Mr. Bill Szczytko wrote an important piece over on his blog BSitko. The gist of the post speaks to a ruling handed down in a Virginia court this past week. In essence it calls into question identity of a reviewers’ as a relates to leaving malicious or false remarks about one’s products or services. The court ruled that Yelp must turn over the identities of people who left negative reviews on the basis that they were not true customers of the business who brought the suit.
I don’t care anymore
It got me thinking about the last time that I actually used a review to consider a purchase. It was on Amazon. I took the time to read a couple of reviews written about a book that I intended to buy. I remember getting to the end of the narratives and deciding that I really didn’t care about reviews anymore.
Half of them sounded like sales speak. That is to suggest that somebody who had an interest in selling more books was reviewing the literature in a very positive light. Another group railed against the literature and/or supported it in a way that was just borderline mindless. And still others sounded like – I-need-to-keep-my-review- quota-up-so-I-will-say-a-few-nice-things.
Prediction
At some point in the next three to five years people will revolt against ratings and reviews; writing them off as just another platform overcome by savvy marketers. Gone will be the need or want to know who said what because nobody will care. And gone will be the day that ratings and reviews carried any merit at all.
Your writing ratings and reviews off three to five years ahead of its time MultiFamily Maniac,
M
0 Responses
Mike, do you think that you might put more stock in reviews about a larger purchase–say, a new car? I’m just wondering if reviews for apartments ($1000/month purchase) might persist in use longer than reviews for a book ($15 one-time purchase).
Jacob, good question. I can’t say that I wouldn’t. It’s just sometimes difficult to discern what is real and what seems like sales speak. And i think that will get worse before it gets better. Let’s just say that I would look for an alternative feedback method and only lean on reviews if all else failed.
I’m a bit late to this discussion, but I have to say I disagree. On one hand, with buying a book or a blouse, it’s easy to think of differing opinions or body types, and it’s a smaller purchase. However, like Jacob mentioned – a new car, an out of country trip, a place of residence for the next 12 months of your life – reviews are important. And if for example, 4 of 6 reviews discuss lack of customer service, the property or vacation site falling apart or having a lot of criminal activity, etc, I would definitely look elsewhere (and have) before committing, or think about paying a bit extra for somewhere that has 4 of 6 positive reviews, instead of the reverse.
It’s hard for me to disagree with your point. I just think reviews are becoming noisy and hard to trust as a source for reliable data points in a decision making process. Reviews seem to draw out the idiot fringe on both the positive and the negative side. I am sure there are places where they are and will remain valuable but today I remain a skeptic…