Google Store Ratings
(Formerly Google Seller Ratings)
What Are Google Store Ratings?
Google Store Ratings are an aggregated star rating between 1-5 stars that show on Google Ads. You’ll normally see them on CPC text ads, Google Shopping ads, and the free shopping listings. Get them for free or get help from one of the Google-approved companies below.
Free vs. Paid Google Store Ratings (Short Version)
[Long Version Here – jump ahead]
| Company | # of Review Requests | Cost for Store Ratings | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopper Approved (Recommended) | Unlimited | $119/mo | Shopper Approved |
| Verified Reviews | 400 | $99/mo | Verified Reviews |
| Yotpo | 500 | $169/mo | Yotpo |
| Trustpilot | 200 | $259/mo | Trustpilot |
| Feefo | 200 | $119/mo | Feefo |
| Google Customer Reviews* | Unlimited | $0 | Google Customer Reviews |
Examples of Google Store Ratings
Google Store Ratings are the star ratings that show on Google CPC text ads and on Google Shopping. Service-based businesses, ecommerce sites, and local retail businesses can all gather store ratings. Below are 3 images illustrating what Google Store Ratings look like. Store ratings show as an aggregated 1-5 star rating along with the number of ratings. Sometimes you may see a qualifier like “Average Delivery Time” or “Order Accuracy”, etc. For ecommerce sites, Google Shopping ads & the free shopping listings show the ratings and a percentage.
Store Ratings on Google CPC Text Ads
Store Ratings vs. Product Ratings
Store Ratings on Google Shopping
That can be you collecting Store Ratings
Benefits of Google Store Ratings
You may be wondering why should you pay extra money every month to get the stars? Well, the real answer is you may be making more money and your average CPC (cost-per-click) should drop. This would be highly likely if you are in an industry where none of the competition is doing this.
In addition, you should “Add Note” within Google Ads on the day you have started getting the stars on your CPC text ads or Google Shopping and check to see if conversion rates have increased starting that day. Also, you can embed your Store Reviews onto your website and build trustworthiness. Most store rating aggregators include that feature.
Google Store Rating Criteria
- Average, composite, rating of 3.5 or more stars for text ads
- For most merchants, ratings will display after collecting 100 or more eligible reviews within the last 24 months from Google Customer Reviews or 3rd party review partners.
- The ad’s visible URL domain must match the domain for which we have the ratings
Each country you advertise in gets its own Store Ratings. For instance, if you have 1000 ratings in USA, but only 150 in UK, 1000 will show on Google.com while 150 will show on Google.co.uk. Also, each rating must have its own comment from within the country you’re searching in.
[SIDE NOTE: 100 reviews is a lot for a mom & pop company, so if you need help, contact me on live chat. Alternatively, you can send a special URL to all your past customers to get a jump start to reach the 100 mark].
Learn more about the store rating criteria here.
How to Get Google Store Ratings
(formerly Google Store Ratings)
Need to learn how to add store ratings to Google Ads? We will be talking about Free vs. Paid store ratings, how to get them, and show examples. Google gathers store ratings from the 29 approved 3rd party review partners, Google Customer Reviews, Google Consumer Surveys, and Google-led shopping research. All ratings are syndicated into your Google Ads account and show on your CPC text ads and Google Shopping (if you run an ecommerce site).
List of Best Google 3rd Party Review Partners (aka Store Ratings Companies)
$179/mo
Unlimited Reviews!!!
Shopper Approved offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to increase trust, traffic, and conversions for your business. By leveraging their integrated solutions, you can enhance your online presence and credibility.
Shopper Approved’s partnership with Google and Bing ensures that your review stars appear in search results, driving up to 107% more clicks and 44% more sales. Their easy-to-use platform and proven results make it an essential tool for any business looking to boost its online performance.
For every 100 emails review requests, you can expect 27-33 reviews. With Shopper Approved had the lowest cost-per-review.
1-Click Integrations
$99/mo
400 Review Requests Per Month
Pricing is based on # of orders.
Verified Reviews helps businesses collect and manage customer reviews. Their service operates in 44 countries and 17 languages. They automate the process of sending surveys to customers after they make a purchase, and they moderate the reviews to ensure they are genuine and appropriate.
Verified Reviews can then publish these reviews on Google My Business, Google Shopping, and other platforms to boost a business’s online presence.
$169/mo
500 Review Requests Per Month
Pricing is mainly based on monthly orders.
Yotpo is a company that helps businesses leverage the power of customer reviews to drive sales and build trust with their customers [Yotpo Reviews]. They offer a suite of tools that include collecting high-quality reviews, managing and analyzing them, and then strategically displaying them across various platforms like a company website or Google Shopping. Yotpo even provides features to analyze customer sentiment and identify trends in the reviews to help businesses gain valuable insights and improve their products and marketing strategies.
$259/mo
200 Review Requests Per Month
Subscriptions must be paid annually
Trustpilot for Business is a robust platform designed to help companies collect, manage, and showcase customer reviews. Trustpilot is AWESOME if you have a high-volume eCommerce website doing 10,000+ transactions per month. It’s built for medium to large-sized businesses.
Businesses can attract new customers by showcasing reviews through widgets, social media tools, and marketing assets. The platform offers features like review invitations, response management, SEO benefits, and detailed analytics to gain insights from customer feedback. Integration with tools like Salesforce, Shopify, and WooCommerce further enhances its utility for businesses.
$119/mo
200 Review Requests Per Month
Headquartered in UK
Feefo is a leading customer feedback platform that helps businesses collect genuine, verified reviews. With its advanced tools and analytics, Feefo enables companies to enhance their reputation, improve customer relationships, and boost sales.
The platform offers customizable review requests, insightful reporting, and seamless integrations with various e-commerce and marketing systems. Feefo’s focus on authenticity and transparency ensures that customer feedback is reliable and valuable for business growth.
$0/mo
Unlimited Review Requests Per Month
You’ll have to hire your own programmer!
Google Customer Reviews allow merchants to collect valuable feedback from customers. After making a purchase, customers can opt-in to receive a survey about their shopping experience. The reviews collected contribute to a merchant’s overall store rating, which can be displayed on their website and in Google Shopping. This helps build trust and attract more customers.
Choosing a 3rd Party Review Partner
Many of the thirty 3rd-party review partners (store rating companies) are not in English (eg. Japanese, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, etc). Of the 29 Google Approved aggregators, we narrowed the selection to 5 English-speaking companies. Make sure that whoever you choose fits your budget and what you’re looking for. Don’t get upsold into features you’ll never use. In addition to Store Ratings, there are 25 3rd party reviews aggregators approved by Google to display “Product Ratings” on Google Shopping PLA ads (we’ll talk about this later).
Quick Tip
If you’re using Google Ads, then Google Store Ratings can definitely help increase sales.
If you have no intention of using Google Ads, then you probably don’t need Google Store Ratings.
BEWARE – Read 1st before buying from a 3rd party review partner!
- Do NOT pay for features you’ll never use. For instance, if you don’t need the “Loyalty & Referrals” program from Yotpo, don’t pay for it.
- Always remember this: Google is the one who runs the Store Ratings program on Google Ads. All the 3rd party review partners need to submit reviews in a pre-formatted Google Store Ratings XML feed into Google Ads.
Your goal is simple: GET STARS ON GOOGLE ADS. Don’t get distracted with all the upsells these companies will use to make themselves look different & get more of your hard-earned money. They are nice features to have if you can afford them and if you use them. All these companies use the same formatted XML feed (see sample feed) as Google requires.
If you need help picking a 3rd party review partner, contact us on live chat. I have worked with all these companies.
Tracking the performance of store ratings
Above, we mentioned that you use this URL to check the number of ratings: https://www.google.com/shopping/ratings/account/lookup?q=example.com
However, if you go to Google Ads > Extensions > Automated Extensions, then you can get to a report similar to the image below. This shows that the actual activity whenever store ratings appear along with the ad. LOOK AT THAT CLICK-THROUGH RATE! Store ratings really do make a difference.
How To Get A High Store Rating Average
This is a question we get all the time via live chat and even from our own clients! Planet Marketing has some clients that have poor ratings because they don’t ask for reviews. Well, guess what? The only people who will leave a review are upset customers. So here’s a quick list of how to get high store ratings, fast!
Send Your Review Link Only To Your Past Happy Customers
Make sure that the company you choose has the capability to generate a URL to survey your past customers. Send it in a blast email if you can. Use this method especially if you have poor ratings.
Reach Out To Unhappy Customers
Sometimes it’s as easy as reaching out to a customer who had left a bad review and ask them if they can change it if you can correct the problem.
Ask for a Positive 5-Star Rating
Normally any of these software companies will automate the sending of the emails. What you can do is, in the email template, say something like, “Please leave us a positive 5-star rating along with a comment in the review! We would greatly appreciate it. “If” for some reason you cannot leave us a positive 5-star rating, reply to this email and I’ll see what we can do on our end. THANKS!”
Types of Companies That Should or Shouldn’t Use Store Ratings
STORE RATINGS FOR ECOMMERCE COMPANIES
Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Volusion, IBM WebSphere, MIVA, Shopware, DreamCommerce, JTL Shop, Gambio, OXID eSales, 3dCart, Delegator, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, LivePerson, LogicBlock, Squarespace, Opencart, Weebly, SmartFocus, Tealium, Wix.
STORE RATINGS FOR SERVICE-BASED BUSINESSES
Examples of Service-Based Businesses
CPAs & Accountants
Lawyers
Catering Companies
Real Estate Agents & Lenders
Insurance Brokers (Personal, Commercial, Medical)
Health & Wellness (Personal Trainers, Yoga, Chiropractors, Massage)
BUSINESSES THAT NORMALLY DON’T USE STORE RATINGS
Breweries
Bars
Restaurants (both sit-down & fast food)
Cafes
Auto Repair
FAQs About Google Store Ratings
Conclusion About Store Rating Companies
Most people who are reading this blog post only need stars to show on their Google Ads. For small companies with a limited budget, I recommend that you get two demos; one with Shopper Approved and the other with Verified Reviews. Pricing is going to be based on your needs, but their starting prices are between $100-$200/mo. If you have a nice budget and can afford the bells and whistles, get a demo with Yotpo and one with TrustPilot.
I recommended Google Customer Reviews in last place because most likely you’ll be spending way more money by hiring an experienced programmer vs. signing up with any of the 6 companies I recommended. HOWEVER, as mentioned before, if you have a programmer already, you’re in luck. Google Customer Reviews is the way to go.
In addition to Store Ratings, all 6 companies offer Product Ratings. We would recommend the above 6 companies in this order:
- Shopper Approved
- Verified Reviews
- Yotpo
- TrustPilot
- Feefo
- Google Customer Reviews (if you have an in-house programmer, then this is #1)
Here is the breakdown of all the Google-approved 3rd party review partners. I did the research for you so you don’t have to. You’ll notice a lot of them aren’t in English.
Google Review Partners (updated 6/1/2024)
| Company | Country | Language | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ausgezeichnet.org | Germany | German | A German review platform providing authentic customer feedback. |
| Bazaarvoice | USA | English | Offers review and user-generated content solutions to boost online engagement. |
| Birdeye | USA | English | Helps businesses manage and leverage customer feedback across multiple channels. |
| Bizrate Insights | USA | English | Provides detailed insights from customer feedback to improve business performance. |
| eKomi | Germany | English, German | Collects and manages customer reviews to enhance online reputation. |
| Feedaty | Italy | Italian | Italian review platform specializing in verified customer feedback. |
| Feedback Company | Netherlands | Dutch, English | Offers review solutions to gather and display customer feedback. |
| Feefo | UK | English | Provides verified customer reviews and analytics to build trust and sales. |
| KiyOh | Netherlands | Dutch, English | Specializes in collecting and displaying customer reviews for businesses. |
| Klantenvertellen | Netherlands | Dutch | Dutch review platform focusing on customer satisfaction and feedback. |
| Okendo | Australia | English | Helps ecommerce brands collect and showcase customer reviews. |
| PowerReviews | USA | English | Provides solutions for collecting and leveraging customer reviews and ratings. |
| ProductReview.com.au | Australia | English | Australia’s largest consumer opinion site. |
| RA Trustvox | Brazil | Portuguese | Brazilian platform for collecting verified customer reviews. |
| Reco.se | Sweden | Swedish | Swedish platform for collecting and displaying customer reviews. |
| Reputation.com | USA | English | Provides reputation management solutions for businesses. |
| ResellerRatings | USA | English | An online review platform focusing on customer feedback for online retailers. |
| Reviews.io | UK | English | A review platform that helps businesses collect and display customer feedback. |
| Reevoo | UK | English | Collects verified customer reviews and feedback to build brand trust. |
| Shopper Approved | USA | English | Helps businesses collect and display customer reviews to increase trust and conversions. |
| ShopVote.de | Germany | German | German platform for collecting and displaying customer reviews. |
| ShopAuskunft | Germany | German | German review platform focusing on ecommerce. |
| Sitejabber | USA | English | Provides a platform for consumers to review and rate online businesses. |
| Stamped.io | Singapore | English | Offers review and rating solutions for ecommerce businesses. |
| Trusted Shops | Germany | German, English | Provides trust-building solutions including reviews, trustmarks, and buyer protection. |
| TrustPilot | Denmark | English, Danish | A platform for collecting and showcasing customer reviews to enhance online reputation. |
| TurnTo | USA | English | Provides customer content solutions, including ratings, reviews, and Q&A. |
| Verified Reviews | France | English | Specializes in collecting and managing authentic customer reviews for businesses. |
| Yotpo | USA | English | Provides user-generated content solutions to help businesses build brand trust and sales. |
Want to learn about the other types of Google Ratings?
Google Product Ratings
Learn about Google Shipping Star Ratings. These show on your Google Shopping product listing ads.
Google Reviews
Get Google reviews. These reviews show on your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business).
Google Rich Snippets
What are Google Review Snippets? A review snippet is usually an aggregate rating of many reviews.
