Reviews from the Web Feature
Google is bringing a new feature to its search results calling it as Reviews from the Web. This implies that the Google’s search results will now display reviews from third-party websites. Until now, Google brings up reviews related to the search term from trusted websites such as IMBD. But, now, it will collect reviews from up to three sites for any place, movie or TV show. This also implies that the user-generated reviews can be displayed on the search engine.
Critic Reviews
The feature gives the user-written reviews an opportunity to be read by other people. Reviews from the Web will be adding to local Knowledge Panels in addition to the “best-of lists and critic reviews features.”
“Today, we’re introducing Reviews from the web to local Knowledge Panels, to accompany our recently launched best-of lists and critic reviews features. Whether your site publishes editorial critic reviews, best-of places lists, or aggregates user ratings, this content can be featured in local Knowledge Panels when users are looking for places to go,” reads a company blog post.
Your Site may also be Eligible
This new feature of Reviews from the web will arrive as an update to the Google app. Google also provides guidelines as to how site owners can include the user rating from their websites to this feature. If you own a site that includes user-generated ratings and reviews, you may be eligible to appear in the new reviews. Your content should be marked up with review Schema and you need to meet the criteria for inclusion as mentioned by Google.
Appear in Knowledge Panel
As Google says that there will be three review sources, the order will be determined by ‘relevance’. They will appear across numerous local verticals. On the desktop, the Reviews from the Web will appear in the Knowledge Panel just like critic reviews. In mobile, they will appear above critic reviews and best-of-lists in a horizontal manner.
Google has also announced the new ‘Shop the Look’ feature which is currently in its testing phase. It allows users to search and shop for specific outfits and home décor options. These new features by Google are a move towards making its search engine a complete destination for customers.
Last month, Google included ‘In Apps’ search mode for Android smartphones. This allows one to quickly find content from the installed apps. This feature works even when user is not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data.
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