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Not really. Most of those reviews are paid reviews these days, and you can't tell the real ones from the fake ones. I know because at my previous job the market

Not really. Most of those reviews are paid reviews these days, and you can't tell the real ones from the fake ones. I know because at my previous job the marketing team was responsible for "encouraging" customers to leave positive reviews by offering them various incentives and discounts. Resulting reviews were often times the total opposite of reality.

macando 6y ago
Partially true. It takes some time to learn how to spot genuine reviews. However, even in the "encouraged" reviews you can still discover what problems people solve with certain class of tools and how much money they're ready to pay for them.
- tiltrus 6y ago
  Doubt it. I've worked for a SAAS company in the past that practices the incentivized review behaviour. Genuine (organic) reviews were indistinguishable from incentivized reviews. Poor reviews, which are the most valuable for this type of research, were always removed.
  - enraged_camel 6y ago
    I was looking at a competitor's reviews just now, out of curiosity. They're so funny. The best one goes like this: Pros: We love everything about this software! Especially A, B, C, D, E, F and G features! Cons: It's always so difficult to wait for the next monthly patch! But it's so worth it!
jokethrowaway 6y ago
Can confirm, I did a few paid reviews (until the reward was greater than the time spent). I wrote genuine thoughts on the product but given it has been offered to me and not someone else, there is a clear selection bias.
new23d 6y ago
FWIW, a few months ago we had a prospect ask, and I partially quote, "We don't see any reviews on the AWS marketplace,". We can see too that most of competitors' reviews are clearly inauthentic. Also, in the B2B space, a public endorsement is infrequently given for various reasons. Being in cybersecurity makes it an awkward ask too - especially after SolarWinds got a lot of flack for publishing their client list on the website [1]. However, it would have to be done - as that prospect has made it clear. We are sticking by our guns though and will get there eventually with genuine reviews. But TBH, the path is not clear. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack-client-list-russia-orion-it-compromised https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack...

macando 6y ago

Partially true. It takes some time to learn how to spot genuine reviews. However, even in the "encouraged" reviews you can still discover what problems people solve with certain class of tools and how much money they're ready to pay for them.

tiltrus 6y ago
Doubt it. I've worked for a SAAS company in the past that practices the incentivized review behaviour. Genuine (organic) reviews were indistinguishable from incentivized reviews. Poor reviews, which are the most valuable for this type of research, were always removed.
- enraged_camel 6y ago
  I was looking at a competitor's reviews just now, out of curiosity. They're so funny. The best one goes like this: Pros: We love everything about this software! Especially A, B, C, D, E, F and G features! Cons: It's always so difficult to wait for the next monthly patch! But it's so worth it!

jokethrowaway 6y ago

Can confirm, I did a few paid reviews (until the reward was greater than the time spent). I wrote genuine thoughts on the product but given it has been offered to me and not someone else, there is a clear selection bias.

new23d 6y ago

FWIW, a few months ago we had a prospect ask, and I partially quote, "We don't see any reviews on the AWS marketplace,". We can see too that most of competitors' reviews are clearly inauthentic. Also, in the B2B space, a public endorsement is infrequently given for various reasons. Being in cybersecurity makes it an awkward ask too - especially after SolarWinds got a lot of flack for publishing their client list on the website [1]. However, it would have to be done - as that prospect has made it clear. We are sticking by our guns though and will get there eventually with genuine reviews. But TBH, the path is not clear. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack-client-list-russia-orion-it-compromised https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/15/22176053/solarwinds-hack...