Google brings ratings to European shopping search results

Online shoppers in the UK, France and Germany are about to start seeing stars when searching for information on products and devices.

That's because ads that crop up alongside Google search results for certain types of products are now going to carry five-star ratings.

Google bought the controversial feature to the US in 2014. It aggregates real reviews of products, from review sites, from merchants and a host of other online sources, in order to award a device -- be it a juicer, a Notebook or a UHD TV -- a mark out of five stars.

Google insists that by inserting a rating into sponsored ads that appear on its site, it is making it easier for consumers to make an informed decision about whether or not to click on the ad and potentially make an online purchase.

However, the stars could also prove misleading, making web users think that the ads are independent links generated organically by a search term.