{"id":1518532,"date":"2023-02-27T17:35:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T22:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?p=1518532"},"modified":"2023-02-28T14:24:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T19:24:35","slug":"how-affiliates-address-googles-product-review-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/how-affiliates-address-googles-product-review-updates","title":{"rendered":"How Affiliates Address Google’s Product Review Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years commissioned affiliates have been a reliable source of income for merchants. Frequently those affiliates publish reviews of the products they are promoting to attract organic search traffic.<\/p>\n

The reviews are usually positive, which encourages readers to purchase, which earns commissions for the affiliates.<\/p>\n

But Google is now cracking down on those essentially fake reviews. That’s the purpose of its periodic product review algorithm updates<\/a>. Google wants to rank helpful reviews, not the promotional versions of affiliates.<\/p>\n

It’s important to Google because “reviews” is a popular brand-driven query<\/a>. Type a product name in Google search, and you’ll likely see a review of that item as a top autocomplete suggestion.<\/p>\n

In this post, I’ll address how affiliates publish legitimate reviews that rank highly in organic search.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>

Type a product name in Google search, and you’ll likely see a review of that item as a top autocomplete suggestion. This example is for “RoC cream.” Click image to enlarge.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Google’s Guidance<\/h3>\n

In its Search Central blog, Google issues guidance<\/a> on what it considers a “high quality” product review. To paraphrase:<\/p>\n