As the Internet becomes a mainstream source of information, sites that feature reviews from real people will become increasingly important influencers of buying decisions. This is an extension of traditional word-of-mouth advertising. For example:

Yelp, a social networking site where users post their own reviews, in March had 31 million unique visitors, up from 20 million a month last year. Since Yelp launched in 2004, 10 million reviews, mostly for restaurants, have been written. Similar sites also show strong growth. But because they hope to profit from what is submitted, these sites have goals that may be at odds with the restaurants, and even with the commenters. Yelp and its aspirants are in the business of making money by brokering information. – Boston Globe, June 2, 2010

Research from the U.K. suggests that the reach is important to business bottom line: Continue reading →