Most would agree that online reviews are gaining much more importance in how well a business does, or does not do. There is so much information available online that any question a person has about anything or any one, chances are there is someone who has commented on that very topic. And I don’t know about you, but I am slightly disturbed if I search for something and don’t find a review about it somewhere.
Reviews are valuable information. They tell us things that we want to know and frequently they help us decide what attitude we will have about a place well before we go, or if they are too bad, we don’t go. They set our expectations.
Here’s an article that is suggesting local governments pay attention to review sites like Yelp and Google to learn about health hazards and other potential problems in their city so they can take action.
I am not necessarily in agreement with this sentiment, especially since I’ve observed business competitors launch smear campaigns against a business using lies and false claims.
But perhaps I am a minority.
Weigh in on this. Do you think local governments should use local reviews as grounds to investigate a business or service?
http://newamerica.net/publications/articles/2012/the_most_important_information_missing_from_yelp_70950
Linda