Citizen pain

Thanks to the power of the Web, you can get an instant review of just about anything. But not all publicity is good publicity, says Tina Nielsen

The scenario is becoming increasingly familiar. Recommend a restaurant to anyone and immediately they'll do a Web search. Planning a holiday? Head to the Net for fellow travellers' advice. Citizen journalism is everywhere. Suddenly, everybody wants to be a reviewer.

Over the last two years alone, content on travel review site TripAdvisor has doubled from five million reviews to 10 million and currently 25 million people use the site every month. "This is real people power," says TripAdvisor's European communications manager, Ian Rumgay. "Before you had to rely on marketing blurbs or one particular writer's opinion, but now there is this community of travellers who can exchange information and advice about almost anything to do with travel."

Simon Wright, restaurateur and former editor of the AA Restaurant Guide, thinks user-generated sites are just a natural development. "Everyone takes restaurant recommendations from friends all the time and this is only an expanded version of that," he says. But there are pitfalls—one is the opportunity for businesses to leave glowing reviews of themselves. Another it that a review is only somebody else's opinion and there is no accounting for taste.

"One person's idea of hell is another person's idea of heaven," says Joe Lambert, owner of Lamberts Restaurant in south London. Being outside central London, Lamberts has relied on customer recommendations and has received almost exclusively positive reviews since it opened five years ago. But bad reviews can be bruising. "They can be very hurtful because I put my life and soul into what I think is a good restaurant. Somebody came along and just put 'overrated' and that is really unhelpful," he says. If he could change one thing about the reviews, Lambert would like reviewers to have more accountability. "It would be nice for me to know when people have posted a review, so I know who was working. That would make them more useful," he says.

Wright says established guide books may have cause for concern in the future, but points out they use experienced and trained reviewers. "Guides use qualified people, trained to sing from the same hymn sheet, who have the ability to benchmark," he says.

Another obvious issue is the risk of fraud. But, says Rumgay, all reviews on TripAdvisor are keenly policed. "Every review is checked by a team of 40 inspectors, who are specially trained in detecting fraud," he says. The inspectors carry out spot checks and TripAdvisor has its own software, which can detect unusual patterns and traffic. But first and foremost, he says, other users are expected to police the reviews.

But businesses can check them, too and they have some protection if they feel offended. "I had a bad review that I knew was from a chef who had left the restaurant fairly acrimoniously. When I called London-eating and explained the situation they took it off immediately," says Lambert.

In an ever-expanding blogosphere there are no real losers and lots of interest. "The increase just shows there is an enthusiasm and that people get together to exhange comments," says Wright. "I think that is healthy and vibrant. It is good."