Product Review Update 2.0: More Languages Being Impacted

As part of Google’s aim to reward high-quality product reviews, they have once again released an update for their product reviews system. This is the sixth update release; the last product review update was in September, which affected only English reviews.

Released on February 21, the update will take about two weeks to roll out completely. By March 7, the February 2023 product review update will target not only English reviews but also new languages, such as Polish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.

What does this update involve?

The February 2023 product review update will enable the promotion of review content that is significantly different from the others. Google has stated that, with this update, these types of product reviews will also appear on SERPs, which will potentially help in lead generation. Google has stated explicitly that while this update will affect lower-quality reviews that simply summarise a general review of a couple of products, it is by no means a direct punishment or penalty. Neither should it warrant an emergency need for the help of an SEO services provider.

This update simply targets pages that offer helpful contents that provide unique and insightful reviews and promote them to better SERP ranking. The product reviews system mainly assesses product review content on a page-level basis. Structured data, such as submitting your site to Google, can help the system identify if your content is a product review, but it does not solely depend on it.

With new languages being included in this update, this also means that product reviews in the languages mentioned above will be affected. With that being said, should you discover that your content’s ranking has been demoted, do not feel like you have been penalised. There are things you can take note of to improve ranking, especially if you think that your page has been ranked wrongly (Refer to part 1, part 2, and part 3 to find out what you can do.)

Tips and advice for product review content to be promoted by the system

The overall focus for Google is to provide their users with valuable content written by topic enthusiasts or experts that contain in-depth analysis and insightful research. Hence, if you want your product review content to do well with the February 2023 update, you have to consider the following questions:

Do your product reviews…

• Express appropriate expert knowledge about the products?
• Contain unique, original content that showcases how the product looks and how it can be used?
• Show how the reviewed product measures up to other similar products?
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the product?
• Describe how the product has improved from previous models?
• Identify vital decision-making factors for the product’s category and how it performs in those areas? For example, a motor vehicle review might indicate its fuel efficiency, handling, and safety as vital decision-making factors to consider.
• Include links to multiple providers to allow your readers to make a sound decision in purchasing from their seller of choice?

In addition to these questions, Google has also addressed three questions in this new update:

• Are product review updates relevant to comparison reviews and ranked lists? Yes. This update applies to every form of review content, whether long or short. However, with shorter lists, you might want to focus on demonstrating expertise and reinforcing authenticity concisely. Including original images from performed tests and results can help send your message concisely.
• Is there any recommendation for review content that recommends the best products? If your review content is to recommend the product as the best in a particular category, you need to include the reason behind your statement with supporting first-hand evidence.
• If my review covers several products, do I still need to generate individual reviews for each product? It is definitely more effective to create in-depth product reviews for each product together with a well-written ranked list of the related products. If you decide to do so, do ensure that there is enough distinct information between the two for them to rank well on their own.

Conclusion

Moving forward, SEM services providers and SEO content creators have to put in more effort and intentionality in generating product review content so that they stand out from the rest of the competition. Content creation is more than churning out as much content as possible – it is also about generating quality content that will bring value to your readers. Keep this in mind and you’re one step closer to enhancing your marketing efforts with valuable content.