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As Alan Kent of Google recently said on Twitter “a merchant’s product page with user reviews is not considered a “product review page” in this context.”

Identify product reviews. Google also recently clarified that structured data may help Google identify product review-type content, but it is one of many ways Google identifies such content. Danny Sullivan wrote, “as for structured data, it might help us better identify if something is a product review, but we do not solely depend on it.”

Released on Sept. 12, it took two full weeks to roll out. And it came three days after the helpful content update finished rolling out on Sept. 9. Rollout complete. According to Google’s search ranking update page, “The rollout was complete as of September 26, 2022.” The page seems to have been updated about an hour ago. September 2022 Core Update impact. Based on data from tracking tools, the September 2022 core update hit fast, but was less impactful than previous updates. While there was some rank volatility, the consensus was that it was weaker than past Google core updates.

“Although the Helpful Content Update did not impact most sites, it could be the case with the Google Core Update that is currently rolling out. If you have other quality issues as well as unhelpful content, the combination may be enough to cause a loss of traffic.”

Both updates were fairly large and had big impacts for many many sites. Which one impacted which, despite what Google said, can be hard to pin point.

It is important to note that this penalty is applied on a page by page basis. Meaning, the page itself will be demoted in Google, but not the entire site.

Small app banners. Generally, best practice to ensure that not more than 1/4th of the mobile screen is taken up.

As some competitors dial back their spend during the turndown, advertisers who stay the course are likely to realize big benefits.