Lionbridge Rating Program

IMPORTANT UPDATE 26/08/2016: we now have a strong example of the expected rating for a
Celebrity SCRBb – please refer to [emily blunt] p. 96 of the GG.

Dear Raters,

News have come to us that stricter ratings will apply concerning Celebrity SCRBs and, generally
speaking, SCRBs for Broad Queries, which have seen their number increase in the past few months.
It is partly to counterbalance a late tendency of attributing HM+ too easily for what remain in many
aspects very Broad Queries for which User’s Intent is unclear.

So here is a crash course on how to tackle SCRBs for Broad Queries

and maybe save some score.

CELEBRITY SCRBs / Best rating: not HM+!

MM+
to HM
I do perfectly understand the temptation to go as high as HM+ for
this type of SCRBs, in order to “like” their exceptional usefulness
(pictures, information, immediacy, possibility to click for more,
etc.), especially when a good (but classic) Wikipedia page can be
rated HM, as you can see with the [michael jordan] example, p. 94
of the GG.

However, HM is already a very good result and the best rating for
an excellent Celebrity SCRB.

HM+ is not acceptable because the query is too broad and

certainly not “specific, clear and unambiguous”. Different users
may be looking for different things. This SCRB does not satisfy
most mobile users because some of them would like to see additional
results such as different pictures, trailers, gossips, etc.
 MM+ to
HM

Here is another Celebrity SCRB that looks somewhat less

complete. The same range would be accepted, even if it
is really leaning forward MM+ more than HM.

IMPORTANT UPDATE 26/08/2016: we now have a strong example of the expected rating for a
Celebrity SCRB – please refer to [emily blunt] p. 96 of the GG.

BROAD ENTITY SCRBs / Best rating: not HM+!

Same thing applies for other types of Broad Queries.

Good thing is that we have a clear and strong example in the General Guidelines with [seattle,
washington] on page 95…
… that matches a recent result for our locale, with the query [les saintes maries sur mer].

MM+ to
HM

You might even remember [courteney cox serie] that popped up a few months ago…

MM+
to HM
… while a colleague of mine gave us this good example [Selena Gomez songs] that illustrates another
type of Broad Query for which User’s Intent is not clear enough to go higher than HM.

MM+
to HM

USE OF HM+ for SCRBs

HM+ is an extremely good result that is recommended for …

… a very good Local SCRB when there is a strong dual intent VIP or Website
We recently had a good example with [ort colomiers]:

HM+

As the query was issued not far from the location of this
secondary school, it was a clear case of a strong dual intent
VIP or Website (the latter needed to be rated HM+ as well).

or an excellent List SCRB for a type of business in nearby/explicit location

[mexican restaurants], example 25, p.36 of the SXSG

A query for which “users want to find restaurants that

serve Mexican food near the user location in Dallas,
Texas”.
We had something very similar not that long ago for the query [laboratoire st germain en laye]:

HM to
HM+
This is a very good List SCRB that provides a good
selection of the required type of business in the
required explicit location.

CONCLUSION
Celebrity SCRBs cannot get a rating higher than HM.

Broad Query SCRBs cannot get a rating higher than HM.

HM+ should be reserved for very specific SCRBs in very specific cases only.

------------------------

TO GO FURTHER…
In my sense, the idea at play here says a lot about the philosophy behind the HM+ for SCRBs and might
be summed up by the following:

A HM+ SCRB is NOT a HM SCRB with some kind of extra usefulness, but in many cases a FullyM SCRB
that has been “downgraded” as it cannot by nature fulfil all possible intents.
Example 1: Even very good, a Local SCRB can fulfil only the VIP Intent and will be of no use for a user
with the website in mind. As it leaves away one possible intent, it cannot be FullyM.

[conforama]

We cannot know for sure whether this man

on the left wishes to go to the nearest
Conforama (VIP Intent) or to reach the
Conforama website (Website Intent).

A result showing a relevant Local SCRB, as

well as a result showing the relevant
website, cannot be rated higher than HM+
in order to reflect the uncertainty
concerning his true intention.

Example 2: Even a very good List SCRB proposes only a limited selection of what’s available among
many other options, hence cannot be FullyM.

[monuments célèbres New-York]

The man on the right is looking for famous places

to visit in NYC, on the other side of the Atlantic.

His mobile phone displays a List SCRB with 3 very

good results. But why these 3 in particular? Is
there only 3 places worth visiting in NYC? What
about the other places? By nature, this List SCRB
cannot fulfil entirely user’s intent and cannot be
rated higher than HM+.

A HM+ SCRB is not HM SCRB on steroids but applies to very specific scenarios.

I hope this little take will be of some help to you all. Please feel free to email me back if you have any
remarks or questions concerning this email.

Thanks a lot, and have a nice day!

Frédéric | Quality Controller

Rating Program | Quality Team