anyone else seen the change here?
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2375474?hl=en-GB
Quote
Where the ratings come from
Seller ratings are based on an aggregate of reviews and information from the following sources:
Customer reviews collected by Google Shopping: Google Shopping aggregates reviews from a broad base of sources across the Internet. Google Certified Shops reviews are also included, where available.
StellaService: StellaService is an independent company that rates the customer service performance of online businesses.
Google Certified Shops: Google Certified Shops is a free certification programme that can improve your conversion rate and average order size by reassuring potential customers that you offer a great shopping experience.
I don't know when it happened, and as far as I can see, having read the StellaService gumph, that basically means if you're outside the US, then you need to be running on Google shopping (which is now paid) or, er, well no, because certified shops is currently US only?
At present other review providers are still being pulled in in the UK, but I don't know for how long, apparently some Review Centre clients got an email saying their reviews would no longer count...
>apparently some Review Centre clients got an email saying their reviews would no longer count...
Any more details on that or any confirmation?
it apparently said
QuoteSadly we have no control over what or how Google pull third party reviews. Google has made several changes recently to how they display third party reviews and due to these changes they no longer show our reviews.
Came via a third party though so I can't ask for the original!
The page has definitely changed since I last read it, and this is an interesting read http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/09/04/the-nielsen-of-amazon-orders-data-stellaservice-ranks-e-commerce-and-google-wants-in-startup/
but I don't see any evidence at the moment that brands stars are getting hit in the UK although this came to a UK based company.
The change happened some time after my 24th:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130524091233/https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2375474?hl=en-GB#
Quote
Where the ratings come from
Ratings are based on customer reviews collected by Google Shopping, which aggregates reviews from a broad base of sources across the Internet. Google Wallet reviews are also included, where applicable. Though the reviews are aggregated on Google Shopping, seller ratings extensions also include reviews for non-product retailers.
later.....
QuoteYour campaign must be opted in to Google search.
The customer must be searching on Google.com, Google.co.uk, Google.de, Google.fr or Google.nl.
You must be an advertiser that provides customers with paid goods or services, or one that enables the buying or selling of products or services by way of a marketplace.
Your business must have at least 30 unique reviews, each from the past 12 months, and a composite rating of 3.5 stars or higher on Google Shopping.
At least 10 of these reviews must be in the customer's Google interface language.
Google Shopping seller ratings consist of an aggregate ratings score with snippets of customer reviews from third-party sites and Google Wallet.
bolded by me... that was the only reference to third party I saw in the old version. I would be surprised if they did that in th UK.
I am often surprised mind!