Structured data - reviews & aggregateRating
-
Hi all,
We recently implemented structured data for reviews, specifically aggregateRating, on a few of our pages as a test. An example page is: https://www.vouchedfor.co.uk/financial-advisor-ifa/cambridge/01740-duncan-hannay-robertson
Initially, this seemed to work well and we could see the star ratings and review number showing in Google search results. However, now it seems to have disappeared. Search console and the testing tool seem to suggest the structured data looks fine - when I posted this in the webmasters forum, the response I got was that it was because we're trying to mark what google deems a 'person' as a 'local business', which triggers their spam warning. And you can't have reviews for a person, apparently.
I guess we're unique in that we're a review platform for professional advisers (for example, financial advisers). So whilst the profile is for a person, it's also a business - the reviews are for the professional services clients receive.
Feels unfair to be penalised just because Google hasn't thought of our use case! We'd love to be able to showcase our review content, but feels like we're running out of ideas here.
If anyone has any ideas for how we can make this work, it would be hugely appreciated!!
-
My movies website Filmbreez is facing issues with structured data markup on Google. The problem arises because they're a review platform for professional advisers, and Google interprets their profiles as trying to mark individuals as local businesses, triggering a spam warning.
To resolve this:
Review Google's guidelines and adjust your markup.
Differentiate between individual and business profiles.
Aggregate reviews at the business level.
Consult an SEO specialist.
Submit a reconsideration request.
Explore alternative ways to showcase your reviews.
Compliance with Google's guidelines is crucial, and seeking expert help can be beneficial. -
I can understand your frustration with the structured data issue you're facing on your review platform. It's unfortunate when unique use cases like yours run into obstacles due to predefined categories set by search engines.
Regarding showcasing your review content, one potential solution could be to clearly differentiate between the person and the business aspects on your pages. You could consider having separate structured data for the individual professional (the "person") and the professional services (the "business"). This way, Google might better understand the context of the reviews and the type of entity they apply to.
Additionally, you might want to reach out to Google directly or consider consulting with SEO experts who specialize in structured data. They could provide insights and strategies tailored to your specific situation.
On another note, if you're looking to expand your reach and showcase your review platform further, you might consider partnerships or collaborations with websites like Filmbreez. They could offer opportunities for cross-promotion and reaching a broader audience interested in your unique content.
I hope you find a solution that allows you to continue showcasing your valuable review content effectively!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Why would the review count be different between the Ad and the Organic result?
A client inquired about this after finding that their review count was different on their Google Ad that appeared in the map pack compared to their organic result right below it. I am stumped so any thoughts or reasoning as to why this is the case would be appreciated. See attached screenshot! Lptujep
Reviews and Ratings | | BrianAutoshopSEO0 -
How to make Google show reviews from Facebook and Google My Business?
I wonder if there is anything I can do to increase the chance that Google shows stars that indicate the average score of our reviews from Facebook or Google MyBusiness for the keywords where we rank nr. 1, for instance our brand name?
Reviews and Ratings | | AudunBK0 -
Beware of Fishy 4-Star Reviews
Hello to all our folks who market local businesses! I came across something this week that I felt was important enough to share. Hopefully, if you're a Moz blog reader or a Moz Local customer, you're already well aware of the importance of monitoring your Google My Business reviews on an ongoing basis, responding to them as they come in, whether they're positive or negative. And, you know to be on the lookout for spam reviews. But a strange new form of spam seems to be emerging that might be really easy to overlook at first. We're all familiar with the spammer who leaves you fake 1-star reviews for the purpose of harming your brand. But you might not immediately be suspicious of a 4-star review, or even a string of 4-star reviews until you realize your former 5 star rating has been whittled down by a succession of less-than-perfect, fake reviews. The worst thing, I think, about this tactic, is that it can be overlooked. Jason Brown has captured this phenomenon in his recent post: http://reviewfraud.org/4-star-negative-review-attacks/ and I highly recommend reading it and paying extra attention to any 4-star reviews companies you market may be receiving. I'd suggest, if you find this going on with any of the GMB listings you manage, you report it to Jason so that he can continue to track this activity. He's a Google forum TC, and, perhaps, with enough evidence, he might eventually be able to make a case to Google about this practice.
Reviews and Ratings | | MiriamEllis5 -
Potential Ethical Conflict: Google My Business Paid Reviews
I've been sitting on this for a while due to The Busies. So if this is nothing new, feel free to lash me several times with a somewhat moist noodle. And in that event, I promise not to make it weird. 😉 I use the Rewards application, from Google. Long story short, you fill in some demographic information and you receive Google Play credit when you complete surveys. It's a nice way to get a book, app, or music for little effort. But after giving a friend of mine a ride to a local hotel, I've received multiple survey requests that relate to that hotel brand. And it asks me to drop a local review, for extra Google Play credit. How is that ethical? Their own docs clearly state there is no way to pay for better local ranking, but they also admit reviews can improve local ranking. So isn't soliciting reviews, for any sort of compensation, at least a bit unethical? What are your thoughts? Attached are screenshots of the solicitation and GMB documentation. w4hEe
Reviews and Ratings | | Travis_Bailey1 -
What is the best online reputation management software for generating legitimate Google (and other online) reviews?
Hello! Does anyone have a good experience with using an online reputation management tool to help generate online reviews for a Google My Business listing, Facebook, etc? The reason I ask about a review software is because of my client's age demographic (50+), so we need to have an automated system to request reviews from their clients and to make it simple for them to leave reviews.
Reviews and Ratings | | eport122 -
Rich snippet not enabled, on aggregated review pages
We have a website where you can book on restaurants, and afterwards you can review the restaurant you visited. So we have this page: https://www.r2n.dk/restauranter/restaurant-bonjour-vietnam (We have one for each restaurant). English version https://www.r2n.dk/en/restauranter/restaurant-bonjour-vietnam The page is marked up in microData, and when I test the site in google structured data it shows no errors https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.r2n.dk%2Frestauranter%2Frestaurant-bonjour-vietnam . But the page does not show up on google with a rich snippet (The review stars). I am thinking it might be one of the following things. Either it is because there is multiple "Restaurants" on the page, where the others appear in recommended restaurants, where we also marked them up as much as possible. Or else it could be because the reviews are hidden behind the "Anmeldelser"(Reviews) button, where they are retrieved via a ajax request, but if this was the case I don't get why this other site where the reviews does not appear is working fine: https://www.just-eat.dk/restaurants-bonjourvietnam Also it is a week since we finaly correctly implemented the structured data on the page, so I don't know if I should wait a longer time(Though the page has been cached by google multiple times since we updated the code)
Reviews and Ratings | | Christian_T0 -
How can a business turn off the Google+ review feature?
Is there a way to disable the review feature on our Google+ page whilst still retaining the rest of the Google+ features?
Reviews and Ratings | | CostumeD0 -
Google maps, G+ and Google reviews on right hand side of results page:
Hi Guys Happy Monday! I have been having a real headache trying to the get that panel on the right hand side of the Google results showing up when my company brand is entered as a search query. From all the research that I have done, it looks as though you can't have this panel showing unless you serve customers face to face in your place of work. Is this necessarily true? Our biggest competitor has a very stripped down version of this box which just contains the image from their Google+ page and also a link to their wikipedia page but the point is it shows up when you search for their brand... ours doesn't? Has anyone else recently configured this to work for their website? Any advice? Cheers in advance! Jamie
Reviews and Ratings | | SanjidaKazi0