated based on several variables, such as whether a website is trusted by users and whether it has a history of sharing links or misinformation. Thus, the quality of the content or how authoritative the website is may be relevant for its performance in ranking. Alternatively, the focus may be on the popularity of the website measured through, for example, the number of unique visitors and page views in a given period. Similarly, certain technical aspects may be taken into account for example, load speed, mobile-friendliness, domain age or security and accessibility of the website. 71. If certain characteristics of websites are more important than others, and the evaluation of these aspects is reflected in ranking to such an extent that it qualifies as a ‘main parameter’, this is important for users to understand. This should also be reflected in the level of detail that is provided in the description to ensure that users have sufficient clarity.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07