Do google punish google my businesses with only 5 star reviews?

[yigitc]

Recently I heard that google want 3 star or 4 star reviews along with 5 stars. Only 5 star reviews look spammy for google bots. Is it true?

I have 33 5 star reviews.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

If the reviews are legitimate and they don't violate any of Google's guidelines then you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Rich Owings]

There have been multiple studies showing better conversion rates if your average review is less than a perfect 5.0. But that's about consumer behavior, not how Google's algorithms treat your business.

 

[Wirenut]

There have been multiple studies showing better conversion rates if your average review is less than a perfect 5.0. But that's about consumer behavior, not how Google's algorithms treat your business.

This seems like one of those correlation does not equal causation things.

Businesses who market well and have good conversations rates might have a 4.7 rating on average. But that does not mean that a business's conversation rate will increase if they, for example, were to purposely ask for 4 star reviews in order to lower their rating from 5.0 to 4.7. At least that is my opinion.

 

[Rich Owings]

If I see a perfect 5.0, it does make me wonder if the business is gating reviews (only asking happy customers for reviews). Regardless of how it impacts conversions, they could be missing some valuable feedback.