Today, Google formally announced several updates for Google Trusted Stores, the free ratings service Google launched in 2011, just ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
AdWords Seller Ratings Integration
Google Trusted Stores is now among the services that help to power seller ratings, which show on AdWords text ads as well as Product Listing Ads. Here is an example of how the ratings details display for a Google Trusted Store:
In most cases, businesses must have at least 30 unique reviews from the past 12 months and an overall rating of at least 3.5 stars. Retailers participating in Google Trusted Stores don’t have to do anything on their end to integrate with AdWords Seller Rating. They can choose to opt out of showing Seller Ratings by filling out a form online.
In Google Shopping, the Google Trusted Store icon still appears in Product Listing Ads. Seller Ratings stars appear within Google Shopping, but for now, clicking on the reviews link continues to display a list of product-specific reviews from various merchants. This may change in the future.
StellaService Integration Now Live In US
Rumored to be rolling out at some point this fall, Google has now officially launched the integration of StellaService with Google Trusted Stores in the US. Retailers that have been rated by StellaService, which measures the customer service experience by shopping anonymously at online stores. When consumers hover over the Google Trusted Stores badge on a retailer’s site or click on the ratings link in an AdWords ad of a merchant that has been rated by StellaService, they’ll see a performance summary that includes returns, delivery, and customer support responsiveness metrics.
Global Expansion
Google has recently introduced pilot programs for Google Trusted Stores in the UK, France, Germany, and Australia. Only shoppers located in a particular country will see the badge for that country.
The Google Trusted Store updates follows Google’s announcement of several updates to Google Shopping ahead of the holiday retail crunch as it vies for consumer attention and product search share, most critically, with Amazon.
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