Discussion: Product Review Sites
The main advantage of these product review sites is that they are specific on restaurants. Zagat (https://www.zagat.com/) and Restaurant Engine (http://restaurantengine.com/restaurant-review-sites/) are purely on restaurants. They do not only review existing restaurants but also give information on how to start, run and grow a restaurant business. As such, people seeking information on restaurants will find almost all the information they need, and this helps to attract advertisers. Trip Advisor (https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants) has diversified its reach to almost the whole of the hospitality industry, and this also helps it draw advertisers and spread all related information on restaurants, popular cities, foods, flights, holiday planning among others.
What are the revenue sources of these product review sites?
Product review sites such as Zagat, Restaurant Engine, and Trip Advisor rely on revenue from advertisements on their websites as well as paid-reviews. In the case of paid reviews, some restaurants may pay the reviewer for positive and repeated reviewing as a way to increase its presence online and influence the target market. Other businesses such as app makers that help people find restaurants may also advertise through influential reviews.
Which product review sites would you choose to use, and why?
I would use product review sites for electronics and restaurants. Electronic review sites offer massive information and comparisons in various models and products thereby helping one make sound decisions. For instance, when buying a mobile phone, a review site presents all the specifications and user reviews in an unbiased manner. In the case of restaurant reviews, they mostly rely on comparing each restaurant with others of its class and star rating. There are numerous pictures and user reviews to help in decision making.
Product review sites offer great benefits to the creators, advertisers, reviewers and the public.
