March 26, 2015 - 17:40 AMT
Google brings product ratings to search ads in Europe

Google added product ratings to search ads in the U.S. last summer. Now it’s bringing them to Europe, starting with the UK, France and Germany, The Next Web reports.

The ratings show up as stars and review counts on Product Listing Ads. The five-star rating system is based on aggregated review data compiled from multiple sources including merchants’ sites, third-party aggregators, editorial sites and users.

Google says it believes the product ratings “help consumers make better purchase decisions before they click” and “[drive] more qualified traffic to participating merchants.” Critics will point to the further blurring of lines between organic search results and paid ads.