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A new Google Merchant Center policy on “automated content” says reviews generated using an automated program or artificial intelligence application are considered spam and against the Google Merchant Center policies.
Google posted this update here and clarified its existing Merchant Center policies and enforcement.
Automated content policy. The new policy reads:
“Automated Content: We don’t allow reviews that are primarily generated by an automated program or artificial intelligence application. If you have identified such content, it should be marked as spam in your feed using the is_spam attribute.”
AI Content and Google. Generally, Google has been OK with people using AI to generate content, assuming that content is helpful for users and not written primarily for search engines. This is a bit of a deviation from Google’s recent messaging on using AI for content.
But one would assume that reviews require a human to use the product to generate a review and thus AI-generated reviews would be an exception. Maybe?
Other policy clarifications. Google also posted clarifications on its other Merchant Center policies. Here is what Google posted:
Enforcement clarification. Google also posted the following clarification about how Google enforces the policies listed above:
Why we care. If you use Google Merchant Center, you should know all the existing policies and how Google enforces those policies. If you post reviews to your Merchant Center feed, it sounds like you need to ensure those reviews are not generated by AI or other automated means. If they are, you need to add the is_spam attribute to those reviews.
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