Product Review Mega-Sites Galore
Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:28PM EDT
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I've previously written about the glories of ConsumerSearch, a site which rounds up hundreds of product reviews, ranks them, then offers a category-by-category look at the very best products, based on the combined wisdom of dozens of experts. (As a sample, here are the site's top refrigerator picks.)
Well, ConsumerSearch, there's a new game in town, so you better watch your back! In fact, there are several new sites trying to horn in on the meta-review-roundup space (aka "aggregate review services"), and some of them look pretty comprehensive. TechCrunch just did a roundup of the space. Here are my top picks from the new breed of sites and some comments on how well they work.
Wize - Also does a 0 to 100 rank, but its formula includes user reviews and "buzz" as a component of the rating, along with expert reviews. User reviews are fine, but I'm unsure how useful "buzz" is. I don't really care how much people talk about a new product, I care about how good that product is. Some high-buzz products (LG Chocolate) tend to be less than great. Wize has a great selection of product categories that ranges from laptops to car seats, making it about as comprehensive as ConsumerSearch. Tends to weigh user reviews more heavily than expert reviews, it seems, but both are thorough. Overall the advice seems great. Definitely one to bookmark.
ViewScore - Very easy to browse categories and get a quick view at the highest-ranked products, all of rich are ranked with a 0 to 100 numerical score. Very intuitive, and for the categories it covers, it's very comprehensive. Some of the sources it uses for "expert" reviews are questionable, however, and it's lacking major sites like PC World or PC Magazine. (After receiving a letter from ViewScore's PR folks, I checked out even more reviews and indeed found sporadic links to both of the aforementioned magazines, though, again, these can be erratic.) It's also very limited in the number of categories it covers right now (which are oddly random, too), though I assume this will grow over time. Not a bad place to consult if you're in the market for tech gear.
I was less impressed with the other sites in the TechCrunch story, and frankly, with ConsumerSearch, Wize, and ViewScore, that's plenty of aggregate sites for getting your meta reviews.
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2 Posted by ssanders82 on Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:29PM EDT Report Abuse
Hi, I just started an aggregate product review site at SmarterReviews.com with a twist on product reviews. We've created technology that actually reads the reviews and discovers features based on patterns in the review text, then quantifies those features. Basically we can look at thousands of reviews on mp3 players and say one has the best battery life, but another one has the best sound quality. Check it out at SmarterReviews.com, we're really excited about it. Sam Sanders
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3 Posted by yozcan on Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:55AM EST Report Abuse
Does Circuit City sell used laptops under the new brand? I was ordered a Sony VAIO Laptop on 01/29/2008 to Circuitcity by internet with paying shipment cost. But It never arrived to my home. After 10 days, I had to gone another city and taken it from Fedex. Other hand, my real story was begun at this point. When I opened to box, I was shocked. Because it was including an used laptop like a bad joke but also it was a reality of Circuitcity. After this shock I went to nearest store and gave it back, in fact I changed it with another laptop paying exstra 200 $. Because that one was not at stock. Than, I applied to CC a lot of times by emails but nobody returned me for any explanation. Like a Silent Wall ! My question is what would you do if you were me? Does Circuitcity sell Used things like a Junk Dealer but takes new brand prices? Whats name of this ?. Thanks.. Yavuz CAN
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1 Posted by lwfletham on Fri Sep 29, 2006 4:55PM EDT Report Abuse
Lucas here from Wize-- Thanks for the great review. Buzz is another data point that ties into our goal of gathering collective wisdom. Customers have told us that understanding how recently reviews have been posted can help measure where a product is in its lifecycle. Buzz can impact Wize Rank, but it's the smallest part of our algorithm.