Does Google’s December Product Reviews Update Affect More Than English-Language Sites?

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Google’s product reviews update has been announced to be rolled out in the English language. No mention was made of whether or when it would be distributed in other languages. Mueller answered a question about availability in other languages.

Google Product Reviews Update December 2021

On December 1, 2021, Google announced on Twitter that it would be rolling out a Product Review update that would focus on English-language web pages.

Our December 2021 Product Reviews Update is now available for English language pages. It will take about three weeks to complete. We have also extended our recommendations to product review makers: https://t.co/N4rjJWoaqE

– Google Search Center (@googlesearchc) December 1, 2021

The goal of the update was to improve the quality of reviews shown in Google search, specifically targeting review sites.

A googler tweeted a description of the types of sites that would be targeted for demotion on search rankings:

“Mostly relevant to sites that publish articles that review products.

Think of sites like “best TVs under $ 200” .com.

The goal is to improve the quality and usefulness of the reviews we show to users. “

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Google also released a blog post with further guidance on the product review update which introduced two new best practices that Google’s algorithm would be looking for.

The first best practice was the requirement of proof that a product was actually managed and reviewed.

The second best practice was to provide links to more than one place where a user could purchase the product.

Twitter’s announcement stated that it would be distributed to English-language websites. The blog post did not mention the languages ​​it was distributed in nor did the blog post specify that the product review update was limited to the English language.

Google’s Mueller thinks about updating product reviews

Is the product review update intended for multiple languages?

The person who asked the question was rightly under the impression that the product review update only concerned the English-language search results.

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But he said he sees the volatility of German-language search that appears to be related to Google’s December 2021 product review update.

This is your question:

“I have also seen some movements in German research.

So I was wondering if this product review update might have an effect on websites in other languages ​​as well … because we’ve had a lot of movement and volatility in the last few weeks.

… My question is: Could updating product reviews affect other sites as well? “

John Mueller replied:

“I don’t know … like other languages?

My guess was that this was global and in all languages.

But I don’t know what we specifically announced in the blog post.

But we usually try to get the engineering team to make a decision about it so we can properly document it in the blog post.

I don’t know if this happened with the product reviews update. I don’t remember the full blog post.

But it’s… from my point of view it looks like something we could do in multiple languages ​​and we wouldn’t be tied to English.

And even if it was English initially, it seems like something relevant across the board, and we should be looking to find ways to extend it to other languages ​​as well over time.

So I’m not particularly surprised that you see changes in Germany.

But I don’t even know what we actually announced regarding the locations and languages ​​involved. “

Does updating product reviews affect multiple languages?

While the Twitter announcement specified that the product review update was limited to the English language, the official blog post did not mention those limitations.

Google’s John Mueller offered his opinion that updating product reviews is something Google could do in multiple languages.

One wonders if the tweet was meant to communicate that the update was about to be launched first in English and later in other languages.

It is unclear whether the product reviews update has been rolled out globally in multiple languages. Hopefully, Google will clarify this soon.

Quotes on Google blog posts About updating product reviews

Updating product reviews and your site reviews

Google’s new product review guidelines

Write reviews of high quality products

John Mueller discusses whether the product review update is GlobalWatch Mueller answers the question at 14:00

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