Google: A Mix Of Positive & Negative Reviews More Trustworthy

Nov 25, 2021 - 8:21 am 3 by
Filed Under Google Maps

Google Reviews Mixed Bag

Google has updated the Google Business Profiles Get Reviews help document to explicitly say that having a mix of positive and negative reviews are more trustworthy, than I guess just all positive reviews. Joy Hawkins spotted this and posted on Twitter saying "I know countless studies have shown this but it's nice to see Google acknowledge it too."

Here is the new line that was added to the document:

"Value all reviews: Reviews are useful for potential customers when they’re honest and objective. Customers find a mix of positive and negative reviews more trustworthy. You can always respond to a review to show the customers that you care and provide additional context. If the review doesn't follow our posting guidelines, you can request to remove it."

The Wayback Machine does not have that line in the October snapshot of that web page.

Google is saying it values "all reviews" both positive and negative. In fact, it is going as far as saying if there is a weird or unnatural level of positive versus negative reviews, Google might not deem it trusted?

So maybe having some negative reviews sprinkled in, isn't so bad - despite it maybe hurting the owners ego?

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Ads

Google Ads Suspended 90% More Advertisers This Year & Removed 5.5 Billion Ads

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Updates Its Definition Of Top Ads; They May Not Be At The Top

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Adds Share Ad Preview For Performance Max

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Can Search For Your Blockchain Wallet Addresses (Bitcoin & More)

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

New Google Shopping & Maps Search Features

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 27, 2024

Mar 27, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Previous Story: Google Issued Credits For Shopping Ads CPC Bug