le’s February 2023 product reviews are more volatile than the previous updates, according to data providers //

Google’s February 2023 Product Reviews Update was released on February 21, 2023. It lasted 14 days and concluded on March 7, 2023. This update was different from the previous product reviews updates in that it affected not only English but several other languages.

Update on February 20,23 product reviews. Reminder: The February 2023 product reviews updates began to roll out around 5 p.m. ET on February 21. After it was announced, this update took 14 days for it to be released. This update was released on February 21st and continued until March 7, 2023.

This update affected English, Spanish and German as well as French, German, French and Italian.

Data providers indicate that the February 2023 update was significantly more important

Semrush. Semrush data revealed that the February 2023 update was significantly more important than the July 2022 product review update. Semrush used the July update to compare it with the September 2022 product reviews update. This is because there was overlap between updates. The September 2022 core update was also being released at the same time.

Mordy Obersterin from Wix and Semrush told us that the February 2023 product updates update reflected “a significantly more volatile update” than what he saw in July. He also said that the volatility of the February 2023 product review update was 156% greater than the July update. This was based on US desktop search data. The July 2022 update saw volatility go from a baseline of 1.8 to a new 2.7 on Semrush Sensor’s scale. Comparing that to the February 2023 update, which had a basement at 3.1, it moved to a 5.4, which showed a much larger change.

The rank change comparison of volatility shows large differences in volatility between product reviews updated for July 2022 and February 20,23.

Below is a chart showing the volatility by product category for the February 2023 product review update.

Then, you can compare by niche using the February 2023 and July 2022 product reviews updates:

Here’s the Semrush Sensor for the past month. You can see all spikes in volatility per day.

RankRanger/Similarweb. RankRanger is a company from Similarweb. It compared the February 2023 product review update with the September 2022 product review update. Semsuh is analyzing different data sets, as is RankRanger.

According to Rank Ranger’s calculations, the February 2023 update was more volatile that the September 2022 update, even though the core update overlapped. Below is a chart that shows the average position change for both updates.

Even if you break it down by position groups, the February 2023 update was still more volatile than that of the September 2022 update.

RankRanger also broken it down by niche. Semrush is an example of that. Here is the chart:

To see the volatility per day, you can use the RankRanger Risk Index Tool

Community. You may also know that I monitor the SEO community’s reactions to these algorithm updates. It appeared that there was much “chatter” in the SEO community around February 25 and March 1. March 4th. As you can see, things calmed down after March 4th.

Continue reading the February 2023 Product Reviews Update

Google product reviews update. Google’s product reviews update will promote content that goes beyond the standard templated information found on the internet. Google stated that it will promote product reviews in its search results.

Google does not penalize lower-quality product reviews with “thin content that summarizes a bunch products”. However, if such content is provided and your ranking is affected by other content being promoted, it will feel like a penalty. Google says that this is technically not a penalty for your content. Google rewards sites with better review content and higher rankings than yours.

Technically, the update should only affect product reviews content.

The February update works with more languages than English. It added Spanish, German and French languages to the mix.

How to respond if you are affected. Google offers advice on what you should do if this product reviews update has negatively affected your life. This advice was posted in our original article. Google also provided two new best practices for this update. One is to include more multimedia in your product reviews, and the other is to link to multiple sellers. These two items were posted by Google:

• To support your credibility and strengthen your review, provide evidence, such as audio or visuals of your personal experience with the product.
• To give readers the choice to buy from the merchant of their choice, include links to multiple sellers.

Google has added the following criteria to the March 2022 product review update:

• You can include in-depth information such as the advantages and drawbacks of a particular item, details on how a product performs or how it differs from other versions.
• Get feedback from real users of the products. Show what the product looks like and how it is used.
• You can include additional information, such as audio or visuals, that goes beyond what the manufacturer offers.
• Discuss similar products or what makes a product different from its competition

Google has added three points of advice to the third product reviews update.

• Do product reviews update relevant to comparison reviews and ranked lists? Yes. All review content is subject to product review updates. These best practices are also applicable. You may need to show expertise and strengthen authenticity in a shorter format due to ranked lists. This can be done by citing relevant results and including original images of product tests.
• Do you have any suggestions for reviewing the “best” products? You can recommend a product to be the best overall, or for a specific purpose. Be sure to tell the reader why. What makes the product stand out from other products on the market? What makes the product so well-suited to its intended purpose? Include first-hand evidence to support your claim.
• Should I write reviews that cover multiple products? You can write both a high-quality, ranked list of similar products and single-product reviews for each product. This is a good combination. You should ensure that both the ranked and single-product reviews are well-written.

Previous product review updates. This product review update was the sixth and most recent. It was published on February 21st at 5 PM ET. The first product updates update was published on April 8, 2021. The second was released on December 1, 2021. The third was released March 23, 2022. The fourth was released July 27, 0222. The fifth was released September 20, 2022.

Why we care. You should check your Google rankings if your website contains product reviews. Is your Google organic traffic increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? You will want to make sure that your product reviews are unique and stand out from other sites in the long-term.

We wish you and your company a successful update.

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