Google has Finished Rolling Out April 2023 Reviews Update
Google has confirmed that the April 2023 reviews update has successfully completed rolling out on April 25, 2023. This significant update, which was initially announced on April 12, 2023, was rolled out over a span of 13 days, ensuring its widespread implementation. As this update now affects more than just products, more and more business websites are now getting impacted.
Crafting top-notch reviews can provide valuable insights for individuals researching various subjects, including products, services, travel destinations, video games, movies, and more. After completing the rollout of March 2023 core update on March 28, 2023, Google has now released the April 2023 reviews update that expanded the product reviews update to go beyond just products and it also impacts reviews about any services and things. The name of this update no longer includes “Product”. Before this update, the “Google Search’s reviews system and your website” page, was called “Google Search’s product reviews system and your website.”
So, the new reviews system is about much more than just product reviews. Google’s documentation about its reviews system has been updated to reflect the change from ‘product reviews’ to just ‘reviews’.
Example discussed is that there can be reviews of products such as laptops or winter jackets, pieces of media such as movies or video games, or services and businesses such as restaurants or fashion brands.
In its documentation, Google has explained that the reviews system works to ensure that people see reviews that share in-depth research, rather than thin content that simply summarizes a bunch of products, services or other things.
The purpose of the reviews system is to assess first-party standalone content, including articles, blog posts, pages, or similar material, which aim to provide recommendations, opinions, or analysis. However, the system does not assess third-party reviews, such as those that users post in the reviews section of a product or service page.
Currently, this system applies to the following languages globally: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Polish.
Google’s new documentation encourages publishers to demonstrate evidence of experience such as – Visual evidence, Audio, Links to evidence of experience, and Quantitative measurements.
Best Practices to Write High-quality Reviews
Google has recommended these best practices to help businesses discover Your Review pages in Google Search and on other Google surfaces.
- Evaluate from a user’s perspective.
- Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable about what you are reviewing-show you are an expert.
- Provide evidence such as visuals, audio, or other links of your own experience with what you are reviewing, to support your expertise and reinforce the authenticity of your review.
- Share quantitative measurements about how something measures up in various categories of performance.
- Explain what sets something apart from its competitors.
- Cover comparable things to consider, or explain which might be best for certain uses or circumstances.
- Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of something, based on your own original research.
- Describe how a product has evolved from previous models or releases to provide improvements, address issues, or otherwise help users in making a purchase decision.
- Focus on the most important decision-making factors, based on your experience or expertise (for example, a car review might determine that fuel economy and safety are key decision-making factors and rate performance in those areas).
- Describe key choices in how a product has been designed and their effect on the users beyond what the manufacturer says.
- Include links to other useful resources (your own or from other sites) to help a reader make a decision.
- Consider including links to multiple sellers to give the reader the option to purchase from their merchant of choice.
- When recommending something as the best overall or the best for a certain purpose, include why you consider it the best, with first-hand supporting evidence.
- Ensure there is enough useful content in your ranked lists for them to stand on their own, even if you choose to write separate in-depth single reviews.
Affiliate links are often included in reviews, which allow the reviewer to receive compensation from the seller if someone purchases through the provided link. Reviews are a valuable tool for consumers, and it is important to prioritize quality and originality over length when creating reviews. By following best practices, your reviews can provide the greatest benefit to those who read them. It is recommended to monitor your website’s rankings to determine if the recent “reviews” update from Google affects your organic traffic. Google has now revised its guidance on reviews and discontinued its prior guidance on the “product reviews” update.
