Google Play Algorithm Change 2023
After a year, Google has finally made an important change. Until April 2022, you could open every single review url on your browser. But after May 2022, algorithm update, Google disabled this feature.
However, on 3rd of May 2023, we noticed that Google has re-enabled this feature. Now, you can view any review url on the browser. However, to get the review id, you are required to inspect the element. (Earlier, we could simply click on the three dots and get the review url).
What is the new review structure on Android?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=your_app_package_id&reviewId=your_review_id
What are it’s implication on the Google Play Algorithm
At this point, these review urls have not been indexed. However, we will keep an eye out to see if it gets indexed and update the post accordingly. In the last year’s Google Play core algorithm update post, we mentioned the following:
In the future, Google may give more prominence to review metadata – along with upvote and downvote signals for initial visibility.
And we think that this is an important step in that direction.