Google has confirmed that structured data is one of the many signals the search company uses to help identify if a page has product reviews content or not. This was first said by Alan Kent of Googe and then confirmed by Danny Sullivan of Google.
Alan Kent from last week on Twitter, "Knee jerk reaction would be to recommend adding structured data to describe the page type."
Knee jerk reaction would be to recommend adding structured data to describe the page type. Because some systems use urls like /page?id=54321 Google cannot rely on meaning in URL structure.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) September 30, 2022
I wanted to clarify that:
There is ranking (Eg product reviews) and presentation (Eg product snippets). Structured data is for the latter. But there are so many interconnected systems - hard to be definitive that SD does not sometimes help a system realize a page references products so might be a review
— Alan Kent (@akent99) October 3, 2022
So I brought Danny Sullivan into the conversation as well:
Structured data isn't used for ranking. Alan was saying it's possible it's used to help identify types of content, just as we use many signals to understand content. That's not the same as ranking, nor would we solely depend on it as not everyone uses it.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) October 3, 2022
Danny explained he would double check:
I have to check but it's possible it's *one of many signals* we might use to determine if something was a product review but it wouldn't be the only thing because, again, not everyone uses it.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) October 3, 2022
And then yes, a few days later, he confirmed on Twitter saying "As for structured data, it might help us better identify if something is a product review, but we do not solely depend on it."
As for structured data, it might help us better identify if something is a product review, but we do not solely depend on it.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) October 7, 2022
Google also added three new examples of the type of sites impacted by product review updates.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Succos.
