"Today, we're announcing the next improvement to our product reviews, which is meant to make sure that reviews come from people who know a lot about the product and have done their own research," reads the official tweet from Google Search Liaison.
Google has stated that the March 2022 Product Evaluations Update is the third in a series of updates that began in 2021. These updates are meant to reward websites that give in-depth reviews based on real-world experience.
Even though Google says it won't punish sites that publish quality reviews because of quality and content problems, the search engine giant says it does want sites that publish quality reviews to have an advantage because that's what customers expect when they look online.
Google says that users aren't interested in pre-made reviews that only touch on the edges of things and services. But a few of these kinds of reports have risen to the top of Google's search results.
Since April 2021, Google has been sending out Product Review Updates. The first one came out in April, and the second one came out in December of that year. The third one in this series is the most current, and it adds a few more ranking factors.
The last two Product Review Updates focused on in-depth reviews based on study and written by people who are experts in the field (that's E-A-T). On the other hand, the March 2022 Product Review Update adds a few more standards for reviews to be valid, such as:
Give users a list of goods that are similar to the one being reviewed and explain what makes it different.
The reviewer's opinion about the product is different from what the maker has said about it through pictures, audio, and links.
First-hand information from people who have used the product in person or online, as well as good proof of how it looks and how to use it.
Show the pros and cons of the product, as well as how it is different from earlier models.
Google says that the update will only affect searches in English, but they hope to make it available in more languages in the coming days.
This Google project is part of the company's larger goal to help people find information they can trust.
The rollout takes about a week or two to finish, and during that time, results on websites, especially partner and review sites, may change.
Has Google's change to how product reviews work affected you? Here's a list of things to help you figure out what went wrong.
Are you trying too hard to support one seller? If this is the case, people should have more ways to buy.
Did you back up what you said with pictures, movies, charts, or other proof?
Were you able to figure out what the most important parts of a deal are?
Have you talked about any changes to the product since the last version?
Have you compared the product you're evaluating to others on the market and described what makes it different?
Did you do a quantitative study in which you put the product through a number of tests to see how well it worked?
Are you bringing value to the review by pointing out the good and bad things that will help customers make a better decision about what to buy?
Check to see if the goods have been reviewed by experts in the field who have a digital presence.