Online ratings: amateur reviews changing approach of small businesses

copyrighht sfgate.com
by Ilana DeBare
published September 3, 2006

Thanks to the recent rise of local search sites like Yelp, CitySearch, Angie's List and Yahoo! Local, customer referrals are becoming more thorough, more honest and more accessible. A September feature by the San Francisco Chronicle, however, reveals that they aren't necessarily becoming more favorable. Enabling customers to review their local businesses online means giving them a forum in which to both praise and punish small businesses. The result, one business owner tells the Chronicle, is that businesses "have to be A+ on the ball all the time."

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