make a big mistake with general updates because they don't review the quality and relevance of the site as a whole. This is also why Google has repeatedly explained that significant improvements across the site are required to recover after regular kernel updates. I've highlighted this in all my core update posts. This advice also applies to updating product reviews. I'll have more on this soon. After the announcement, I asked Danny Sullivan if the update would be rolling out as a big base update (every few months), or if the site could see improvements as they improve their review content and the site as an all-in-one.
It's also worth noting that I've seen the site go up or down It's also worth noting that I've seen the site go up or down after a lot of changes during a general update. For example, some sites that were down sharply in a typical December update started to go up as product reviews were updated. So it's like recovering from a general kernel update, but not during a subsequent general kernel update. This is not the usual way to recover from an extension's base update. This is further evidence of what the Industry Email List updated product reviews say about the site overall. For example, here are two sites that went up during the product review update and dropped precipitously during the general update in December. As I mentioned above, sites usually don't see a recovery (or meaningful feedback) until another core update rolls out.
So it's very interesting to see it. Google explained that all types of reviews are affected, including single product reviews, product listings under review, services under review, and more. Additionally, sites with many UGC reviews may also be affected. Based on my analysis of product review updates, I see that all these types of sites and content are affected.