Seller reviews are a key part in convincing your customers to buy from you, convincing a customer to buy from you is not only to be the cheapest price or provide free delivery, it’s also about reviews. Reviews that sometimes your competitor will not have, giving you the upper hand in selling more products.
Having your reviews on Google Shopping requires a few criteria. Reviews are compiled from multiple sources such as the merchant site, 3rd party review sites, editors and users. Today I will explain to you in detail how to set up seller reviews in three different ways, each having their positives and negatives.
There is a big distinction between product reviews and seller reviews. Product reviews are ratings for the product itself while seller reviews are about the service, experience with the retailer.
Benefits of Store Ratings
- Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR): Store ratings in-text ads have been shown to increase CTR by an average of 2% on the Google Search Network.
- Performance Measurement: Merchants can track the impact of store ratings using automated asset performance reporting in Google Ads.
- Enhanced Trust: Displaying a store rating helps establish credibility with shoppers, leading to better conversion rates.
Where and How Store Ratings Are Displayed
1. Unpaid (Organic) Listings
- Rich Results: Store ratings may appear alongside a merchant’s name in search results, displaying star ratings and review counts.
- Free Listings: When customers interact with a free product listing, store ratings provide additional credibility to the business.
2. Google Ads
- Text ads display store ratings, showcasing the business’s reputation and service quality.
- A minimum rating of 3.5 stars is required for store ratings to appear on ads.
How to View Store Rating Performance in Google Ads
To analyze the performance of ads with store ratings:
- Log in to Google Ads.
- Click the Campaigns icon.
- Expand the Assets section.
- Click Assets.
- Apply a filter by selecting Source > Automatically created.
- Navigate to Account-level automated assets via the three-dot menu.
How to Participate in Store Ratings
Google collects store ratings from various sources, including:
- Google Customer Reviews (managed through Google Merchant Center)
- Supported Review Partners (listed below)
- Google-led shopping research
Getting Started
- Sign up for Google Customer Reviews through Merchant Center.
- Work with a supported review partner to gather post-purchase reviews.
- Ensure your store has enough reviews to generate a store rating (typically 100+ reviews per country in the last 24 months).
Where Store Ratings Come From
Google calibrates and filters ratings to ensure consistency and prevent spam. Store ratings are sourced from:
- Google Customer Reviews
- Third-party review aggregators
- Google-led research on shopping experiences
Supported Review Partners
- Ausgezeichnet.org
- Bazaarvoice
- Birdeye
- Bizrate Insights
- eKomi
- Feedaty
- Feedback Company
- Feefo
- KiyOh
- Klantenvertellen
- Okendo
- PowerReviews
- ProductReview.com.au
- RA Trustvox
- Reco.se
- Reputation.com
- ResellerRatings
- Reviews.io
- Reevoo
- Shopper Approved
- ShopVote.de
- ShopAuskunft
- Sitejabber
- Stamped.io
- Trusted Shops
- TrustPilot
- TurnTo
- Verified Reviews
- Yotpo
How to Check If Your Store Has a Rating
To check if your store has a rating, replace {yourwebsite} in the following URL with your homepage domain: https://www.google.com/shopping/ratings/account/lookup?q={yourwebsite}
If your website has different domains by country, repeat the process for each variation.
Troubleshooting Store Rating Issues
Incorrect Ratings
- If your store has incorrect ratings, contact the third-party review website directly.
- Ensure your store name and domain in Google Merchant Center match those on review aggregator sites.
Missing Store Ratings
If store ratings are not appearing:
- Confirm that 100+ unique reviews have been collected in a given country.
- Ensure your store’s name and domain match across Google Ads and Merchant Center.
- Verify that you have an average rating of 3.5+ stars for ad display eligibility.
Shopping Experience Scorecard and Store Insights Panel
The Shopping Experience Scorecard evaluates shipping speed, return policies, competitive pricing, and payment options. These metrics, displayed in the Store Insights Panel, help customers make informed shopping decisions.