Through its rich snippets, Google shows users of its search results page, the star rating of the companythrough reviews and ratings extracted from Google My Business and other services. In this way, users can find out how the company is rated before clicking on the result.
This is how the star rating system on Google’s results page works.
These Google star ratings, are based on consumer reviews across different services. To display the rating, Google uses a algorithm and an average which determines how many stars are shown in the results, on a scale of 1 to 5.
Thus, when a person searches Google, they will find a star rating on link listings, ads, and also on rich results, Google My Business and Maps results, and app store results.
Google’s star rating has no effect on either SEO or the website’s ranking on the search results page. However, Google understands that this rating is important to the user, as ratings and stars influence search results and local rankings. It is, in short, a sign of trust and quality for users.
In this regard, any website can display a star rating on the search results page, even those that do not appear on Google My Business. In this case, you should include the “schema markup” (structured data markup) in the website code. Although reviews, either positive or negative, of the website are needed for the stars to appear in the result.
In the case of e-shops and ecommerce websites, it is possible for Google to display the star rating even when structured data markup has not been included in the site’s code. However, in these cases it is recommended to include the markupbecause this way Google will include the products in its listings in the “Buy” tab.
Google stars are also displayed in some Google Ads ads. In this case, they are known as “seller qualifiers” and are a type of automated extension that shows advertisers with high ratings. They are shown on text and purchase ads, as well as free listings. To display the stars in ads, you need to comply with Google Ads quality policies and submit a review feed to Google Merchant Center or have structured data markup on the website.
Finally, these stars are also displayed in local business searches, as well as on Google My Business and Google Maps cards. These are aggregated automatically and are extracted from Google My Business information and reviews the profile has received.
