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

What Google changed#

Google released the November 2023 reviews update on 8 November 2023. The dashboard entry carried the notable change: “we will no longer be posting about future updates on the status dashboard,” because the reviews system “is now being improved at a regular and ongoing pace.”

Google had flagged this in its Q&A on Search updates on 2 November 2023, saying the update would “mark a point when we’ll no longer be giving periodic notifications” about the reviews system. Google’s reviews system page describes the system as rewarding reviews that provide “insightful analysis and original research” by experts or enthusiasts. It evaluates first-party review content such as articles and blog posts, not third-party user reviews on product pages.

When it rolled out#

The Google Search Status Dashboard logged the release on 8 November 2023 at 08:59 PST. Google posted on 7 December 2023 that the rollout was complete as of that day, a total of 29 days.

It overlapped the November 2023 core update, which started on 2 November and finished on 28 November 2023. In its Q&A, Google said it tries to separate notable updates but that “it’s not always possible.” A change to review pages in November 2023 may come from either update.

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 2 November 2023 with the week after 7 December 2023, so both overlapping rollouts are excluded. Checking review and non-review pages separately helps tell the two updates apart. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every confirmed update with its dates.

Related updates#

• The November 2023 core update overlapped this rollout.
• The April 2023 reviews update was the reviews update before it.