Google releases September 2022 product reviews algorithm update. This one is the fifth in a series of updates targeting low-quality reviews. The update begins rolling out on September 20. It will take up to a week to complete.
Google made this announcement by linking to the official page for search ranking updates on Twitter. Google will update this page once the rollout is complete.
This update arrives later than expected. In August, Google informed publishers about a product review update coming later in the month. The helpful content update launched in August 2022, with no mention of the product review update. As promised, the update is now available.
September core update is not done
These updates typically take two weeks to complete. Google is aware that the September 2022 core update is not yet complete, but stated on Twitter:
“For awareness, the September 2022 core update has not fully completed but it’s mostly done. We expect it will be fully complete within a week and will share on our updates page when it is done.”
Google also explained how you can now determine whether you were affected by the core update or product reviews. Google wrote :
“When you see a change and wonder if it’s related to the core update or the product reviews update:
- If you produce product reviews, then it’s probably related to that.
- If not, then it might be related to the core update.”
This update does not apply to you if you do not publish product reviews on your website. It is not a core update that will affect all search results. There is also the aforementioned helpful content update to consider, in addition to last week’s core update and this week’s product review update.
Google revealed earlier this month that the ranking signal offered with helpful content updates likely gets more powerful as other types of updates roll out. It means that the current version of the product review update has the potential to have more impact than previous versions. It is also possible that product review pages that have not been affected through the last updates will be affected by this one. That does not have to be a negative thing. Every algorithm update has the potential to improve ranking.
Google Product Review Update
The Google product reviews update aims to promote review content that goes above and beyond much of what you see on the web. Google has stated that it will prioritize these product reviews in its search results rankings.
Google does not penalize low-quality product reviews with thin content that only summarises some products. If you provide such content and your ranking is down due to a better rank of other content, you will feel it as a penalty. According to Google – it is not a penalty for your content. It is a reward for those sites that have more insightful review content with rankings higher than yours. Technically, this update should not affect additional types of content other than product reviews.
Google has previously stated that product review updates are distinct from core updates. It is a separate update known as the product reviews update. According to Google, it is different from regular core updates. Nonetheless, Google added that the advice it gave for core updates about producing quality content for those is also relevant here.
Final Note
If your website contains product reviews, you should check your rankings to see if you were affected. Did your Google organic traffic increase, decrease, or remain stable? Long term, you will want to make sure that you put a lot more detail and effort into your product review content in the future so that it is unique and stands out from the competition on the web. Additionally, those who were impacted by previous updates and put in the effort may be rewarded by this September 2022 Google product reviews update.