Google’s ranking algorithms are reliant on a wide array of signals and systems. However, does your Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating factor into this equation? Google has explicitly denied such a connection on at least three separate occasions.
In the past, Google included references to the Better Business Bureau in its search quality rater’s guidelines, creating the impression of the BBB’s importance. It is imperative to note that this is no longer the case.
Is BBB Rating A Ranking Factor
We will commence by digging into the precise nature of a BBB rating and its evaluative criteria. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a non-profit, independent organization that assesses the trustworthiness of businesses. Its primary mission is to maintain uniform standards of conduct across diverse enterprises, fostering consumer confidence in their commercial transactions.
Businesses receive ratings on a straightforward letter-grade scale, ranging from A+ (indicating the highest level of trustworthiness) to F (representing the lowest), reflecting the BBB’s assessment of a business’s reliability and its interactions with customers.
This rating is determined through the evaluation of various factors, which include:
- The nature of the business and its compliance with legal regulations.
- The duration of the company’s operational history.
- Adherence to advertising standards, including the accuracy of claims.
- The transparency of the company’s business practices.
- Fulfilment of commitments to the BBB, encompassing mediation settlements and arbitration awards.
- A company’s complaint history, encompassing the quantity and nature of reported issues, as well as the time taken to resolve them.
- Licensing and any government actions taken against the company.
To attain BBB accreditation, businesses are required to meet specific initial eligibility criteria and pay an annual fee directly to the bureau.
BBB Rating As A Ranking Factor
The Search Quality Raters Guidelines (QRGs), provided to Google contractors responsible for conducting manual assessments of search engine results pages (SERPs), play an important role in verifying that the algorithms are performing as intended.
In July 2018, Google implemented significant revisions to its Quality Raters Guidelines (QRGs), with a heightened emphasis on enhancing user safety in relation to the websites it prioritizes for ranking. Following these updates, on August 1, 2018, Google launched a comprehensive core algorithm update that had a widespread impact on numerous websites.
Notably, many previously well-ranked health and medical websites experienced a substantial decline in their rankings. During this period, SEO experts observed a possible correlation between these declines and lower Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings.
Historically, BBB ratings, in conjunction with other third-party review sites, were frequently cited within the QRGs as indicators of trustworthiness for websites. It is important to highlight that this is no longer the case. The current iteration of the guidelines only makes a single reference to the Better Business Bureau, specifically in an example of a website analysis.
The Evidence Against BBB Rating As A Ranking Factor
In 2017, a Twitter user, formerly known as X and now under a different username, inquired about the SEO advantages of incorporating Accreditation Badges (Trust Seals) on their website. When another user expressed scepticism about the benefits, Google’s Gary Illyes affirmed that doubt with his response, saying, “I can confirm your doubt.”
Subsequently, in 2018, during a video hangout, Google’s John Mueller was posed with the following question:
“In the past, you explained that Googlebot or Google is not researching author backgrounds expertise, etc. Can you say the same thing for site reputation and Better Business Bureaus scores? For example, some believe that BBB ratings and reviews are used algorithmically with the latest core updates.
That doesn’t make sense since the BBB is only for the US, Mexico, and Canada. I can’t imagine that Google would use a single source like that algorithmically when its algorithms are mainly global in nature.”
Mueller responded:
“I would venture to guess that you are correct that we wouldn’t use something like the BBB score for something like this. As far as I know, that’s certainly the case.”
He went on to add:
“There are various kinds of issues with regards to some of these sources of information about a business, about a website, and we need to make sure that we’re really reflecting what we think is actually relevant for users. Rather than blindly relying on some third parties’ ratings.“
In 2020, Google’s Danny Sullivan provided an unequivocal response to a statement made by a user, previously identified as X on Twitter, wherein it was claimed that Google employs BBB ratings in its ranking assessment. Sullivan’s response on Twitter was explicit: “No, we do not incorporate BBB ratings as a ranking factor.
BBB Rating as a Google Ranking Factor
Although the significance of trustworthiness in relation to Google rankings is widely acknowledged, there is no substantiated evidence to suggest that Google’s algorithms take BBB ratings into account as a ranking factor.
Indeed, it would seem impractical for Google to incorporate BBB ratings as a ranking factor, particularly when considering that the BBB’s scope is limited to the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Furthermore, BBB accreditation entails a payment requirement.
While the BBB was formerly cited in the quality rater’s guidelines as a quality metric, it no longer holds such significance. Any previous relevance the BBB might have had in the realm of SEO appears to have diminished entirely.
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