Reviews are a central part in managing a business’s reputation online. Part of the large overall FTC ruling was a nugget we would like highlight- which is that reviews “scraped” from other websites, may not be part of a business listing anymore on Google- impacting a business’s overall reviews on Google.
According to today’s article on Wired.com, “Regarding Google search, the chairman pointed out that Google “allegedly” scraped user-generated restaurant reviews from Yelp “and led consumers to believe that these reviews were its own.” When websites complained of the practice, he said, “Google allegedly threatened to remove them entirely from Google’s search results.”
The chairman called such practices as “potentially harmful” — practices Google is agreeing to discontinue.
“Going forward, Google will allow websites the ability to opt out of appearing in its vertical properties like Google Local or Product Shopping, without being penalized or demoted in its general search results on Google.com,” the chairman said.”
To read the rest of the Wired article, CLICK HERE.
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