# Information gain

Information gain describes how much a page adds beyond what the pages already ranking say. Google holds a patent, granted in 2022, describing the scoring of documents by the new information they contribute in a session. It is not a confirmed ranking signal and no tool can measure it.

Updated 2026-09-15 · Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/information-gain

## What is documented and what is not

| Claim | Status |
| --- | --- |
| Google holds a patent describing information gain scoring | Documented, granted 2022 |
| Google asks whether a page adds value beyond the obvious | Documented, in the helpful content guidance |
| Information gain is a live ranking signal with a weight | Not confirmed by Google |
| A tool can score your page’s information gain | No. Any score sold as this is the tool’s own model |

A patent shows what an engineer considered worth protecting, not what runs in production. Treat the idea as a writing discipline rather than a metric.

## The practical reading

A page that repeats the top ten results has nothing to earn: the reader already had that answer, one result higher. A page with something of its own has a reason to exist.

- Your own data: a figure from your product, aggregated and anonymised, that nobody else can publish.
- A worked example: the same advice applied to one real case, with the before and the after.
- A method: the order you do something in, and why that order.
- A tool: the thing the other pages describe, made runnable.
- A first-hand account: what happened when you did it, including what failed.

## How to use it before writing

1. **Read the top five results** Write down what every one of them says. That is the baseline, and repeating it earns nothing.
2. **Name what you will add** One sentence, before you write: the data, the example, the method or the tool this page will carry that the others do not.
3. **Put it near the top** The thing that is yours should be visible in the first screen, not buried under a definition everyone has already read.
4. **Drop the page if there is nothing** A page with no answer to step two is a page that will sit on the third results page forever. Write a different one.

> This is also the test that keeps a library out of Google’s scaled content guidance: every page holds a method, a worked example, a table or a tool of its own.

## Questions

### Is information gain a Google ranking factor?

Not confirmed. Google holds a 2022 patent describing the idea and its helpful content guidance asks what a page adds beyond the obvious, but no weight or signal has been published.

### Can I measure the information gain of my page?

No. Any tool selling a score is scoring with its own model. The usable test is manual: list what the top results say, then name what your page adds.

### What counts as new information?

Your own data, a worked example with real figures, a method nobody wrote down, a tool, or a first-hand account of doing the thing, including the parts that failed.

### Does this mean long pages rank better?

No. Length is not gain. A short page with one figure nobody else has adds more than three thousand words restating the first page of results.

### How does this relate to scaled content abuse?

It is the same test from the other side. Google’s policy targets pages produced at scale without value of their own; a page that passes the information gain test has value of its own by definition.

## Read next

- [Thin content](https://porteur.ai/glossary/thin-content): Thin content is a page with little value of its own. See why it drags a small site, how to spot it, and how to expand, merge or remove.
- [Scaled content abuse](https://porteur.ai/glossary/scaled-content-abuse): What scaled content abuse means in Google’s spam policy, how to avoid it on a small site, how to check risk, and what to fix fast.
- [E-E-A-T](https://porteur.ai/glossary/e-e-a-t): E-E-A-T means Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. What it means for a small product site, and how to show it.
- [Content gap](https://porteur.ai/glossary/content-gap): A content gap is a searched topic your rivals cover and you do not. See how to find gaps, choose the pages to ship, and track results.
- [How to do SEO for a product site, in the order that pays](https://porteur.ai/guides/how-to-do-seo-for-a-product-site): Follow the order that pays: fix indexing, improve pages you rank on, win within-reach queries, ship comparisons, add new demand pages, then earn links.
- [Evergreen content](https://porteur.ai/glossary/evergreen-content): Evergreen content is a page on a timeless subject that earns search clicks for years. See how to spot, measure and keep these pages fresh.
- [Topical authority](https://porteur.ai/glossary/topical-authority): What topical authority means, how to plan a topical map, link hubs, and read real signals without chasing third party scores.

The free check reads the pages that rank on your searches and names what yours would have to add, in about thirty seconds. Free check: https://porteur.ai/