Riccardo

<p>RicReviews is a free and open-source WordPress plugin that displays Google Places reviews on your website using a simple shortcode. The plugin fetches reviews from Google Places API (New) and displays them beautifully on your WordPress site.</p>
<h4>Key Features</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Easy Integration</strong>: Display reviews anywhere on your site with a simple shortcode</li>
<li><strong>Automatic Updates</strong>: Reviews are automatically fetched and updated via configurable WordPress cron (daily, weekly, or monthly)</li>
<li><strong>Smart Caching</strong>: Built-in caching system to improve performance</li>
<li><strong>Customizable</strong>: Choose your primary color and theme (light/dark)</li>
<li><strong>Flexible Display</strong>: Control the number of reviews and sorting options</li>
<li><strong>Multilingual Support</strong>: Fetch reviews in multiple languages and filter by language in shortcode</li>
<li><strong>Debug Logging</strong>: Optional debug logging for troubleshooting API issues</li>
<li><strong>Secure</strong>: Follows WordPress coding standards and security best practices</li>
</ul>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<ol>
<li><strong>Initial Fetch</strong>: When you save settings, the plugin fetches reviews from Google Places API</li>
<li><strong>Database Storage</strong>: Reviews are stored in a custom database table for fast retrieval</li>
<li><strong>Caching</strong>: Reviews are cached using WordPress transients for 24 hours</li>
<li><strong>Automatic Updates</strong>: WordPress cron job automatically fetches new reviews based on your configured frequency</li>
<li><strong>Display</strong>: Shortcode retrieves reviews from cache/database and displays them</li>
</ol>
<h4>Important Note</h4>
<p>Google Places API returns a maximum of 5 reviews per place per API call. This is a hard limit imposed by Google, not a limitation of this plugin. Each API call returns up to 5 reviews, and the plugin performs automatic fetches based on your configured frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly). Over time, you may accumulate more reviews in the database as Google updates the “5 most helpful reviews” for your place.</p>
<p>If you configure multiple languages, each language requires a separate API call, potentially allowing you to collect more reviews (up to 5 per language).</p>
<p>For more information, see <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies#review-policy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google’s Review Policy Documentation</a>.</p>
<h4>Service Information</h4>
<p>This plugin acts as an interface to Google Places API (New). By installing and configuring this plugin, you consent to the use of Google Places API service. Please review <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies" rel="nofollow ugc">Google Places API Terms of Service</a> before use.</p>


RicReviews

Display Google Places reviews on your WordPress site using a simple shortcode. Fetches reviews from Google Places API (New).

MessageMetric

<p>Showcase Google Reviews on your website with ease via our 100% free Google Reviews WordPress plugin.  Great for any business<br />
that uses WordPress, has reviews on Google and wants to display them on their website.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reviewwave.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Check Out Our Demo</a></p>
<h3>Plugin Features:</h3>
<p>Google Business Reviews – Instantly Display business reviews on your web site.  We start with 5 reviews, but over time we<br />
continue to check with Google for new reviews. You are given the option to display as many reviews as you have.</p>
<p>Simple Shortcode – Display reviews in your post and page content.</p>
<p>Widget – for easy configuration.  Google Places Reviews widget auto completes your business look up.  Display your business<br />
info via the widget or turn this off.</p>
<p>Review Concatenation – Some reviews returned by Google may be very long which could result in a very long widget. Configurable<br />
lengths and Collapsing and expanding long reviews with “Read more” links.</p>
<p>Fast Loading – Optimized widget caching included within the plugin ensure you save on load time and API calls</p>
<p>Review Schema is included.</p>
<p>Review styling is controlled by your theme.</p>
<p>Actively Supported and Developed.  Get fast and responsive support from our USA based team.</p>
<h3>You May Also Like:</h3>
<p>Why limit your reviews to just Google Places Reviews? Check out our other free business reviews plugins to add to your site<br />
as well:</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/review-wave-yelp-reviews" rel="ugc">Review Wave – Yelp Reviews</a></p>
<h3>Reviews Page</h3>
<p>On this page you can view the reviews retrieved by the plugin.  Please note that the Google Places API only allows for 5 reviews<br />
to be retrieved at a time.  We will continue to check via the API every day or so and using a data base store the reviews for you<br />
so over time you can have more than 5 reviews.   You can “promote” certain reviews by making these the reviews you show if you<br />
have more than the number of reviews to be displayed.</p>
<h3>WordPress Widget and Shortcode</h3>
<p>Display Google Places reviews on your WordPress site using our widget or shortcode.  The following settings are supported:</p>
<ul>
<li>Widget Title:  Add Widget Title (Optional)</li>
<li>Place Lookup:  Start typing your Business Name and select it when it auto completes.</li>
<li>Lookup Type:  Having trouble finding the correct business? Try narrowing down the results by having the Place Lookup search only by business name – “Establishments”, by address – “Addresses”, or by area – “Regions”.</li>
<li>Place Name:  Once the correct business is selected from “Places Lookup” this will auto fill.</li>
<li>Place ID: Once the correct business is selected from “Places Lookup” this will auto fill.</li>
<li>Show Reviews Only: By default the plugin will display your business data.  If checked the widget will not show your business data.</li>
<li>Maximum Excerpt Length:  Chose the length of excerpts that will look best for your site.</li>
<li>Show # Reviews:  Pick the number of reviews to show.</li>
<li>Total # of Reviews:  Enter the number of reviews that you have on your google places page.  The Google API does not allow us to get this info for you, so you have to manually add it for your review schema output.</li>
<li>Minimum Review Rating:  If you only want to show 4 star or 5 Star reviews you can select the appropriate setting.</li>
</ul>
<p>When using a shortcode, use the Place Lookup field on the Settings page to look up the Place ID for your business.</p>


RicReviews vs Review Wave – Google Places Reviews