April 2023 reviews update: dates, what changed and what to do

What Google changed#

Google released the April 2023 reviews update on 12 April 2023. The dashboard entry states the change in one line: the update “now covers reviews about products, services, and things.” Earlier updates of the same system were announced as product reviews updates, the last in February 2023.

Google’s reviews system page describes the scope today. Reviews “can be about any topic,” from products such as laptops to media such as films and games, to services and businesses such as restaurants. The system evaluates first-party standalone content “written with the purpose of providing a recommendation, giving an opinion, or providing analysis.”

When it rolled out#

The Google Search Status Dashboard logged the release on 12 April 2023 at 09:08 PDT. Google posted on 25 April 2023 that the rollout was complete as of that day, a total of 13 days.

No other announced update overlapped it. The March 2023 core update had finished on 28 March 2023, two weeks before this rollout began, so the two can be separated by date.

What is known about its impact#

Google did not publish impact figures for this update. Its reviews system page notes the system primarily works at page level, but for sites with a substantial amount of review content, “any content within a site might be evaluated.” Treat any percentage you see attributed to this update as a third-party estimate, and check its method.

What site owners should do#

Google’s guidance for review content is its page on writing high quality reviews. The main points:

• Evaluate from a user’s perspective and show you know the thing you are reviewing.
• Provide evidence of your own experience, such as visuals, audio or links.
• Share quantitative measurements and explain what sets something apart from competitors.
• Discuss benefits and drawbacks based on your own original research.
• In ranked lists, explain why a pick is best, with first-hand supporting evidence.

Google adds that content affected by the reviews system may recover over time if you improve it.

How to check whether it affected you#

In Search Console, filter the Performance report to your review pages and compare clicks for the week before 12 April 2023 with the week starting 26 April. Service and local business reviews are worth checking separately, since this was the first update to cover them. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every confirmed update with its dates.

Related updates#

• The February 2023 product reviews update was the one before it.
• The November 2023 reviews update was the next one.