Angry with bad online reviews ? Here are some tips to handle them

Being an avid food lover, I was introduced to this app known as Urbanspoon upon my arrival in Melbourne. Known for great eateries and cafes, Urbanspoon is THE app that everyone uses to check out new restaurants/pubs/eateries in this vibrant city, Melbourne.

The homepage of Urbanspoon

While I have found that the reviews usually reflect the level of the quality (my rule of thumb is a rating of >85%!), it also got me thinking that restaurant/business owners need to be more mindful of their online businesses reputation.

User review sites and app has taken a skyrocket climb as it is often deemed as a more honest and accurate representation of the product/service compared to a traditional advertisement. 

In fact a recent survey by Yellow Pages shows that users, on average, would expect to read 4 reviews before making a purchase decision, and online reviews and blogs are up 6% in the past year.

Given this, the user review sites are also subject to manipulation as it is oftentimes accessible practically anyone and also avoids the face-to-face confrontation. From genuine disgruntled customers to competitors, businesses need to be more aware of their online reputation as it can be a key determinant to the success or failure of their businesses. 

So what are some of the things that businesses can do when faced with bad reviews ?

 1)      Private message the reviewer to clarify this.

Most of the user review sites allows business owners to private message users to clarify these problems. While some reviews may stem from facts such as giving reviews to the wrong restaurants, however, this can also be seen as an avenue to collect valuable feedback from customers to improve on its future business operations.

    2)      Be proactive because being reactive can hurt your business (not to mention emotionally draining you!)

     Notice how like in real life, people tend to bad-mouth and say nasty things about you ? 

                               

     The same case applies in the online world as well. Better yet, the online platform is virtual with no real personal interaction involved, making it a ‘great’ avenue for haters or face-to-face confrontations. By responding publicly to negative reviews not only tells reviewers that you are watching them in this online space, chances are they are also more likely to write something more objective and truthful in the future.

    3) Establish an online presence (one they can fully control!)

Businesses, especially small businesses should look into social media, in this case, Facebook, to reach out to customers.  More importantly they need to establish a stand/presence in the online world. While businesses cannot control the content and information that disseminates in the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are excellent platforms to convey (and fully control) the desirable image of your product/service to the world.

Also, have you ever wondered why certain restaurants consistently remain on the “Urbanspoon Top Picks” ? First example is Chin Chin, the buzz fusion Thai restaurant in the city. Apparently, the article here revealed that a social media specialist is hired to handle their channels, which obviously generated positive returns on their business. Other companies, such as the giant telecommunication company, Telstra, have set up a team that monitors the online reputation of the company 24/7.

In all, social media is seen as an important and growing platform that business must start looking into. The last and worst thing that could have happen is a failing business without even realizing the true cause (impact of bad reviews) ! 

Pay-per-gaze ? How Google takes advertising to a whole new level !

Google has just been granted a patent that may potentially pave a new path for advertising in the future. This patent specifically outlines how advertisers could be charged according to the number or views an ad receives while wearing the Glass, both offline and online, hence labeling it “pay-per-gaze” advertising. 

Known as the Gaze Tracking System, this technology works is by measuring one’s pupillary response to the ad and infer an ‘emotional state of user while viewing the external scenes based at least in part upon the pupil dilation information”. In theory, this allows advertisers to gauge the level of how ‘engage’ the viewer is in advertising.

While Google had previously banned developers from displaying ads on the Google Glass (as pictured above), 

the patent states that the system requires a “head mounted gaze tracking device” which comprises of 

“eye glasses”, "side-arms that engage ears of the user”, “lenses through which the user views the external scenes” and “at least one forward facing scene camera”.

Phase 1: Pay-per-Gaze

Simply put, this intelligent invention allows ads to literally flash in front of your eyes. And how exactly does Google get paid for these advertisements? Precisely, Google gets paid when your pupils pointed in that direction and for how long. While traditional marketers have struggled to find ways to track advert performances by metrics such as click-through-rates and pay per view, this technology takes it to a step higher by tracing the human gaze, which is the closest and most accurate representation of the viewer’s interest on an advertisement.

The patent further offers the application of a "pay-per-gaze" system, where:

Pay-per-gaze advertising need not be limited to online advertisements, but rather can be extended to conventional advertisement media, including billboards, magazines, newspapers and other forms of conventional print media. Thus, the gaze-tracking system described herein offers a mechanism to track and bill offline advertisements in the manner similar to popular online advertisement schemes.

 

Phase 2: Pay-Per-Emotion

In the later stage, which is dubbed as Phase Two (Pay-Per-Emotion), the Glass will be able to track the interest of the wearer by measuring on how much your eyes dilate. The reasoning for this is simple; pupil dilation oftentimes correlate with emotional stats (eg; surprise, interest, shock and etc). Case in point is you are more likely to respond (gaze longer at a pizza advert, hence dilating your pupils) when you are hungry.

                                     

Charles Darwin speculated that the brain is affected by

 powerful emotions such as fear, that causes the pupil to dilate.

What about the billing fee$ ? 

Apparently, the advertisers will be billed depending on whether the user looked directly at a given advertisement item, viewed the given advertisement item for one or more specified duration and/or the inferred emotional state of the user while viewing a particular advertisement.

Given the grant of this patent, the world now anxiously anticipates to see how the future advertising landscape will evolve in the coming years. 

No exciting travel plans ? Don’t fret, Google Street View has you covered !

So it seems that Google has invented the Street View at 2007, and of course, any invention by Google has taken the world by a storm ! Personally, I was one of the (probably the majority) of people who was particularly intrigued by this new addition. Google Street View is a technology that provides a vivid 360-degree view from positions along many streets in the world.

For anyone with a particular interest/curiosity to know how other countries look like will be able to grasp a more vivid picture of a foreign place. I guess the classic saying of “a picture paints a thousand words” prevails in this case.

This brings to my next point on how Street View is also affecting the travel industry, or more accurately, our travel experiences. With a 360-degree view of virtually any place, I guess one can always take a 10-minute “mental vacation” to anywhere in the world.

"London to Ibiza, straight to L.A New York, Vegas to Africa"

While it is a useful resource when you're planning a route or looking for a destination, it can also serve as a magical gateway that transports you to some of world's most picturesque or iconic landmarks. As a result, we no longer only rely on traditional travel books, websites or official government websites which oftentimes projects a biased dreamlike, professional image of a country.  The Street View is an excellent avenue that provides a vivid reality of how a place is REALLY like, and best of all, at no costs. From the iconic Eiffel tower in Paris to the Grand Canyon in the States..... the Street View takes one on an exciting (virtual) experience touring the world. 

Case in point: The iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris

Google Street View

VERSUS

A professionally taken picture 

As an extension of Street View, Google has been taking 360-degree panoramic photos of tourist sights around the world that are only accessible by foot. Here are those completed so far:

·         Grand Canyon, US.

·         Mount Fuji, Japan.

·         Hashima Island, Japan - more commonly known as Battleship Island.

·         Iqaluit, Canadian Arctic - the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

·         Burj Khalifa, Dubai - the world's tallest building.

·         The Galapagos Islands, a Unesco World Heritage Site off the coast of South America.

The advancement of technology and accessibility of Internet has brought profound impacts. With the function of Street View, I guess Google is trying to tell you "So what if you don’t have the time (or money) to travel ?". I guess Google Street View would satisfy that travel bug in you, or at least temporarily.

In my next post, I will be talking more on what actual travelers think about Street View, and how its latest addition alters one's travel experience. Stay tuned !