Google works on the algorithm dedicated to reviews: in 2022, websites will have to pay even more attention to the quality of the feedback.
Google has always focused on the user experience & is looking for solutions that meet their needs. On the other hand, users search online for information about businesses, shops, restaurants, and other businesses. In 2021, Google already did some product review updates, the update the search algorithm for product reviews. In 2022, further changes are expected: the company in a year collected feedback from users and further improved the system. The goal is to make it able to intercept the best product reviews, reward those who publish useful content and help users find reliable and truthful reviews when relying on a Google search.
Reviews on Google: what’s new in 2022?
Google Product Reviews 2022 is Google’s first major update of the year. Initially, it was only active for English searches, but the American company has already announced a global extension. The update concerns the algorithm that deals with scanning and filtering product reviews. Websites could therefore notice adjustments regarding positioning. Sites that will lose positions should not interpret this as a penalty but rather as a signal to improve content.
The update will affect the ranking also the results of a page within Google Discover, the feed that shows users relevant news about particular topics. Therefore, pages accustomed to being present on Google Discover may notice a change of course.
Product Review Update 2022 Features
Product Review Update refers to the algorithm born in 2021 and created to reward truthful and in-depth reviews written by experienced users. The goal is to filter feedback to eliminate copied and uninteresting reviews. The 2022 update is the third update of the algorithm (the first two in April and December 2021).
It introduces Google’s internal testing and evaluation processes and further changes based on user suggestions to offer sound shopping recommendations and rewarding reviews that help consumers. Thanks to constant updates, the system can answer millions of questions people ask on Google every day. These are improvements focused on specific content, which must be subjected to continuous control and testing.
For example, users are very attentive to reviews of niche products, and in this case, in-depth, detailed, and competent reviews are even more important. Over the past year, improvements have focused on this aspect and have produced positive results. People increase their focus on particular products, such as second-hand but good quality ones & in this case, the quality and reliability of retailers play a crucial role. The positive results are prompting Google to schedule an extension of the algorithm to reviews in languages other than English.
Reviews: the comparison between products
To understand which the best product is it will be increasingly important to be able to compare different items with each other. Content that compares products will be under Google’s magnifying glass. This type of content is very short and analytical. It contains rankings to which you will have to pay even more attention. The system will have to recognize the quality of a review with much less text available but in this case, the creator can insert original images to increase the quality level of the content. It will be more difficult to create content such as “Here is the best washing machine on the market.” The article will have to demonstrate why it is the best deepening technical characteristics & comparing them with other similar models.
In short, reviews are increasingly important for Google and represent a crucial purchasing lever for companies. For such a reason, you need to monitor reviews in revenue and manage them effectively. Many top digital marketing companies now help companies in this operation thanks to a platform where it is possible to check all the reviews about a company sown in the various online channels and manage them successfully.
