Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
3rd Party Reviews - Schema Implementation
-
Hi,
Currently my client displaying Ratings & Reviews from a third-party (TripAdvisor) service and only displaying 5 reviews but not showing "Read More Reviews" button to TripAdvisor page. Now I would like to use Rich Snippet schema markup code on these rating & reviews but below are my few concerns, could you please guide me:
1. Can I use Rich Snippet Schema markup code on widget of TripAdvisor Rating & Review.
2. If I apply schema markup code, Do I need to maintain TripAdvisor link for "Read More reviews".
Below are the URLs which contains TripAdvisor rating & reviews after big image:
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Satla
-
Hi @ThompsonPaul,
I've just been reading into this as just about everyone in my field use third party reviews and mark it up with snippets. I'm under the impression that Google is fine with the use of third party reviews.
In the Google guidelines, it says: "Only include critic reviews that have been directly produced by your site, not reviews from third-party sites or syndicated reviews."
I am under the belief if you are not using a critic review then you are safe to use third-party reviews. Refer to the bottom of the guidelines for the Review Snippet Guidelines rather than the Critic Review Guidelines
Especially because our team has experienced Third Party Reviews being approved by Google.When we originally put in the mark up we got a penalty for another reason (Developer incorrectly released on all pages). Google then reviewed our mark up approving the use of third party reviews and removed our penalty.
I'd love to know your thoughts! Let me know

-
Just the fact that a competitor gets away with something isn't a good reason to try the same thing. If Google explicitly says not to do something, it's wise to listen. The competitors may be fine for now, but in upcoming algorithm updates will probably suffer if they are violating Google's guidelines.
Are you sure your competitors are using Schema? I checked the two goo.gl links you provided for the competitors, and although I can see the reviews, the reviews themselves have no Schema markup. The competitors have used other Schemas like Hotel and LocationFeatureSpecification, even AggregateRating - just not Review.
-
Thanks for reply Paul.
but few competitors are still using 3rd party reviews with markup code and coming rich snippets in Google successfully. For example below are the few competitor currently using.
Competitor 1: https://goo.gl/Dq7tMn [1453 reviews - from 3rd party]
Competitor 2: https://goo.gl/YzdK2v [1453 reviews - from 3rd party]
Below is the Google SERP link for this keyword [Eurocalas Aparthotel] and you can see both competitors are coming with Rich Snippet
Google SERP: https://goo.gl/vfvZat [you can see both competitors with rich snippet]
Kindly let me know you feed back on these competitor links.
Thanks,
Satla
-
Google's been quite clear that reviews on our sites from 3rd party review sources must not have review markup, SK. It's grounds for a "manipulative markup" penalty.
Review markup should "Only include critic reviews that have been directly produced by your site, not reviews from third-party sites or syndicated reviews."
Paul
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the best practice way to attribute a Google Review?
An example might be a local directory site, where multiple businesses are featured. To flesh out the respective business profiles, Google Reviews are included. Copying/pasting would be the definition of duplicate content. I wonder though if hyperlinking to the review itself would be enough? For a random example: "you literally have never had better ice cream. cutest shop in charleston sc" - Mandee Jalbert, Google Review Google doesn't appear to have a review embed option- am I wrong? If not, would the above attribution via the "Google Review" hyperlink be sufficient to head off any potential dings for duplicate content? Thanks! Stephen
Reviews and Ratings | | PerfectPitchConcepts
Thanks for your thoughts! I feel like this might make for a good presentation at our SoundBoard conference someday soon.0 -
Schema Code Not Working – Used Business Review Bundle Plugin
Debt Collectors – Debt Collection Agency Melbourne Hi Moz Community One of our client website JMA Credit (https://www.jmacreditcontrol.com.au/ ) We have installed Business Review Bundle Wordpress plugin to display our Google Reviews on our website. https://richplugins.com/business-reviews-bundle-wordpress-plugin Enabled Rich snippet option – to display aggregate rating Schema code available on the source Also, tested on structured data testing tool – it shows everything is fine https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jmacreditcontrol.com.au But, Aggregate rating (star) not displayed on the SERP Page Waiting for valuable response to get this issue fixed
Reviews and Ratings | | Bhisshaun0 -
Schema Markup - Star Ratings
I'm trying to get the star ratings to appear next to our client's website in google search results. Here is the url:https://cstoneroof.com/ I believe I have it setup correctly but am unsure why the stars don't appear: structure data test here I pulled the rating value and count from Facebook. Not sure if it has to be Google reviews or if FB will work as well. Anybody have any thoughts here?
Reviews and Ratings | | a_toohill0 -
Paying for Reviews Penalty?
Hello, recently came across a company that has been paying people directly for reviews. I of course do not recommend this and realized the ethical implications and even the lawsuits that can come from this, but does Google have a manual penalty for fake reviews or do they just algorithmically discount ones that raise red flags? I have never really had to worry about this in the past. I know you can flag fake reviews to them on an individual basis, but does anyone have history of knowing specific situations where a company was manually punished for doing this? Just curious and I kind of wanted to give them strong documentation to knock it off. Thanks in advance.
Reviews and Ratings | | jeremyskillings0 -
Why can I not add Schema Mark up to my homepage?
I've paid a company to add Schema to my website, but they just told me they can't add it to my homepage? Is this correct??
Reviews and Ratings | | MissThumann0 -
What's the best way to keep Google My Business reviews when the business changes names?
I work with an interior designer who is re-branding and changing her business name to focus specifically on windows. Can she keep her GMB reviews and just change the name of her business, then reverify with Google? She doesn't want to lose her current local pack ranking.
Reviews and Ratings | | obkommy1 -
Do schema review numbers have to be manually updated?
Hi! I've had success with review schema rendering in SERPs but have had to manually code the numbers and update those numbers as more reviews come in (which is a bit time-consuming). Is there a way to use auto-generated numbers that will still render schema or do those numbers have to be manually added? I've looked at the schema for sites like IMDB, and their schema numbers seem to be manually added, which seems like a huge lift. Advice/input is appreciated!
Reviews and Ratings | | 199580 -
Migrating Reviews from Old SIte
We recently changed our Website to Word Press and I would like to move the old reviews to the new site. I am concerned Google might not understand the reviews showing up all of a sudden. The old reviews were on a sub-domain (store.domain.com). I will be able to match the dates and text as well as names. Any advice or Best Practice on this? Thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | Chris6610