Introduction
My name is Scott Brandley, and I’m the founder and CEO of Shopper Approved—one of the oldest and largest online review platforms in the world.
The reason I’m telling you this up front is because I want to earn your trust. I’ve spent over 13 years immersed in the review industry and have a lot of knowledge and experience that can provide you with valuable insight during your decision-making process.
My goal in comparing Shopper Approved to Google Customer Reviews is to educate you on the good and bad of both options equally, to help you determine which option is the best for your particular business.
I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this comparison chart in an effort to make it as objective, up-to-date, and comprehensive as possible, so make sure to study the comparison chart and then read my full summary.
I am also including direct links to both services at the end so that you can research and find answers to any questions you might still have about both Google Customer Reviews and Shopper Approved.
I wish you the best of luck in your search!
Scott Brandley
Founder and CEO
Shopper Approved
Quick Highlights
To get started, here are some interesting details about Shopper Approved and Google Customer Reviews:
- Google Customer Reviews and Shopper Approved are both online review platforms, which means that they provide ratings and review services for ecommerce websites that sell product and/or services on the internet.
- Shopper Approved and Google Customer Reviews are two of the oldest and most well known review platforms on the web.
- Shopper Approved is a Google Reviews Partner, and has been for over nine years. We have a great long-term relationship with Google, and our Seller Ratings and Product Reviews show up in the same strategic locations that Google Customer Reviews do.
- Both Shopper Approved and Google Customer Reviews are verified review platforms, which means that we actively solicit reviews from actual paying customers after they buy. Alternatively, open review platforms tend to attract many unsolicited, unverified reviews that are often negatively skewed, which makes the reviews those platforms display less trustworthy.
- While both companies offer seller ratings and product reviews, there are several key differences due to Google Customer Reviews being a free service and Shopper Approved a paid service. See the comparison chart below for full details.
Comparing Shopper Approved and Google Customer Reviews
This comparison chart was generated in July 2023 using the latest information accessible at that time. Each item is accompanied by a brief description to provide insights into its significance for either Google Customer Reviews, Shopper Approved, or both organizations.
3rd Party Ratings |
 |
 |
|
Google Rating (out of 5) Google ratings are provided by users of Google's services, primarily through Google Maps and Google Search. Google has, understandably, not rated its own products. |
5.0 51 reviews |
- |
|
G2 Rating (out of 5) G2 is the industry-leading, independent 3rd-party rating company for software products like Shopper Approved. As a free service, Google Customer Reviews is not rated by G2. |
4.8 157 reviews |
- |
|
Capterra Rating (out of 5) Capterra is an independent 3rd-party rating company for software products like Shopper Approved. As a free service, Google Customer Reviews is not rated by Capterra. |
4.9 116 reviews |
- |
|
BBB Rating (out of 5) The Better Business Bureau is the oldest independent, 3rd-party rating company in the U.S. As a free service, Google Customer Reviews is not rated by the BBB. |
4.9 30 reviews |
- |
|
Trustpilot Rating (out of 5) Trustpilot is an independent, 3rd-party open review platform. |
4.8 455 reviews |
- |
Search Engine Partnerships |
|
|
|
Google Seller Ratings Partner Google Seller Rating Partners have a special partnership with Google that allows them to display their client’s company reviews directly in Google Ads and Google Shopping. |
|
|
|
Google Product Reviews Partner Google Product Review Partners have a special partnership with Google that allows them to display their client’s product reviews in Google Product Listing Ads, Google Shopping, and Google organic search results. |
|
|
|
Bing / Yahoo Seller Ratings Partner Bing accounts for nearly 10% of all search traffic. It is a great (ang growing) source of traffic that is often overlooked. |
|
|
|
Bing Product Reviews Partner Shopper Approved is one of only two official Bing Product Review Partners in the world. |
|
|
Available Solutions |
|
|
|
Seller Ratings Seller ratings (also known as merchant reviews or company reviews) are collected and then strategically displayed in various locations online. Only Google Seller Rating Partners can display seller ratings in Google. |
|
|
|
Product Reviews Product reviews are collected and strategically displayed in various locations online. Google Product Review Partners have direct feeds into Google. |
|
|
|
Video Reviews Video reviews are collected after a purchase. If the client is happy with the video review they can approve it and add it to their website. |
|
|
|
Product Images (Customer Photos) Customers are invited to take photos of their purchases and add them to their review. |
|
|
|
Reputation Management (Review Destinations) Reputation management is a tool that allows you to send a portion of your customers to various open review platforms to leave a review after they buy. |
|
|
|
Review Comments This gives you the ability to add a public comment to your reviews so you can thank your customers and respond to negative reviews. |
|
|
|
FOMO (Social Evidence) FOMO (or "fear of missing out") is a software tool that shows site visitors what other customers purchased recently. FOMO can also show quantity in stock or item availability. |
|
|
|
Website Security Website security is one of the most trusted forms of social proof, and adding security seals to your website is proven to increase sales. |
|
|
|
Q&A Q&A (also known as FAQ) is a tool that can be added to a client’s product pages to answer questions that customers have before making a purchase. |
|
|
|
Q&A for Advanced SEO This refers to special SEO techniques that, when utilized, help Q&A to be more prominently displayed in Google organic search results and featured snippets. |
|
|
|
Q&A Crawls the Web Q&A crawls the web looking for and suggesting additional questions and answers from Amazon and Google. |
|
|
|
Content Widgets and Trust Seals on Your Website Strategically display attractive review widgets and seals on your website to build customer trust and credibility. |
|
|
|
Number of Trust Badge Options Shopper Approved has several trust badges in all shapes and colors to match your branding. Google Customer Reviews has one badge that can only be displayed in the bottom corner of your webpage. |
Multiple |
One |
|
SMS (Text Messaging) Using SMS as a way to collect reviews can be very beneficial, thanks to high SMS open rates. |
(via app integrations) |
|
|
Loyalty Programs Adding a loyalty program to your business can increase repeat sales. Many companies provide loyalty points in exchange for reviews. |
(via app integrations) |
|
|
Review Management and Customer Resolution Import, export, manage, and moderate your reviews via a control panel. |
|
|
|
Search-Optimized 3rd-Party Reviews Page A review page displays your ratings and reviews on the review platform’s actual website, which makes reviews seem more trustworthy. It also helps reviews rank well in search, which can increase traffic to your website. |
|
|
|
Display Your Reviews on Product Pages Shopper Approved has the ability to display a star widget at the top of each product page on your website, as well as a full-sized product widget below the fold. |
|
|
|
Analytics This refers to the amount of data that each company analyzes and reports on in their control panel. |
Standard |
Standard |
Syndication Partners |
|
|
|
Walmart.com Syndication Send your product reviews directly to products that you sell on Walmart.com. You can even create a free Walmart merchant account. |
|
|
|
YouTube Syndication Automatically send videos you approve to your YouTube channel to display in both YouTube and Google search results. (YouTube is owned by Google.) |
|
|
|
Facebook Syndication Send your reviews to Facebook to show up in your company’s Facebook feed and/or create a tab in Facebook with all of your reviews. |
|
|
|
Twitter (X) Syndication Send your reviews to Twitter to show up on your company’s Twitter feed. |
|
|
Additional Information |
|
|
|
Verified or Open Review Collection Verified review platforms collect solicited reviews from their client’s customers after they buy; whereas, open review platforms passively collect reviews from anyone who wants to leave a review. |
Verified Reviews |
Verified Reviews |
|
Review Volume Shopper Approved uses a two-step process instead of the traditional one-step process, which provides the opportunity for more customers to leave reviews. |
***** |
** |
|
Survey Customization This involves being able to change your survey’s look and feel to match your website and brand. |
|
|
|
Multiple Survey Questions Shopper Approved allows you to ask your customers multiple questions per survey. Google Customer Reviews only asks one question per survey. |
Multiple Questions |
Single Question |
|
US-Based Support The Shopper Approved support team is Utah-based. The location of the Google Customer Reviews support team is unknown. |
|
Unknown |
|
Setup Assistance and Ongoing Support The difference here is due to Google Customer Reviews not offering email nor phone support. |
***** |
** |
|
3rd-Party Integrations This includes getting your ratings and reviews working with apps like Klaviyo, LoyaltyLion, Gorgias, and many others that let you put your reviews to work in marketing and growing your business. |
|
|
|
API Access API (Application Programming Interface) access gives you the ability to pull your review data and use it in creative ways. |
|
|
Pricing |
|
|
|
Unlimited Reviews Review platforms typically offer an unlimited review pricing model based on a fixed price, or a limited review model based on pricing tiers that increase over time. |
|
|
|
Free Trial Shopper Approved offers a 45-day free trial of our Seller Ratings service with syndication to Google. |
(45 Days) |
N/A |
|
Pricing Shopper Approved's pricing is reasonable when comparing it to other leading full-service review platforms. |
$$$ |
Free |
Summary of Google Customer Reviews vs. Shopper Approved
What Are the Strengths of Google Customer Reviews?
Google Customer Reviews has two major strengths:
- Its first strength is that it is owned by Google, which means that they have an invested interest to continue supporting it because it helps drive PPC ad revenue and enhances Google Shopping results.
- Its second strength is that it is the only seller rating and product review service online that is free, so it fills a need, especially for startups and small businesses where finances are a concern.
What Are the Weaknesses of Google Customer Reviews?
Ultimately, because Google Customer Reviews is free, it comes with very few tools or features, which really limits what businesses can do with it.
What Are the Strengths of Shopper Approved?
Shopper Approved is best known for our highly-effective traffic and conversion strategies.
Over the years we have added brand and reputation management (via Review Destinations), Video Reviews, Website Security, and search-optimized Q&A to further complement and enhance the effectiveness of our Seller Rating and Product Review services.
What Are the Weaknesses of Shopper Approved?
When compared to Google Customer Reviews, our biggest weakness is that Shopper Approved is a paid service; however, you get a lot of additional tools, features, and strategies that help you generate significantly more search traffic and website conversions. This ultimately leads to a lot more sales, which easily offsets the cost.
Final Thoughts on Shopper Approved and Google Customer Reviews
When it comes to both review platforms, it really boils down to what’s most important to you: price or features.
If you are cost conscious and really need to get your seller ratings and product reviews into Google Ads, Google Product Listing Ads, and Google Shopping, then Google Customer Reviews is a viable option.
If you do choose to go down this path with Google Customer Reviews, here are some things you should plan for:
- You will need a basic understanding of JavaScript code and XML feeds.
- Everything is DIY with very limited support, so plan accordingly.
- You will not have direct access to your seller rating reviews or your product reviews. These will be managed and displayed by Google.
- You will not be able to import or export your reviews, so if you decide to change review providers in the future, you will not be able to take those reviews with you.
- You will not be able to display your seller ratings or product reviews on your website. (This means no review widgets and only one badge you can display.)
- You will not be able to integrate your reviews into any third-party apps or social media sites.
- You will not be able to syndicate your reviews anywhere other than Google.
- You will not be able to collect video reviews or customer photos.
- You will not be able to customize your survey.
As long as you’re okay with these limitations, then you should have no issues going with Google Customer Reviews. Ultimately, Google is providing website owners who can’t afford a paid reviews service with the ability to still collect and leverage reviews, which is very generous of them and can really help businesses that meet that criteria.
That being said, if you can afford it, using a full-service, full-stack review company like Shopper Approved, can really open up a world of additional opportunities for your business.
There are so many traffic and conversion strategies that my team and I have discovered over the past 13+ years that are incredibly powerful and help growing companies to dramatically increase their brand awareness, visibility, credibility, trust, and social proof in ways that honestly shock most people when we show them what is possible.
But here’s the bottom line. If you’re just starting out and can’t afford Shopper Approved yet, then I recommend using Google Customer Reviews until you get to a point where you can. At that point, my team and I are happy to show you what we can do to take your reviews and reputation to the next level.
If you can already afford a full-service review platform, and you think that Shopper Approved could be a good fit, then I recommend watching this overview video highlighting some of the unique tools and strategies that really set us apart in the review industry.
Contact Information:
To visit Google Customer Reviews, go to https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/7124319?sjid=13186388785069533850-NA
To visit Shopper Approved, go to https://www.shopperapproved.com
Other Comparisons and Further Reading:
Trustpilot vs. Shopper Approved
Drive More Visibility, Traffic, and Sales
Accessibility