As a digital marketer, you must be well aware how important reviews are in the context of making online purchases. Any business that has favourable online reviews showing up in search results will get a clear edge over other competitors. More people today are buying online after going through available reviews.
Previously, Google listed just about any review that was published on the brand’s Google listing. That meant that anyone could leave a review about a brand. It could be from an authentic buyer or simply by someone who has no connection with the brand in question! Sometimes, competing brands published damning reviews to mislead potential buyers.
That will change when Google’s new feature, Verified Customer Reviews, come into play. It is very much like Twitter accounts of celebrities which show a blue tick for profiles that are verified through mobile numbers. In this case, users and buyers of a brand have to sign up at something called the Merchant Center account. Brands have the option of providing a badge on their website which users can click on to sign up.
The sign up process leads to a survey, detailing your experience of buying from the brand. You can write your review and upload it on the portal. If you are a verified buyer, Google will publish your review on the search results, just as it did previously. The only difference is that this time around, only verified buyers can write reviews.
With so much riding on customer reviews, this is a feature of offering authentic reviews from Google that most digital marketers will welcome wholeheartedly.
As an intern I must say that it’s an amazing place to gain knowledge and practice new experience.