February 2023 product reviews update: dates and what to do

What Google changed#

The February 2023 product reviews update was a new run of Google’s product reviews system. Google’s Search Status Dashboard entry says it “applies to the following languages globally,” listing English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese and Polish. That made it broader in language coverage than the September 2022 product reviews update, which the dashboard records as applying to English-language product reviews.

Google did not publish a Search Central blog post for this update. Its ranking systems guide now describes the reviews system as aiming to reward “high quality reviews, content that provides insightful analysis and original research.”

When it rolled out#

The dashboard says the incident began on 21 February 2023 and that the rollout was complete as of 7 March 2023, a 14-day run in US/Pacific time. Both entries are timestamped 22 March 2023, when Google added ranking updates to the dashboard, so they were posted after the rollout ended.

No other confirmed update overlapped it. The March 2023 core update began on 15 March 2023, eight days after this one finished.

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figures for this update: no share of queries affected and no list of affected sites. Treat any percentage attributed to it as a third-party estimate, and check its method.

What site owners should do#

Google’s guidance on writing high quality reviews is the practical checklist:

• Evaluate products from a user’s perspective and show you know what you are reviewing.
• Provide evidence of your own experience, such as visuals, audio or links.
• Share quantitative measurements of how something performs in different categories.
• Explain what sets a product apart from competitors, and its benefits and drawbacks based on your own original research.
• When naming something “the best,” say why, with first-hand supporting evidence.

Google also says to focus on “the quality and originality of your reviews, not the length.”

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 21 February 2023 with 8 to 14 March 2023, the week after completion. The March 2023 core update began on 15 March, so a later window mixes the two updates. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every confirmed update with its dates, so you can rule out a nearby rollout before attributing a change to this one.

Related updates#

• The September 2022 product reviews update was the product reviews update before it.
• The April 2023 reviews update was the next one.
• The March 2023 core update began eight days after it finished.