Google adds review snippet rule on fake and incentivized reviews

Google’s documentation updates log has an entry dated 24 July 2026 reading “Added a new review snippet guideline”.

What is the new rule?#

The log says the new guideline concerns fake and undisclosed incentivized reviews, and the reason it gives is to improve user review transparency. The review snippet documentation now tells sites: “Don’t include fake or undisclosed incentivized reviews on your page or in your structured data markup.” It names two examples:

• Reviews that are not based on a genuine experience of a product or service.
• Reviews written in exchange for a benefit, such as money, discounts, vouchers or free products, that do not clearly and prominently disclose the incentivization.

The second example is worded around disclosure. A review earned with a discount is not named as forbidden; one that hides the discount is.

Does Google mention penalties?#

No. The documentation states the guideline and the reason and stops there. It does not describe new enforcement, a ranking effect or any change to how star ratings are shown, and we are not claiming one. The page’s footer shows a last updated date of 8 September 2026, so it has been edited since this entry.

What else is on the list?#

The new rule sits among older ones in the same technical guidelines section, which are worth rereading together:

• The review content you mark up must be readily available to users on that page, and an aggregate rating must be visible too.
• Reviews or ratings from other websites must not be aggregated.
• If you include several individual reviews, include an aggregate rating of them as well.
• For a local business or organization, pages are ineligible for star review features when the reviewed entity controls the reviews about itself, directly in its markup or through an embedded third-party widget.

What should you check?#

Compare what your markup claims with what a visitor can see, and check where each review came from. If you collect reviews in exchange for a benefit, the page text should say so where the review appears. To test the markup itself, paste it into our AggregateRating schema checker, and see our Merchant Center store ratings coverage for a separate set of review requirements Google documented.