I don't think this is an easy problem to solve. The inherent problem to me seems like we're trying to condense reviews into a tiny signal of an integer in the

I don't think this is an easy problem to solve. The inherent problem to me seems like we're trying to condense reviews into a tiny signal of an integer in the range of 1 to 5. For many things, this simply doesn't cut it. 2 stars, what does that mean? Was the coffee table not the advertised shade of grey? Does the graphics card overheat on medium load because of a poor cooler design? Was the delivery late (not related to the product, but many people leave these kinds of reviews)? Did you leave a 2 star review because you don't like the price but you didn't actually order the product? All these things I've seen on reviews and I've learned to ignore star ratings because not only they can be gamed, they are essentially useless. Props to users who take the time to write out detailed reviews of products which give you an idea of what to expect without having to guess what a star rating means, although sometimes these can be gamed as well as many sellers on Amazon and such will just give out free products in exchange for favourable reviews. Being a consumer is not easy these days, you have to be knowledgeable in what you're buying and assume every seller is an adversary.