While Google has not yet announced a change in policy, reports are surfacing that the minimum number of reviews accumulated to have Seller Rating extensions appear in AdWords has just been increased from 30 (over the last 12 months) to 150.
Seller Ratings are a great way for businesses to differentiate themselves from the competition and can quickly assist in building trust with potential consumers.
Advertisers that don’t meet the new requirements may discover they can no longer show Seller Ratings or could even see a change in their overall ratings score.
Lifting the minimum number collated over 12 months from 30 to 150 may very well be a good way to mitigate the number of fake reviews some small businesses generate. It will, however, have a big impact on the many who slowly build up a base of genuine ratings.
Why should you care?
For most online businesses this will only increase the importance of Google-approved feedback and review sites such as BazaarVoice, TrustPilot, Viewpoints, Feefo and Reevoo (Google maintains a complete list here).
Businesses can no longer just do a great job and hope their clients will make the effort independently to decide to write a review. Review sites automate and streamline the process, emailing customers after a prescribed time following their purchase and asking for their feedback. Merchants are able to respond to any negative reviews, and in most instances can include product and company reviews on their own websites.
If you’re interested in working with a Google-approved independent review site, give us a call. SureFire Search has partnered with an industry-leading reviews site. We can help qualified sites with a free trial and, should the service prove a good fit, attractive monthly rates.
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Glenn is a Partner and Senior Consultant who has had a very successful career building growth companies in the private equity arena. He has a wealth of experience in both the digital space and strategy development. Prior to becoming a partner in SureFire Glenn built one of the largest digital teams in New Zealand for a NASDAQ listed global online marketing company & Google's largest premium partner.
