The most significant updates from Google came during the summer of 2020, with the search giant taking a much harder line and transferring more power to the consumer. The update was intended to promote transparency from merchants and retailers, and cut down on the collection of incentivised reviews. Here’s what it means in practice.
What’s the difference between seller ratings and product ratings?
There can be some confusion between Google terminology. Company ratings are called seller ratings by Google and are associated with the service or interactions a customer has with a business. Product ratings are ratings provided by customers based on their feedback and experience with a product.
Merchants with a seller rating must display reviews in public
Your review profile page needs to be completely visible to search engines and should include both positive and negative reviews.
Company reviews can’t be imported
Only reviews collected through your current review provider can be displayed and only these are eligible for Google feed submission. It’s worth noting though, that you can still import company reviews for widgets on your own site and you can still import product reviews. These increase your credibility and trust immensely for visitors. HelpfulCrowd has a one-click data import feature to help import existing reviews from any source.
Financial rewards for reviews are a no-no
No kind of financial incentives can be offered in return for reviews – this includes discount codes and gift cards. However, it’s worth saying that this only applies to company reviews. Discount codes for product reviews can still be offered. HelpfulCrowd helps you also stay compliant with local laws by indicating reviews that have been received in exchange for a reward or discount code. Naturally we always recommend doing this regardless.
There’s now a timescale
Once an invitation is sent, the recipient has up to 90 days to respond. If a customer wants to edit their review after the 90 day period has elapsed, they can. Reviews can also be deleted at any time.
You can’t remove or moderate customer reviews
Here at HelpfulCrowd, we’d always advise against removing customer reviews (unless they contain explicit, offensive or inappropriate material). It’s much better to respond constructively and build bridges with customers. However, with the new updates, removing or moderating customer reviews is actually prohibited. If you deem the review to be unfair or in violation of Google’s policies, you can flag the review. It’s worth keeping in mind that the review in question will remain viable until any investigation is complete.
If a customer does write a critical review and you are able to resolve it to their satisfaction, you can always ask the customer to update their review with the HelpfulCrowd’s Re-review feature.
It’s really not so bad
While this update by Google was initially seen as quite detrimental for merchants, it’s actually not so bad. Incentives for product reviews remain ‘legal’ and the process of clamping down on company reviews, bribery and review moderation should actually be welcomed. This allows your brand to act in a fair playing field.
Using an eCommerce marketing platform like HelpfulCrowd will help you boost your review collection rates and generate lots of content for use across your website product pages and social media channels. If you do get a poor review, respond constructively and learn from the experience. Sign up for a free demo of HelpfulCrowd to learn how you can boost your customer review efforts today.
