4 ms·

Why would Google show a negative review as an "endorsement"? If you rate a restaurant 1 out of 5 stars, Google isn't going to show "Cloudwalking rated this 1/5

Why would Google show a negative review as an "endorsement"? If you rate a restaurant 1 out of 5 stars, Google isn't going to show "Cloudwalking rated this 1/5 stars!" in an ad.

minikites 13y ago
Who's to say they won't start doing that in the future, where a competitor could purchase the negative review? And, what about my second point, which applies to any kind of review?
ihsw 13y ago
Because people form a stronger rapport with those who share negative experiences than positive experiences. Granted, trying to take advantage of this is walking a very narrow tightrope, however if executed well then it could be hugely profitable. Confirmation bias tells us that negative reviews will always be more numerous than positive reviews, however those people writing negative reviews will feel a stronger cohesion with each-other. As such, negative reviews will be more valuable to how people form first impressions.
- Permit 13y ago
  I don't think anything you've mentioned is relevant at all. Google isn't going to show your negative review beside a paid ad because it'd help you build rapport with friends... Keep in mind these are paid ads, Google is trying to further promote/endorse the advertiser.
  - vdaniuk 13y ago
    It would certainly be interesting to analyze a game theory model for ads if one could surface negative reviews about competitors.
spankalee 13y ago
Actually, I would really hope they do. One of the principles behind Google's ad systems is that they're useful for users and advertisers, that a good ad can benefit everyone involved. If they show me an ad for something that my friends have negatively reviewed, I damn well want to see those negative reviews right along-side the ad. Disclaimer: Googler
- cloudwalking 13y ago
  Better yet, Google should not show ads for products that my friends rate poorly...
  - spankalee 13y ago
    Good point. I've always thought that ads that were reviewed, and could be reviewed very negatively, would be an interesting check on scams and bad products. You gladly take the advertisers money, but if people rate the ad poorly it's a waste and possibly negative value. This might encourage good ads and ads for good products.
  - nooneelse 13y ago
    But I (and probably no one) trust(s) all my friends about every topic or type of product/service. So better to show me the ad and which friend(s) gave the review so I can determine if that is actually a mark against the ad or not.
  - notatoad 13y ago
    that sounds like a really good idea, both from a consumer perspective and an advertiser perspective. i don't want to see ads for things that my friends don't think i'd be interested in, and i don't want to pay to have my ads shown to people whose friends are just going to warn them away from me.
- md224 13y ago
  Honest question: how do you rationalize the influence of bid amount on AdWords ad positioning? In other words, if two companies buy ad space, and one of the ads has a slightly lower quality score but a much higher bid price, it will be placed above the higher quality ad. How does this benefit users? Isn't this detrimental to the quality of the information being presented? If a recommendation service prioritizes a recommendation because it was paid more to do so, isn't that akin to bribery? Why have we normalized the morality of this kind of business practice?
  - spankalee 13y ago
bjterry 13y ago
The new strategy for negative reviews on Google products will be to offer five star reviews (for visibility) where the text talks about their terrible experience (for truth).

Why would Google show a negative review as an "endorsement"? If you rate a restaurant 1 out of 5 stars, Google isn't going to show "Cloudwalking rated this 1/5 stars!" in an ad.

minikites 13y ago

Who's to say they won't start doing that in the future, where a competitor could purchase the negative review? And, what about my second point, which applies to any kind of review?

ihsw 13y ago

Because people form a stronger rapport with those who share negative experiences than positive experiences. Granted, trying to take advantage of this is walking a very narrow tightrope, however if executed well then it could be hugely profitable. Confirmation bias tells us that negative reviews will always be more numerous than positive reviews, however those people writing negative reviews will feel a stronger cohesion with each-other. As such, negative reviews will be more valuable to how people form first impressions.

Permit 13y ago
I don't think anything you've mentioned is relevant at all. Google isn't going to show your negative review beside a paid ad because it'd help you build rapport with friends... Keep in mind these are paid ads, Google is trying to further promote/endorse the advertiser.
- vdaniuk 13y ago
  It would certainly be interesting to analyze a game theory model for ads if one could surface negative reviews about competitors.

spankalee 13y ago

Actually, I would really hope they do. One of the principles behind Google's ad systems is that they're useful for users and advertisers, that a good ad can benefit everyone involved. If they show me an ad for something that my friends have negatively reviewed, I damn well want to see those negative reviews right along-side the ad. Disclaimer: Googler

cloudwalking 13y ago
Better yet, Google should not show ads for products that my friends rate poorly...
- spankalee 13y ago
  Good point. I've always thought that ads that were reviewed, and could be reviewed very negatively, would be an interesting check on scams and bad products. You gladly take the advertisers money, but if people rate the ad poorly it's a waste and possibly negative value. This might encourage good ads and ads for good products.
- nooneelse 13y ago
  But I (and probably no one) trust(s) all my friends about every topic or type of product/service. So better to show me the ad and which friend(s) gave the review so I can determine if that is actually a mark against the ad or not.
- notatoad 13y ago
  that sounds like a really good idea, both from a consumer perspective and an advertiser perspective. i don't want to see ads for things that my friends don't think i'd be interested in, and i don't want to pay to have my ads shown to people whose friends are just going to warn them away from me.
md224 13y ago
Honest question: how do you rationalize the influence of bid amount on AdWords ad positioning? In other words, if two companies buy ad space, and one of the ads has a slightly lower quality score but a much higher bid price, it will be placed above the higher quality ad. How does this benefit users? Isn't this detrimental to the quality of the information being presented? If a recommendation service prioritizes a recommendation because it was paid more to do so, isn't that akin to bribery? Why have we normalized the morality of this kind of business practice?
- spankalee 13y ago

bjterry 13y ago

The new strategy for negative reviews on Google products will be to offer five star reviews (for visibility) where the text talks about their terrible experience (for truth).