Download.com site feedback: Star rating system too easy to rig?
Star rating system too easy to rig?
by calcooler - 6/13/08 5:49 PMIs the star rating system too easy for the publisher to rig?
"Easy Audio Record 3.2.7" (released Dec. 20, 2007) sorts to the top of the list with a 5 star rating and 25 votes, but had NO user reviews. Even the previous version had only one very brief review.
Could these "votes" just be the publisher voting for their own product?
IMHO, even if legitimate, a "star" vote without a written review is almost useless and should be blocked/disallowed by CNET.
There's a preventative measure...
by John.Wilkinson
- 6/13/08 7:54 PM
In reply to: Star rating system too easy to rig? by calcooler
You must log in to submit a rating or a review, and each member may only submit a single rating per major product version. (Thus, you can generally submit a review of Product 2.0 and Product 3.2, but not Product 2.0 and Product 2.1.) That prevents anyone from simply clicking the 5-star rating and submit button, or creating a bot to do it for them in order to artificially enhance a product's rating. While I agree comments are better than a straight rating on a scale of one to five, most would not want to take the time to write a review unless it made an overwhelming influence one way or the other. This way everyone has the ability to express their opinions, regardless of how short or lengthy they are.
Regards,
John
P.S. Publishers who participate in fraudulent business practices, including falsifying reviews/ratings, are subject to removal and banning from Cnet's download.com.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
