Schema.org/Recipe documentation should be updated to require that ratings/reviews that are added to the aggregaterating (star rating) for recipes are required to have an associated written review.

Rational For Schema.org/Recipe Disallowing Anonymous Reviews

Highly trafficked recipe websites (Many top 50 food websites by traffic) are using Schema.org/Recipe to mislead users into giving recipes a 5-star rating with one simple click since anonymous reviews are allowed per the current Schema.org/Recipe documentation.

Popular Plugin Collecting Anonymous Reviews on Large Food Websites

An extremely popular Wordpress recipe plugin (WP Recipe Maker) allows anonymous non logged in 5-star reviews with no associated text review. On average, for every one written review there are 4-8 anonymous reviews collected. This is done, simply by counting the reviews written on the page vs hidden 5 star anonymous reviews. Users are forced to leave a written review for a rating of 4-1. This is not clear to users at first glance, and many users may accidentally save a 5-star vote without intending to do so. The fact that the star hover system only take users to the comments section if they hover and click on 4 or less stars makes it very misleading. This is because it implies that the comments section is only for negative reviews. In reality, the comments section can and should be used for both positive and negative schema reviews.

Here are some specific examples of how this practice uses Schema.org/Recipe aggregaterating to mislead users:

• Users trust the schema aggregate rating in Google search results. Users click the higher reviewed websites. When the user visits the site the number of reviews written doesn't match what they clicked on.
• A user may be quickly scrolling through the recipe page and accidentally hover over the stars, saving a 5-star vote without intending to do so.
• A user may be thinking that the stars are a way to navigate to the comment section of the website. A common website design used for many review based recipe websites among other review website types.
• A user may be hesitant to leave a negative review, especially if they are not sure how to do so. The fact that the stars only take users to the comments section if they hover over 4 or less stars may make users think that negative reviews are not welcome.
• In general, anonymous single click ratings cause extreme aggregaterating inflation.

Public Perception

This practice is eroding Schema.org/Recipe's trust as a useful schema in Google search. Anonymous reviews are causing most of the inflation since they can't be accounted for on the recipe page. Danny Sullivan even responded saying that he is lobbying to remove Schema.org/Recipe reviews from search results because they are easy to inflate.