Google has released a new December 2021 Product Reviews Update starting December 1 which is expected to fully roll out within three weeks.
The December 2021 Product Reviews update is expected to have further improvements to analyze product reviews on pages.
Here’s the official announcement:
“Our December 2021 product reviews update is now rolling out for English-language pages. It will take about three weeks to complete. We have also extended our advice for product review creators”
Our December 2021 product reviews update is now rolling out for English-language pages. It will take about three weeks to complete. We have also extended our advice for product review creators: https://t.co/N4rjJWoaqE
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) December 1, 2021
In the last few months, Google has surprised everyone by releasing back-to-back algorithm updates. The most recent addition to the list is the December 2021 Product Reviews update.
This update is aimed towards improving the quality and usefulness of reviews shown to the users. It will serve as a ranking signal, rewarding sites with genuine, high-quality reviews.
In addition, Google has also updated the guidelines for Product Review Creators.
In order to prepare sites for the December 2021 Product Reviews update, we’ve noted down some important points from Google’s guidelines on how to write high-quality product reviews. They are as follows:
- You must write the review from a user’s perspective
- When writing reviews, make sure you include evidence such as photos, audios, videos, links, and other useful resources demonstrating your own experience with the product
- The reviews need to highlight the USP’s that stand out from the competition
- Describe the benefits as well the drawbacks of the product. This will help indicate to Google that the review is genuine and based on your own research.
- Product reviewers need to provide links to multiple sellers, to facilitate the user to choose from the merchant that he wants to purchase the product from.
Which sites will be affected by the December 2021 Product Review update?
Alan Kent, the Developer Advocate at Google, said that the product review update will affect sites that provide reviews of a particular product. These could be sites like “Top 10 phones to buy under 20000”, “Best gadgets to buy under 2000”, etc.
Here’s Alan’s tweet:
“Mainly relevant to sites that post articles reviewing products. Think of sites like “best TVs under $200”.com. Goal is to improve the quality and usefulness of reviews we show users.”
Mainly relevant to sites that post articles reviewing products. Think of sites like "best TVs under $200".com. Goal is to improve the quality and usefulness of reviews we show users.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) December 1, 2021
Key Takeaway
If you own a site that writes product reviews, you are most likely to be affected by the December 2021 Product Reviews update. Whether you see a positive or negative impact on rankings, would depend on the quality of the product reviews.
Google will get smarter at detecting spammy and lazy reviews as a result of this new algorithm update. Our recommendation is to read Google’s official documentation and guidelines for Product Review creators and concentrate on providing genuine reviews for your customers/users.
The December 2021 Product Review Update is projected to be completed in three weeks, giving site owners time to improve the quality of their reviews. We’ll keep you posted as and when we know more about the new December Product Reviews algorithm update.
