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March 2022 Google Product Reviews Update Rolling Out
![March 2022 Google Product Reviews Update Rolling Out March 2022 Google Product Reviews Update](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1648123908_March-2022-Google-Product-Reviews-Update-Rolling-Out.jpg)
Google is rolling out its third version of the product reviews update, named the March 2022 Product Reviews Update. The previous two versions were the April 2021 Product Reviews Update and the December 2021 Product Reviews Update. The March version was updated to incorporate more signals and criteria in this niche ranking algorithm.
Google started to roll out the March 2022 product reviews update yesterday, March 23, 2023 at about 12:00pm ET. This impacts only English-language pages for now but Google hinted this can rollout to other languages soon, possibly before another official product reviews update. Google wrote “we plan to open up product review support for more languages.”
Google also said it will take about three weeks to complete and can impact “product reviews across many sites” – “many sites” Google said. So like previous product reviews updates, site hit by this, can feel this in a big way.
As a reminder, the product reviews update aims at rewarding high-level product review content, above thinner product review content. Product review updates are not core updates, but they may be mistaken as such.
This latest version “builds on that work to enhance our ability to identify high quality product reviews,” Google wrote. Google added “this will make it easier for us to get sound purchasing advice in front of users, and to reward creators who are earnest in being helpful.”
Currently, at the time of publishing this – I am seeing very little movement in the Google search results. I suspect that will change any moment now but the SEO industry chatter is quiet on ranking changes right now and the tracking tools have yet to pick up on any volatility. Again, I expect this to change soon, very soon.
Google Product Reviews Update Quick Facts
Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:
- Name: Google March 2022 Product Reviews Update
- Launched: March 23, 2022 at around 12:00pm ET
- Rollout: It will take about three weeks to fully rollout
- Targets: It looks at product review content
- Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards “insightful analysis and original research.”
- Not a core update: Many are going to say this is a core update, it is not.
- English Language but will expand: This is only looking at English-language content right now but likely will expand soon to other languages, this is a global launch.
- Impact: Google would not tell me what percentage of queries or searches were impacted by this update.
- Discover: This update can impact your performance in Google Discover, Google previously said.
- Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google’s advice below
- Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. This may be the first refresh that Google has done, it is the first refresh Google communicated about.
What’s New With The March 2022 Product Reviews Update
Google said “we’re launching another update that builds on that work to enhance our ability to identify high quality product reviews. This will make it easier for us to get sound purchasing advice in front of users, and to reward creators who are earnest in being helpful.”
Also the fact that this may work in non-English languages in the future is new.
Google released three new FAQs with this announcement:
(1) Are product review updates relevant to ranked lists and comparison reviews? Yes. Product review updates apply to all forms of review content. The best practices Google shared also apply. However, due to the shorter nature of ranked lists, you may want to demonstrate expertise and reinforce authenticity in a more concise way. Citing pertinent results and including original images from tests you performed with the product can be good ways to do this.
(2) Are there any recommendations for reviews recommending “best” products? If you recommend a product as the best overall or the best for a certain purpose, be sure to share with the reader why you consider that product the best. What sets the product apart from others in the market? Why is the product particularly suited for its recommended purpose? Be sure to include supporting first-hand evidence.
(3) If I create a review that covers multiple products, should I still create reviews for the products individually? It can be effective to write a high quality ranked list of related products in combination with in-depth single-product reviews for each recommended product. If you write both, make sure there is enough useful content in the ranked list for it to stand on its own.
Google also posted this graphic showing that product review lists can be impacted by this as well:
Google also listed these four points about the criteria Google uses for product reviews:
- Include helpful in-depth details, like the benefits or drawbacks of a certain item, specifics on how a product performs or how the product differs from previous versions
- Come from people who have actually used the products, and show what the product is physically like or how it’s used
- Include unique information beyond what the manufacturer provides — like visuals, audio or links to other content detailing the reviewer’s experience
- Cover comparable products, or explain what sets a product apart from its competitors
Spring 2022 Google Updated Related?
Over the weekend we reported on what I called the Spring 2022 Google update but was this product reviews update related to this Spring 2022 update? Well, according to Google – no. Danny Sullivan of Google updated us on that saying there was no update during that time. It does make me wonder if maybe Google was testing this but Google would probably say no.
There was a lot of buzz around that update impacting product review sites, even Lily Ray tweeted about that:
I was just in the midst of tweeting about how Google seems to have tweaked the product review update last week 😛 https://t.co/Btr172mkWl
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) March 23, 2022
But again, the March 2022 Google Product Reviews Update didn’t start to roll out until days after the the unconfirmed Spring update. So again, no – they are not related.
Alan Kent from Google directly said so, these are unrelated:
It is unrelated. This new update is just starting to roll out now. It *usually* hits most data centers fairly quickly (days) then takes weeks to get everywhere.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) March 23, 2022
More From Google
Here are some more details from Google for clarification purposes:
Product reviews on a merchant website would be impacted as well. This update is relevant to content we believe is a product review, not to product pages. When we believe the user wants a review, and a page contains a review, we try to find the best review for that query.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) March 23, 2022
Google has never ranked “solely on domain strength”. But there is always room to improve and the latest update is another step on that journey. In case you have not seen them, we document recommended best practices for product reviews: https://t.co/VYIXLBfreC
— Alan Kent (@akent99) March 23, 2022
We don’t expect *all* images to be created by the reviewer. We look for evidence the reviewer did actually review the product. A mix is fine.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) March 23, 2022
Original PRU Google Advice
Here is the original advice but Google has posted this in a new help document with the new advice from December, this does not include the specific new points listed above:
- Express expert knowledge about products where appropriate?
- Show what the product is like physically, or how it is used, with unique content beyond what’s provided by the manufacturer?
- Provide quantitative measurements about how a product measures up in various categories of performance?
- Explain what sets a product apart from its competitors?
- Cover comparable products to consider, or explain which products might be best for certain uses or circumstances?
- Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a particular product, based on research into it?
- 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?
- Identify key decision-making factors for the product’s category and how the product performs in those areas? For example, a car review might determine that fuel economy, safety, and handling 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?
- Provide evidence such as visuals, audio, or other links of your own experience with the product, to support your expertise and reinforce the authenticity of your review.
- Include links to multiple sellers to give the reader the option to purchase from their merchant of choice.
I have written about every tiny detail of these product reviews update, just do a search on this site for more.
Multiple Sellers
What about the line on the importance of including links to multiple sellers to give the reader the option to purchase from their merchant of choice, Glenn Gabe asked. Alan Kent from Google said “The update is an improvement of current algorithms. There is no special support for multiple sellers in this update.”
Hi Glenn. The update is an improvement of current algorithms. There is no special support for multiple sellers in this update.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) March 23, 2022
Tracking Tools Showing Volatility?
It is early, less than 24 hours since it started to roll out but here is what the various tracking tools are showing right now. Keep in mind, the bulk of this update should be realized within the first few days.
As of this morning, at the time of publishing this, the tools are showing nothing right now. In fact, the chatter in the SEO community has nothing around ranking changes yet either. I do suspect we will see changes here, fluctuations, chatter, volatility and so forth in the upcoming days – it just didn’t happen yet but it will.
Industry Reaction
Heads-up! The third Product Reviews Update is officially rolling out. Will roll out over the next few weeks. And you should expect the bulk of the ranking volatility to happen in the earlier stages of this rollout. https://t.co/7XyQpd2Z07
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 23, 2022
I would very much take Google at their word here w. the new guidelines.
I think they can profile the writing style that comes with in-depth knowledge & experience of a product.
I talked about this in my @semrush post from the Dec 21 PRU ➡️https://t.co/4CGeBFuh50 https://t.co/wrJYDsdbnR
— Mordy Oberstein 🇺🇦 (@MordyOberstein) March 23, 2022
G: “We know people appreciate reviews that share “in-depth research” 🔬 , rather than simply summarize a bunch of products with the latest update launching today.” https://t.co/ze1ySvEbPv
— Nicholas McDonough (@Callmenicholi) March 23, 2022
To all affiliates out there 📢
“reviews come from people who demonstrate expert knowledge and first-hand research about products” https://t.co/pHh1WP81Hd
— Paul P (@pavlos1944) March 23, 2022
Academically, I would like to know how Google measures relevancy. Because for me I’m finding the results even more and more irrelevant and I’ve seen major publishers right about the irrelevancy, so not just me.
Is anyone else having a problem with irrelevancy? https://t.co/cWq0vF5FF3
— Kristine Schachinger (@schachin) March 23, 2022
Of course I meant to write: “It has always been about…”
— Pedro Dias (@pedrodias) March 23, 2022
Also a reminder that the first two product review updates had large impact for many sites — similar to a big core update.
With the last two product review updates there was a lot of turbulence even amongst SERPS without product reviews.
— Dr. Marie Haynes🐧 (@Marie_Haynes) March 23, 2022
Main takeaway: make great content as always, but what’s jumping off the page for me is the emphasis on promoting content showing actual use of the products being reviewed.This is great news for niches and bad news for content farmers.
— Michael Micacchi (@michaelmicacchi) March 23, 2022
Game on folks! May the bots be ever in your favour. #GoogleAlgorithmUpdate https://t.co/rne6TCZopz pic.twitter.com/NcLmm4S976
— Crystal Carter (@CrystalontheWeb) March 24, 2022
Forum discussion at Twitter and WebmasterWorld.
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Google Volatility, Bing Generative Search, Reddit Blocks Bing, Sticky Cookies, AI Overview Ads & SearchGPT
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This week, we covered yet again more Google Search ranking volatility. Microsoft is testing its new Bing generative search experience. Reddit blocked Bing and other search engines that won’t pay for its content. Google is not going to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome. Google will test ads in AI Overviews soon. Google tests link icons citations in the AI Overviews. Google is testing a save button for AI Overviews. Google has AI Overviews for video descriptions. Google added links to Gemini responses. OpenAI launched SearchGPT, its own AI search tool. Google knowledge panels are using AI-generated images. Google is testing larger sitenames and favicon. Google’s John Mueller said don’t use LLMs for SEO advice. Appel Maps launched its web version in beta. Google Local Service ads has a new budgeting option. Google Ads has a new sitelinks interface. Google Ads Editor version 2.7 is out. Microsoft Advertising has new brand lists for Performance Max campaigns. Google reported earnings, showing ad revenue up 11%, with huge profits and earnings. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
SPONSOR: This week’s video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own.
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Daily Search Forum Recap: July 26, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google Gemini added related content and verification links. OpenAI launched its search engine called SearchGPT. Google says don’t use LLMs for SEO advice. Google has a related image carousel below the image box. Google local has this book online button that leads to call business. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Volatility, Bing Generative Search, Reddit Blocks Bing, Sticky Cookies, AI Overview Ads & SearchGPT
This week, we covered yet again more Google Search ranking volatility. Microsoft is testing its new Bing generative search experience. Reddit blocked Bing and other search engines that won’t pay for its content… -
Google Gemini Adds Related Content & Verification Links
Google pushed out a large update to Gemini (formerly known as Bard) and this update includes more links to both related content and also links to verify the content that Gemini is responding with. -
SearchGPT – OpenAI’s AI Search Tool
OpenAI has announced SearchGPT, its AI search tool that looks and feels a lot like ChatGPT but gives you more sources and answers through links. OpenAI wrote, “We’re testing SearchGPT, a temporary prototype of new AI search features that give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” -
Google’s John Mueller: Don’t Use LLMs For SEO Advice
Google’s John Mueller said on LinkedIn he does not recommend you use LLMs (AI tools) for SEO advice. He wrote, “please don’t use LLMs for SEO advice.” “They learn from all the bad SEO information out there,” he added. -
Google Search With Related Images Carousel Below Image Box
Google is testing showing a related images carousel right below an images box in the mobile search results. As you scroll through the search results, you are presented with an images box and if that is not enough for you, Google Search shows you a related images carousel right below that. -
Google Local Book Online CTA For Call Business
Google seems to be testing a new option for the Book Online call to action option that does not use an online booking service but rather lets you call the business directly. The button says “call business” and then will dial the business from your mobile phone. -
Google Chrome Dinosaur Game Crochet
Here is the Google Chrome dinosaur game in some sort of crochet art, or tapestry art. I found this on Instagram and this was the person’s first crochet or tapestry, not sure the difference.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google discover test highlight text snippets with also asking to add note on links that visited, Khushal Bherwani on X
- Google asking to add notes, Khushal Bherwani on X
- Google AIO thinks “Psoriasis” is a viral disease that affects plants. This isn’t some tiny specific medical case. If AIO gets something this big wrong what does that mean for all the smaller health searches AIO is showing up for? We, Matt Smith on X
- Sound Search is expanding from @YouTube to @YouTubeMusic! Search for music in a brand new way by humming, singing or playing a song in the background. More info, Neal Mohan on X
- To clarify, the system will prioritize the keyword that is identical to the query. It will not prioritize keywords that aren’t eligible to serve (e.g. the campaign or ad group is paused). However, if you, AdsLiaison on X
- update: despite receiving this email June 12th, our rep confirmed that these 2 accounts aren’t required to make the switch., Greg on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
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Daily Search Forum Recap: July 25, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Bing launched its new generative search experience and it does seem to prioritize links to publishers. Reddit blocked Bing Search and other search engines but not Google. Google says again it will test ads within the AI Overviews. Apple Maps launched a beta version of its web version. Google Local Service Ads tests expanding the phone number.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Microsoft Now Testing Bing Generative Search Experience
Microsoft announced yesterday it has begun testing its new Bing generative search experience – so Bing GSE (versus Google SGE). “By combining the power of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) with the search results page, Bing’s generative search creates a bespoke and dynamic response to a user’s query,” Microsoft wrote. -
Reddit Blocked Bing Search & Others But Not Google
On July 1, 2024, Reddit updated its robots.txt file to prohibit most search engine and AI crawlers from accessing its content – including blocking Microsoft Bing. Reddit did not block Google Search, which we covered here a few weeks ago. -
Google Again: We Will Test Ads In AI Overviews Soon
Google said it again, it will soon test ads within its AI Overviews. Philipp Schindler, senior vice president and chief business officer for Google, said this in the earnings call on Tuesday night. He said, “soon we’ll actually start testing search and shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the U.S.” -
Apple Maps Web Version Launches Beta
Apple has launched a public beta version of Apple Maps on the web after launching the mobile app back almost 12 years ago on September 19, 2012. “Apple Maps on the web is available in public beta, allowing users around the world to access Maps directly from their browser,” Apple wrote. -
Google Local Service Ads Shows Phone Number On Hover
Google Local Service Ads can now show the business’s phone number in the ad unit when you hover over your mouse cursor over the ad. It will then dynamically expand the ad to show the advertiser’s phone number. -
Tree House & Hippie Van At Google Boulder Office
We have seen this area at the Google Boulder, Colorado office before, but I have not seen this hippie-looking van with flowers on it and such. This gives off a certain vibe for the office, don’t you think?
Other Great Search Threads:
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
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