Putting the Consumer Back into Consumer Reviews

With 90 percent of consumers stating that online reviews impact their buying decisions it is no surprise that companies have tried to "juice" their review ratings through fake reviews.

However, some consumer review websites are starting to fight back.

WhoDoYou, a social local search service, has announced that in its first month of going live it has surpassed the number of reviews that competitor Angie's List received. In May, WhoDoYou collected more than 65,000 recommendations while Angie's List collected 60,000.

For those who have not read Website Magazine's previous coverage of WhoDoYou, the service works by scouring comments on social media giant Facebook and then pulls the reviews into their system. This means that there are no anonymous reviews on the website, just real reviews from real people. When searching WhoDoYou, users are able to specify a category or job type as well as location to find help that is local to that surrounding area. In response to their need, the service will display a plethora of related reviews with companies name, address and phone number clearly displayed next to the imported Facebook conversation.

"We're especially proud of this accomplishment because all 65,000 recommendations are genuine referrals made between friends. There are virtually no bogus reviews," said Yoav Schwartz, founder and CEO of WhoDoYou. "Our users certainly appreciate the sheer number of recommendations on WhoDoYou, but it's not the quantity of reviews that really matter. It's the quality of a trusted review that empowers users to confidently choose a great local provider."