Google Seller Ratings Update: Review Gating

Customer reviews are key to having a successful eCommerce store. When a consumer is shopping online via Google Shopping, they typically look for: Best prices, 5-star ratings, and positive reviews about the product they are interested in purchasing; they want to know if it is worth the investment, or if people did not like it, they want to know the reason why. Any customer can write a review after making a purchase, whether it is positive or negative.

Google’s Latest Update

Most eCommerce businesses use a 3rd party software for reviews, like Yotpo, TrustPilot, or Okendo. These partners can be integrated with Google Shopping. It is best practice for review partners to integrate with Google Shopping to help eCommerce businesses boost their SEO rankings. There are recent changes in the “Seller Rating Partner Requirements” that will impact the different types of reviews people can give after purchase. As of June 11, 2020, eCommerce businesses need to be aware of the new restrictions Google released in regards to working with 3rd party review vendors. Two key updates from the Seller Rating Partner Requirements that merchants need to be aware of are the following:

• A merchant may NOT offer their customers any financial incentives to get them to write a review. These include but are not limited to gift cards, a discount code for a future purchase, anything that has some sort of monetary value is prohibited.
• Merchants may NOT edit, remove, or moderate customer reviews. If the content of the review is inappropriate in any way (i.e contains hateful, violent, or conflict of interest), it may be flagged. This will need to be reviewed by Google feeds if this were to happen.

Review Gating

If a merchant tries to remove a negative review from Google, this is considered “review gating”. Consumers are allowed to give honest, poor reviews on any given product. Google’s policy rules aim to protect consumers, so no one feels discouraged to leave a poor review of a product. However, the policy works in both directions. If a company tries to solicit positive reviews, that also falls under the “review gating” umbrella. For example, a customer may get a survey after purchasing asking if their experience with purchasing the product was positive or negative. If they had a positive experience, they may be asked to write a review. If they had a negative experience, they may be asked to fill out a form that will go to customer services (aka, this will not be seen by the public) – this is review gating. You may think that this is hard for Google to enforce, but Google has found ways to flag suspicious behavior, therefore penalizing the merchant. 

If a 3rd party vendor violates the fair moderation policies above, this can result in hurting their results within Google Merchant Center. The 3rd party vendor must provide Google requirements as to why a review must be adjusted or removed. Having your eCommerce store connected to Google Merchant Review Feeds will help your SEO score and CPA. Our trusted partners at Yotpo, Trustpilot, and Okendo can help you navigate through these new policy guidelines from Google. To learn more about these policies, you can review them directly on Google.