--- title: "September 2022 product reviews update: dates and what to do" url: https://seomadman.com/updates/september-2022-product-reviews-update section: updates language: en published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z author: Adam Hafez topics: ["Ecommerce SEO", "Content strategy"] --- # September 2022 product reviews update: dates and what to do ## The short answer Google's September 2022 product reviews update started on 20 September 2022 and finished on 26 September 2022, a six-day rollout. It applied to English-language product reviews and ran entirely inside the September 2022 core update. Google had flagged it in August as another step toward high-quality, original reviews, and published no impact figures. ## Key takeaways - The Search Status Dashboard dates the rollout from 20 September 2022 to 26 September 2022, a six-day run. - Google said the update applied to English-language product reviews. - It ran inside the September 2022 core update, and both finished on 26 September 2022. - Google announced in August 2022 that another reviews update would come in the following weeks. - Google published no Search Central blog post and no impact figures for this update. ## What Google changed The September 2022 product reviews update was a new run of Google's product reviews system. The [Search Status Dashboard](https://status.search.google.com/incidents/ZYwuBXDhkwaoop2V5epM) entry says it "applies to English-language product reviews." Google did not publish a Search Central blog post for it. Google signposted it a month earlier. On 18 August 2022, announcing the helpful content update, Google wrote that "in the coming weeks, we'll roll out another update to make it even easier to find high-quality, original reviews." The same post said the reviews work aimed to show "more helpful, in-depth reviews based on first-hand expertise." ## When it rolled out The dashboard says the incident began on 20 September 2022 and that the rollout was complete as of 26 September 2022, a six-day run in US/Pacific time. The entries are timestamped 22 March 2023, when Google added ranking updates to the dashboard. It ran entirely inside the September 2022 core update, which began on 12 September 2022 and also finished on 26 September 2022. A ranking change on review pages that week could come from either update. ## 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 whether it separates this update from the overlapping core update. ## 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. - Cover comparable products and explain which might suit which uses. - Discuss benefits and drawbacks based on your own original research. Google 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 12 September 2022 with the week starting 3 October 2022, one week after both updates finished. If review pages moved and the rest of the site did not, this update is the more likely cause. The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists every confirmed update with its dates. ## Related updates - The [July 2022 product reviews update](/updates/july-2022-product-reviews-update) was the product reviews update before it. - The [February 2023 product reviews update](/updates/february-2023-product-reviews-update) was the next one. - The [September 2022 core update](/updates/september-2022-core-update) overlapped it and finished the same day. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did the September 2022 product reviews update start and finish? The Google Search Status Dashboard says the incident began on 20 September 2022 and that the rollout was complete as of 26 September 2022, a six-day run in US/Pacific time. ### Which languages did the September 2022 product reviews update cover? The dashboard entry says it applied to English-language product reviews. The next product reviews update, in February 2023, extended to 11 languages. ### How do I tell it apart from the September 2022 core update? You often cannot from dates alone: the core update ran from 12 to 26 September 2022 and this one from 20 to 26 September. Compare review pages with the rest of the site to see which pattern fits. ## Sources 1. [September 2022 product reviews update (incident)](https://status.search.google.com/incidents/ZYwuBXDhkwaoop2V5epM) - Google Search Status Dashboard (primary) 2. [More content by people, for people in Search](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/more-content-by-people-for-people-in-search/) - Google (primary) 3. [Write high quality reviews](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/ecommerce/write-high-quality-reviews) - Google Search Central (primary)