Q* (Balance)
Q* is a summary quality score for the entire website.
01What it measures
Q* is a summary quality score for the entire website. It works like a 'balance' made up of the site's authority (siteAuthority), a low-quality flag (lowQuality), and the overall NSR value. The score changes slowly: internal Google documents describe it as 'largely static'. It is a sluggish foundation, not a day-to-day signal.
02Derived from
Q* combines siteAuthority and lowQuality (both derived from the NSR system) with the overall NSR value. Q* consumes NSR, it doesn't compute it.
03How it's measured
Q* is not a single field. siteAuthority (authority), lowQuality (low-quality flag) and NSR converge into the Q* balance. siteAuthority and lowQuality both stem from quality_nsr and are applied in Qstar. [B]
04Why it counts here
Authority and Trust are primary. Q* reflects the long-term reputation of the site: is it perceived as a reliable, recognized source? Expertise and Experience feed in indirectly, because the underlying content signals are factored into Q*.
05What to do about it
Q* does not react to individual page improvements. It requires consistent quality over months and years. Long-term content quality beats short-term SEO tricks. Pages with persistently low quality scores drag down the entire site's Q* value.