all right welcome back everyone for another deep dive today we’re going to be looking at something that everybody uses all the time online reviews yeah we’re going to be looking at excerpts from a website called easy fstar reviews and uh we’re going to be unpacking how those shiny f-star ratings can really make or break a business so have you ever wondered how some businesses just seem to rack up all those glowing reviews H well get ready to peek behind the curtain yeah I think this will be interesting this website it really kind of positions itself in a certain way with its tagline Okay And the tagline is boost your business with quality festar reviews okay improve trust visibility and attract more customers with genuine positive feedback interesting so it seems like what they’re going for here is kind of hitting on that like anxiety of business owners in today’s world totally right like it’s got to be tough out there yeah they’re promising the Holy Grail trust visibility and more customers all thanks to those little gold stars to these reviews yeah they’re emphasizing genuine feedback what happens when those reviews aren’t so genuine what are some of the downsides of gaming the system well I think that’s where it gets kind of ethically murky and possibly even damaging right like yeah we know that positive reviews are a good thing we know that they can really boost a business for sure but when you start to get into that inauthentic territory that’s when it can really backfire I think um you know just even a single fake review can plant that seed of Doubt right in a customer’s mind you know they start to think hm is this real right and then that makes it so that even the legitimate positive reviews suspect and so then nobody trusts anything and then that hurts everybody right it hurts the consumer it hurts the businesses that are actually playing by the rules and it hurts the platform itself yeah so it’s this whole ripple effect of distrust right speaking of influencing potential customers one thing that jumped out at me on this website a section titled what are GBP reviews oh interesting yeah so GBP stands for Google business profile okay and think about the last time you were searching for I don’t know a restaurant or a plumber or something you know that little box that pops up yes with the photos and the reviews and the contact info that’s their Google business profile oh and that’s like Prime real estate for a business wow it’s like their digital storefront exactly exactly and the views on that profile are super valuable okay um they can really affect where a business ranks in the search results right and they can be the thing that makes a potential customer choose them or go with a competitor instead yeah so it’s really it all comes back to visibility and customer attraction exactly and GBP reviews are like a key part of that whole thing fascinating so those GBP reviews are basically just like yeah digital word of mouth and they’re playing this huge role in how we’re finding and choosing businesses absolutely I think the biggest thing is just understanding the power of online reviews and also the potential pitfalls right they can make or break a business but authenticity is so important I think businesses really need to focus on genuine customer engagement ethical practices and consumers need to approach reviews with you know a healthy dose of skepticism do your research look for patterns and don’t be afraid to dig a Little Deeper before you make a decision based on those reviews right so next time you see a business with a perfect five-star rating ask yourself uhhuh what’s the story behind these reviews are they just too good to be true yeah little bit of healthy skepticism can go a long way definitely well thank you for joining us on this deep dive into the world of online reviews it was a pleasure it’s a fascinating and sometimes Shady World absolutely so we’ll see you next day sounds good
