Any SEO benefit to liking reviews?

[PaulSteinbrueck]

Are there any SEO benefits (better local/maps rankings) to liking reviews posted to a GBP listing? I'm guessing not because it would be too easy to manipulate, but thought I'd ask to be sure.

Also, are there any non-SEO benefits you can think of to liking reviews? For example, if a review has more likes is it displayed more prominently on the GBP or KP?

 

[JoyHawkins]

Short Answer - no. I am about 75% done a test that I've been doing on reviews and what influences their order and have found that although the number of upvotes do seem to correlate with reviews that are higher placed, it's not something that can easily be manipulated. Below is a sampling from some of the data I'm collecting that shows reviews with more upvotes do stay live longer on the listing in the top 10 reviews, however, it's one of those scenarios where correlation is not always causation.

I'm going to be presenting the entire thing at a LocalU event later this year

 

[PaulSteinbrueck]

Thanks Joy!