Reviews in the form of comments and star-ratings on recipe cards are an important part of signalling social proof.
Recipe stars are functionality provided by your recipe card, not your theme.
Star ratings are not a ranking factor in qualifying you to rank, except that a recipe must have at least 1 star rating to complete the recipe schema. Google considers not having one review to be a negative quality signal.
The FTC updated guidelines on fake or undisclosed reviews in August 2024, adding a number of requirements. We strongly recommend reviewing and following these guidelines.
The following activities may violate federal laws:
- reviews in exchange for goods, services or money
- review groups in which bloggers provide star-ratings and comments/reviews to each other
- AI generated reviews
- deleting negative reviews
You may wish to speak to an attorney for legal guidance on how you disclose and deal with reviews.