Get to Know about What is Big in Google’s December 2021 Product Review Update

In December 2021, Google started rolling out its other product review update of the year. Google had completed its core November update at the end of the month. The next day, it launched the product review update. The company mentioned that it would take them 2-3 weeks approx to implement this new update in the ranking algorithm. Usually, when Google releases a new update, most of the changes related to the new feature can be seen within the first few days of the announcement.

Was December’s Product Review Update Bigger than that of April’s?

RankRanger did research on the volatility of December’s core update, showing us how the product review update in December was significantly more volatile than that of April’s. According to this research, the finance and health sectors experience the most fluctuations in the top ten results. RankRanger also showed the winners and the losers.

The same research was conducted by SemRush, and the results were no different. The same level of volatility and fluctuations were seen in December’s variant of the product review update. They mentioned that the volatility highs were much higher in December than in April. However, SemRush also mentioned that if we take a closer look at the overall volatility rate, April’s volatility was 44% greater than December.

The Impact of Google’s Core Product Review Update

As mentioned earlier, this year was comparatively more volatile for Google’s product review updates as compared to the previous years. We have seen many fluctuations in terms of new algorithm updates in 2021 than in other years. Take the November 2021 Core Update, for example. 

Google had just finished rolling out November’s update when it launched another update in December 2021. In fact, the product review update was launched within 24 hours of the core update. The data provided by SemRush and RankRanger differ a lot, although there were quite a few similarities. One thing we have seen in 2021 is that the year showed too many fluctuations and an extreme level of volatility in terms of Google’s algorithm updates. SEO experts and webmasters were often in confusion when it came to the confirmed and unconfirmed updates.

SemRush told that November’s Core Update was definitely bigger and more volatile than December’s product review update. But, that’s obvious knowing that each update was totally different in terms of how it affects the search ranking algorithm. From what we saw on SemRush’s chart, it was clear that December’s update did not show a great level of movement as compared to November’s core update.

Read More: Latest Google Algorithm Updates You Need to Know for 2022

December’s Product Review Update: All You Should Know

We have already mentioned how December’s product review update had a significant impact on the websites that post review-based content. And, its effect was felt more than the April review update. Every website that was affected by the December product review update must have noticed significant changes in its site ranking. One thing is clear: Google is prioritizing the quality of the product reviews so that people using search engines can find accurate and 100% authentic reviews of their searched products. The goal is to ensure that your customers get the right description of the products with detailed reviews. 

Google has ensured that each website affected by the product review update is prepared for it. It has given advice to the website that was hit the most. These are the two core aspects that Google focused on after rolling out the December product review update:

• Make your review as authentic and detailed as possible by providing audio, visuals, links, and other multimedia content. The review should be 100% unbiased and detailed so that it is easier for your audience to understand the product. If possible, you should insert links that talk about your experience using the product.
• You must also add links to different resellers to provide readers with a chance to make a purchase from the seller of their choice. Usually, webmasters publish the review with a link to one merchant. While the review must be detailed and 100% accurate, it doesn’t give people the option to select from different sellers.

The goal of this update was to promote the content available in the template forms on Google. The search engine will now prioritize product reviews that offer value to the readers and the best advice. Note that Google won’t penalize the websites posting short summaries of a bunch of products, but there is a good chance that websites with high-quality product reviews that meet Google’s latest ranking standards might be promoted to the top position. So, don’t be surprised if your website gets demoted just because other product reviews performed better than yours. While there is no penalty for websites posting thin content, it definitely feels like a penalty when your website gets demoted.