In April, Google migrated away from Google Trusted Stores, Google’s e-commerce certification program and replaced it with the new Google Customer Reviews.
Retailers, merchants and e-commerce platforms can continue to request and collect ratings and feedback from their customers through Google Customer Reviews. The big change is that the new program is now easily accessible through Google Merchant Center where advertisers are already managing their products for shopping ads. The new program will continue to provide star ratings and badges for advertising but will ditch the $1,000 consumer purchase protection component of the Trusted Stores.
With Google Customer Reviews, sellers are able to display star ratings within their search and shopping ads and the Google Customer Reviews badge on their website. This ability to add a trust factor to product ads and landing pages continues to be a great way for advertisers to bolster click-thru-rates and conversions. Studies continue to show that consumer reviews are highly trusted (as much as a personal recommendation in most cases) and star ratings are often the first factor a consumer takes into account when judging a business.
For retailers looking for an easy way to collect customer feedback and leverage it for ongoing marketing efforts, Google Customer Reviews is a seamless, clean way to gather the information directly from your online shoppers and direct that toward future advertising efforts.
If you were already using Google Trusted Stores, your account and information has been migrated automatically to Google Customer Reviews and is now accessible through the Merchant Center. If you are new to this and are interested in signing up for the free service, you can register for the program within your Merchant Center account. The program requires your checkout process meet their technical requirements as well as the overall program policies. If you are running paid advertising already, your PPC team or agency can help you set this up.
Helpful Links:
Getting Started with Google Customer Reviews
5 Tips for Getting the Most Out of your Company Reviews
