Google has launched its November 2023 Reviews update, which will be the last standalone event of its kind. Moving forward, Google will evaluate review content regularly without sending notifications.
According to Google, the reviews system,
“aims to better reward high quality reviews, which is content that provides insightful analysis and original research and is written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.”
The reviews system assesses all types of reviews, including single-item reviews, comparisons, and best-of lists, for various first-party standalone content that intends to provide recommendations or is opinion-based.
It's important to note that this system evaluates your website's content at the page level. So, if your website mainly focuses on reviews, the system will consider the entire site during its evaluations. However, the system will evaluate the content page-by-page if your website doesn't primarily focus on reviews.
It's crucial for reviewers to understand Google's reviews guidelines, especially since these updates will happen regularly. As noted before, Google recommends that review content:
- Original
- Transparent
- Informative
- Current
The guidelines also state that reviews should cover pros and cons and other essential decision-making factors based on the author’s expertise.
Audit your review content if your site is underperforming to ensure it meets Google’s expectations. Sites should see rankings evening out as this update and the November 2023 core update are complete in the next couple of weeks.
