Google rolls out the third edition of Google's product reviews update, a search ranking algorithm update aimed at prioritizing product review-related information on the web that is most helpful and beneficial to searchers. The first product reviews update was posted on April 8, 2021, followed by the second on December 1, 2021, and finally the third on March 23, 2022. The March 2022 product reviews update is the name of the new update.
Google's product reviews update.
The Google product reviews update aims to promote review content that goes beyond much of what you'll find on the internet. These sorts of product reviews will be prioritized in its search results ranks.
Google not immediately penalized lower-quality product reviews with "thin content that basically summarises a number of items. If you provide such content and your rankings are degraded as a result of other content being promoted above yours, it will seem like a punishment. According to Google, this isn't a penalty for your penalty; rather, it's a way of rewarding sites with more insightful review content with higher ranks than yours.
What's changed now?
Google stated that the third release of the product reviews update "builds on" the work of the previous two releases to improve Google's "ability to detect high-quality product reviews." "This will make it simpler for us to get good buying to advise in front of users, as well as reward producers who are really interested in helping," Google's Alan Kent added
The following factors were highlighted by Google as being important in the product review update:
• Come from people who have used the items and can demonstrate what the product looks like or how it is utilized.
• Include material that isn't provided by the maker, such as visuals, audio, or links to other resources that describe the reviewer's experience.
• Compare and contrast products, or describe how a product differs from its competitors.
What is impacted?
This update may affect users who "write product reviews in any language" in the future, but Google stated the first rollout will be limited to "English-language product reviews." Google also stated that this update now has "positive effects" in the past and that it "plans to offer up product review support for other languages" in the future.
Please keep in mind that these updates might be rather big, nearly as big as core updates.
Previous recommendations for product review update. Google stated that the "overall goal is on providing people with information that delivers insightful analysis and unique research, content published by experts or enthusiasts who are well-versed in the field." That advice is similar to the above-mentioned core update suggestions, but there's also a list of "extra relevant questions to consider in terms of product reviews." Google suggests that your product reviews address these topics and provide answers to these inquiries. Do your product reviews.
• When is it permissible to express professional product knowledge?
• Show what the product looks like in real or how it's utilized with content that's not available from the manufacturer?
• Provide quantifiable data on how a product performs across several performance categories?
• What distinguishes a product from its competitors?
• Consider similar items, or explain which products are ideal for certain applications or situations?
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a certain product based on your research?
• Describe how a product has changed from prior models or versions in order to make enhancements, resolve difficulties, or otherwise assist users in making a purchasing decision?
• Identify the product's category's major decision-making criteria and how the product performs in those areas? for example, an automobile review may find that fuel economy, safety, and handling are important decision-making criteria and provide a score for each of these categories.
• Beyond what the manufacturer states, describe major decisions in the design of a product and their impact on users.
• To support your expertise and strengthen the credibility of your review, include proof such as photos, audio, or other connections from your personal experience with the product.
• Include links to numerous merchants so that the reader may buy from the merchant of their choosing.
Google also included a link to a blog post from earlier this year on giving buyers better product information.
New suggestions.
For this third edition of the product reviews update, Google introduced three additional pieces of advice:
1. Are ranking lists and comparative reviews affected by product review updates? Yes. All types of review material are affected by the product review updates. The excellent principles we've discussed apply here as well. Because ranked lists are shorter, you may wish to display knowledge and reinforce authenticity in a more succinct manner. This may be accomplished by citing relevant results and supplying original images from testing you conducted with the product.
2. Is there any advice for reviews that propose the "best" products? If you recommend a product as the best overall or for a specific purpose, make sure you tell the reader why you think it's the best. What distinguishes this product from others on the market? What makes the product so well-suited to the task at hand? Make careful to offer first-hand proof to back up your claims.
3. Should I continue to write reviews for each product if I write a review that covers numerous products? Writing a high-quality ranked list of comparable items in conjunction with in-depth single-product reviews for each recommended product may be quite useful. If you compose both, make sure the ranking list has enough useful content to stand on its own.
Note: This isn't a core update.
Final Thoughts
If your website offers product review content, you should check your rankings to determine if you were affected. Is your Google organic traffic increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same?
In long term, you'll want to make sure that you put a lot more thought and work into your product review content in the future so that it is distinctive and sticks out from the crowd.
Also, individuals who put in the effort after prior core updates may be rewarded by this March 2022 product reviews update.