In November 2023, Google rolled out a reviews update. This update will continually evaluate opinion-based content on websites. The update started rolling out around 8th November 2023. According to the documentation provided by Google, the Reviews Ranking System (RRS) will not assess reviews left by individuals on product pages or service pages. However, it will assess blogs and other articles that give opinions or analysis. Many websites saw fluctuations in rankings during this period that may have been caused by either this update or the core search algorithm update that rolled out simultaneously. Google also stated that there will be no periodic updates about this release and it will continually keep making regular changes in the background. No matter how grim it may look, there is a silver lining. Although the update took a couple of weeks to roll out, some saw an immediate impact. Regular updates mean shorter times for sites to recover. If your site is affected by this update, you do not have to wait for the next release or update. Incremental changes help you bounce back faster. Start by reviewing Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines. The overview document is available here - https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf In 2022, Google made over 4000 changes to improve search results. It is clear by the sheer number that these improvement updates will be constant in 2024. We recommend that you make regular reference to these guidelines. It is also essential to make faster changes to reduce the recovery period. If you need an easier way to keep up to date with these updates, you can hire a professional SEO agency to do this for you. How do you recover from Google Reviews Update?
Summary
<!--