In May of 2016, ReviewInc ran a survey of U.S. Consumers asking which was the most trusted online review site. Each consumer was presented with 7 random brand name review sites and they were asked to choose which of them they trusted most. The results were compared to a similar survey that ReviewInc ran in April of 2015 (a little over a year ago). Â The results told an interesting story.
GOOGLE IS the #1 MOST TRUSTED REVIEW SITE
Google and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) remain in the top two slots, with the more interesting story being who moved from 2015 to 2016.
FURTHER ANALYSIS
The top 2 movers in a negative direction, based on Net Change, are Zomato (formerly Urban Spoon) and Yelp. Zomato suffered greatly due to the brand name changing from Urban Spoon. The prior name had a level of consumer trust and goodwill that will take time to rebuild as Zomato. As for Yelp, since it now provides reviews for Yahoo, it is possible that Yahoo benefited more from this relationship.  Yelp and Yahoo switched ranking positions. However, Yelp suffered a larger noticeable negative change compared to Yahoo small positive change.
The top mover in a positive direction, based on Net Change, is the BBB. The BBB continues to have strong feedback mechanisms to encourage business owners to make things right, which creates a conversation of trust around the review process.  They also likely benefit from their legacy brand name.
In this year’s survey, we added the brand name Cars.com, DealerRater, InsiderPages, Vitals.com and HomeStars. Â As such there is no comparable data for 2015.
Most trusted online review sites 2016
| Review Site | 2016 | 2015 | Net Change | % Change | 2016 Overall Rank | 2015 Overall Rank |
| Google (Maps) | 14.79% | 15.79% | -1.00% | -6.33% | 1 | 1 |
| Better Business Bureau | 11.86% | 10.90% | 0.96% | 8.81% | 2 | 2 |
| Yahoo | 9.28% | 9.27% | 0.01% | 0.11% | 3 | 4 |
| Yelp | 8.40% | 9.84% | -1.44% | -14.63% | 4 | 3 |
| TripAdvisor | 7.64% | 7.90% | -0.26% | -3.29% | 5 | 5 |
| Angie’s List | 6.76% | 7.08% | -0.32% | -4.52% | 6 | 6 |
| 6.37% | 7.08% | -0.71% | -10.03% | 7 | 7 | |
| YellowPages (YP.com) | 5.27% | 5.07% | 0.20% | 3.94% | 8 | 8 |
| Bing | 4.41% | 4.35% | 0.06% | 1.38% | 9 | 9 |
| Local.com | 3.40% | 2.83% | 0.57% | 20.14% | 10 | 11 |
| Cars.com | 3.06% | N/A | 11 | |||
| Glassdoor | 2.86% | 2.79% | 0.07% | 2.51% | 12 | 12 |
| Foursquare | 1.79% | 1.65% | 0.14% | 8.48% | 13 | 15 |
| HealthGrades | 1.58% | 2.21% | -0.63% | -28.51% | 14 | 13 |
| CitySearch | 1.52% | 1.88% | -0.36% | -19.15% | 15 | 14 |
| Zomato (formerly UrbanSpoon) | 1.24% | 3.62% | -2.38% | -65.75% | 16 | 10 |
| DealerRater | 1.19% | N/A | 17 | |||
| SuperPages.com | 1.16% | 1.59% | -0.43% | -27.04% | 18 | 16 |
| InsiderPages | 1.13% | N/A | 19 | |||
| MerchantCircle | 1.09% | 0.83% | 0.26% | 31.33% | 20 | 21 |
| TrustLink | 0.92% | 1.11% | -0.19% | -17.12% | 21 | 19 |
| Vitals.com | 0.87% | N/A | 22 | |||
| MojoPages | 0.77% | 0.82% | -0.05% | -6.10% | 23 | 22 |
| YellowBot | 0.70% | 0.85% | -0.15% | -17.65% | 24 | 20 |
| RateMDs | 0.68% | 1.14% | -0.46% | -40.35% | 25 | 18 |
| ShowMeLocal | 0.65% | 1.43% | -0.78% | -54.55% | 26 | 17 |
| HomeStars | 0.57% | N/A | 27 |
Most businesses find it difficult to engage every customer in a consistent process. Utilizing the services a feedback and review system, such as ReviewInc, is the best way to automate and measure feedback.
Interested in a free consultation on how to improve your online reviews and overall reputation management? Call ReviewInc at 877-973-8439, book a demo, or email ReviewInc at [email protected] to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
