Social Proof
Turns Plain Text Reviews Into Visually Impactful, Shareable Graphics
January 27, 2020
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5 min read
Want to stand out in Google Ads without increasing your spend? Google Seller Ratings are one of the most powerful ways to do just that.
These trusted star ratings help build instant credibility, improve ad performance, and lower your customer acquisition costs - all by showing your business reputation exactly where people are ready to buy.
In this guide, we’ll break down what Google Seller Ratings are, how they work, how to qualify, and how REVIEWS.io can help you make the most of them.
Google Seller Ratings are the gold stars you see underneath paid ads (Search and Shopping campaigns) in Google Ads. They reflect your company’s overall reputation, built from verified customer reviews collected through trusted sources.
These ratings are automatically displayed by Google once you meet eligibility criteria and serve as a trust signal in both paid and unpaid search formats. That means your store rating can appear not only in Google Ads but also in free listings and rich results across Search, Shopping, and even YouTube.
Only reviews collected from Google Customer Reviews or Google Licensed Review Partners, like REVIEWS.io, are counted toward this rating. Reviews from other platforms (e.g. Facebook) are excluded.
The result: You gain visibility, credibility, and trust at the exact moment a customer is deciding whether to click - regardless of whether your placement is paid or organic.
If you're investing in paid search, Google Seller Ratings aren’t optional - they're essential. Here’s what they bring to your campaigns:
Ads with Seller Ratings visually stand out with gold stars and an average score. This increases user trust and makes your listing more enticing.
Google Seller Ratings will help you to stand out in Google - ads with Seller Ratings can increase CTR by up to 17%!
Plus, 83% of consumers say reviews are the number one trust factor in making a purchase decision.
Because higher CTR directly influences Google’s Quality Score, it reduces Cost Per Click (CPC). That means you pay less for better traffic.
“Without Seller Ratings, you’re likely paying more for every click.”
Google gives businesses a 'Quality Score' to work out the Cost Per Click you pay for your ads. A Quality Score is made up of three contributing factors:keywords, landing pages and the Ad itself.
Where do Seller Ratings come into this? Well, Google uses your CTR to help it establish the quality of your Ads.
Higher CTR = Higher Quality Score.
If you feel like Google Ads is costing you more than it's worth, Google Seller Ratings can really turn that around.
A higher Quality Score directly impacts how much you pay per click. Customers using REVIEWS.io have reported significant reductions in CPC after activating Seller Ratings.
By the time shoppers land on your site, they’ve already seen proof that your business is trusted. That social proof builds confidence and moves users further down the funnel.
This is great news for on-site conversions too - reviews produce an average of 18% uplift in sales.
Collecting reviews isn’t just about building trust - it’s also one of the most effective ways to reduce your CPC in Google Ads.
REVIEWS.io helps businesses reach the 100-review threshold faster through automation, email templates, and integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and more.
The easier it is for customers to leave reviews, the faster you unlock stars in your ads - and the faster your return on ad spend improves.
To be eligible for Google Seller Ratings, you must meet specific requirements:
Meeting these criteria enables Google to automatically apply Seller Ratings to your paid search ads.
Enable Google Customer Reviews in your Merchant Center and integrate the opt-in module to collect post-purchase feedback.
By enrolling in the Google Customer Reviews program, you can set up and customize survey invitations and post-purchase communications, helping to collect and display customer feedback.
These platforms offer more robust review collection and display options. With REVIEWS.io, you get:
REVIEWS.io also integrates seamlessly with leading platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and more - so setup is fast, and you can start collecting Google-qualified reviews in days, not months.
Many brands using REVIEWS.io activate Seller Ratings within weeks by using automated review requests post-purchase.
Once eligible, follow these steps to enable Seller Ratings in your Google Ads campaigns:
You can also monitor performance under Predefined Reports (Dimensions) by filtering for Click Type > Seller Ratings.
Use this Google tool to check eligibility:
https://www.google.com/shopping/ratings/account/lookup?q={yourwebsite}
Replace {yourwebsite} with your homepage URL.
For businesses operating in multiple countries, repeat with relevant domain or region codes (e.g. c=US, c=AU).
If your Seller Ratings aren’t showing on your ads, it could be due to:
Google doesn’t show Seller Ratings 100% of the time, even when all criteria are met. Their appearance depends on ad format, keyword, user intent, and time of day.
If your Google Seller Rating score is teetering around the 3.8 mark and you want to improve it, or, perhaps you have loads of verified reviews, but your score is too low to qualify, we have a few things to help you out.
In general, customers that are asked to leave a review are not only willing but will return with positive comments about your business.
Use tools like Review Booster to reach out to recent and past customers.
This should be more than enough to get some high-quality, verified reviews rolling in and up your Seller Rating by at least a few points.
If you're consistently getting poor reviews from your customers, it's probably a sign that something needs to change.
Poor reviews highlight gaps in customer experience. Use them to improve operations and long-term satisfaction.
Whilst this isn't a solution that will help you turn your Seller Ratings around overnight, in the long run, it will definitely pay off.
Google has intensified its efforts to ensure the authenticity of reviews. In response to regulatory pressure, the company has agreed to implement stricter measures against fake reviews, including:
These measures aim to protect consumers and maintain the integrity of online ratings.
You'll also need to adhere to the latest guidelines around Google Seller Ratings, which prohibit the use of incentives for company reviews and require full transparency from both merchants and review collection providers.
Google Seller Ratings not working out for you? Don't fret. Although they're an automatic extension, you do have some power over them.
Here's what you can do.
To disable Seller Ratings in Google Ads:
Don't want to stop your Google Seller Ratings from showing completely? Understandable - as we've seen they have so many benefits. Unfortunately deleting individual reviews on Google is tricky, as they are verified reviews, and as a rule, Google does not delete verified reviews.
Verified reviews can only be removed if they breach Google’s content policies (e.g. profanity, personal names, factual inaccuracy).
If you believe a review is unfair, contact support@reviews.io to request a formal investigation. If the review violates guidelines, it will be removed and discounted from your rating.
Absolutely. Google Seller Ratings are one of the most cost-effective ways to improve ad performance, build trust, and boost sales.
And with a platform like REVIEWS.io, qualifying becomes faster and easier - backed by tools, automation, and expert support to help your stars shine in search.
Book a demo with REVIEWS.io today and start collecting Google Seller Ratings.
The quickest route is to partner with a Google Licensed Review Partner like REVIEWS.io. With tools like automated review requests and Review Booster, many brands hit the 100-review threshold in just weeks.
You may not meet the volume or rating threshold yet. They can also take several weeks to appear after qualifying.
No. Seller Ratings reflect your company’s service. Product Ratings are for individual products and show in Shopping listings.
Yes. You can disable them in Google Ads under Automated Extensions settings.
