Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Are consumers really in control in this Web 2.0 era of local social media? Citysearch President Jay Herratti shared in his Kelsey Interactive Local Media keynote yesterday that merchant requests for removal of consumer reviews is the number one ”complaint escalation” he is called upon to arbitrate.

I met with Herratti following his presentation to discuss how Citysearch aims to help both merchants and consumers “make sense of” and “sort out” the burgeoning, and increasingly cacaphonous, world of online user generated content in the local space. 

Reputation management is an increasing imperative for local merchants as consumers become more and more active in sharing their experiences online, Herratti said. The passionate pleas from local businesses, and legal letters from lawyers, that reach the Citysearch president’s desk on a regular basis underscores the influence consumer opinions now have on SME’s prospects, he indicated. 

Merchants request removal of consumer reviews from Citysearch that they deem to be inaccurate and/or damaging, according to Herratti. During his keynote, Herratti described the cases of two restaurants that sought consumer review deletions from Citysearch.

When a restaurant in San Francisco changed ownership, the new management claimed that its prior track record, as described by consumers at Citysearch, no longer applied. Herratti determined, however, that as the restaurant continued to operate under the same name, the new investors acquired the business reputation along with its hard assets: No removal of reviews.

After a patron had an unfortunate experience under a pigeon while dining at one establishment, the customer was unable to find pleasure in any aspect of the restaurant’s experience and shared all online. While the merchant pleaded that pigeons don’t ordinarily interfere with their customers, Herratti determined the consumers’ review to be consistent with Citysearch’s “Ten Commandments” because the review added value by describing an actual consumer experience: No removal of review.

I asked Herratti if the two restaurants he described were Citysearch advertisers. Herratti said he was unaware, because client status does not factor into his decisions. Nevertheless, Citysearch sales reps will seek consumer review arbitration on behalf of client accounts. Regardless, most consumer reviews remain, Herratti told me.

I asked Herratti if, and under what circumstances, he WOULD agree to remove a consumer review. Citysearch consumer review decisions are based on its explicit Terms of Use, Herratti told me. Unacceptable review content includes:

1. Offensive, harmful and/or abusive language, including without limitation: expletives, profanities, obscenities, harassment, vulgarities, sexually explicit language and hate speech (e.g., racist/discriminatory speech.)
2. References to illegal activity, malpractice, purposeful overcharging, false advertising or health code violations (e.g., food poisoning, foreign objects in food, etc.)
3. Reviews submitted by the reviewed business’s employees (past or present) or competitors as determined by Citysearch.
4. Reviews that do not address the goods and services of the business or reviews with no qualitative value (e.g., “this place is great!”) as determined by Citysearch in its sole discretion.
5. Reviews commenting on other users.
6. Content that contains personal attacks or describes physical confrontations and/or sexual harassment.
7. Excessive damage caused by business or service to person or property.
8. Personal information or messages including email addresses, URLs, phone numbers and postal addresses.
9. Messages that are advertising or commercial in nature, or are inappropriate based on the applicable subject matter.
10. Language that violates the standards of good taste or the standards of this website, as determined by Citysearch in its sole discretion.

To assist local businesses in managing their reputations online, Citysearch offers a “merchant reply tool.”

To help consumers filter the hundreds of thousands, and counting, consumer reviews available at Citysearch, a new “Reviews Dashboard” is offered. Citysearch aims to give users a manageable, one-screen, snapshot of the aggregate consumer reaction to local establishments.

The Citysearch “Reviews Dashboard” features a “Ratings Roundup” and “The Verdict.” Local merchants will nevertheless undoubtedly continue to contest consumers’ verdicts.

MORE FROM KELSEY CONFERENCE: Google Beware: Facebook Takes Local Advertising Gloves Off, ILM REPORT and
Local Advertising Online: SMEs Hold the Billion Dollar Keys, ILM ANALYSIS and
Google Apps & Maps: Enterprise and Local Business STILL Missing and
The Future of Local IS (Google) Search: ILM REPORT and
Local is Global: $134 billion in Yellow Pages, Classifieds and Internet Advertising, ILM REPORT and
Jason Calacanis: ‘I Am Wrong About Local Too,” ILM REPORT

ALSO: Sony Jeopardy! Union and Studio Egos in the Way? WGA STRIKE INTERVIEWS

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN

I have been asking Ask.com if would bite the we can sell all our own ads bullet for the past year. Parent IAC proudly answered NO today: Barry Diller hailing a $3.5 billion plus five year re-upping with Google.

Last January, I asked Jim Lanzone, Ask.com CEO: “On January 1, 2008, will Ask.com have renewed its paid listing agrement with Google?”

Lanzone told me:

We have to do what is in our short and long term best interests, we have to focus on ROI…Google has historically paid the most, they can give a better deal to potential partners.

We will most likley strike another deal with one of the major netwroks because our own ad system combined with our own ad system will make us the most money. It is going t be a significant deal. We will be the ones with the power in the relationship because we own our traffic.

Ten months later, Lanzone’s foretelling was realized. Ask.com has renewed its relationship with Google, in a long-term deal that IAC is declaring a homerun.

What if IAC controlled all of Ask.com’s ad sales, however? With no rev share, instead of a Google home run, Ask.com could very well hit its own ball out of the advertising park!

Just weeks after I intereviewed Lanzone, Barry Diller weighed-in on the to Google or not to Google Ask.com question, during his Q4 2006 Wall Street earnings call.

DILLER QUESTION: Would it not be more advantageous long-term if Ask.com handled all of its advertising in-house?

As far as doing it ourselves, we thought originally and we continue to do work in this area. We do do it ourselves; we do all sorts of ad products inside Ask.com for ourselves, for our own account. But as far as the ad network business, there are, as you know, three players in it currently. I think there probably won’t be a fourth. At some point, I can’t say what will happen out of the growth of advertising in this area, but right now, I would much, much, much prefer to rent it. I think that we will be well-served by that, certainly for a period of time.

The day after Diller’s remarks to wall Street, I heard the IAC CEO address the 2007 Media Summit New York. No opportunity was provided for Q & A upon the conclusion of Diller’s talk; The question I prepared for Diller was: 

You indicated this morning that starting as the number five search engine is not a bad thing. Yesterday, you inferred that being the number four search advertising network may not be a good thing. 

Why are you willing to share Ask’s monetization with competitor Google when you believe “if there is no other ad network than Google, then we are all in trouble.”

In announcing today the IAC plan to spin-off HSN, Ticketmaster, Interval and Lending Tress as four distinct publicly traded companies, Diller said his online advertising focused “Internet conglomerate,” of which Ask.com is a trophy property, will benefit form “standing on its own.”

Wouldn’t Ask.com itself benefit even more from standing on its own, for ALL its advertising?

Google is Ask’s prime competitor. While Google can afford to be a strong proponent of coopetition, underdogs have a greater chance of becoming the big dog if they rely on themselves for their futures, rather than piggybacking on the success of their arch competitive rivals.

MORE: Ad-Tech: BuzzLogic Latest to Push Google AdSense and Attributor Launch Blasts AdSense Pirating: Google Beware and Tom Curley AP Crusade: Google AdSense Lawsuit Near? Thanks to Attributor

PLUS: Facebook Puts Freeloader Users On Sale To Highest Bidders!

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN