Connor Murray: The online review system is broken, Bitcoin can fix it

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Over 90% of online consumers look at a product’s reviews before making a purchase, trusting the reviews as much as a personal recommendation, research shows. However, the online review system has been broken for a long time and many have manipulated it to discredit competition. Bitcoin can fix this, and Connor Murray is leading a team that’s championing this change. On the sidelines of the CoinGeek London Conference, he spoke to CoinGeek about how his company True Reviews is changing the online reviews industry.

True Reviews is solving two key challenges with online reviews – incentives and verification. “If you take the time to leave a review you should get paid for it by other users if they find it valuable,” Murray told CoinGeek’s Johanna Botta.

The incentivization is key for the system to work, Murray stated, reminiscing about how the idea for True Reviews came about. On a trip to Italy, he realized just how dependent businesses are on their clients’ reviews. However, with no incentive to leave a review, many dismiss it. When they do leave the reviews, it’s only after they are dissatisfied with the service, and these reviews are almost always negative.

The company is also working on a verification method, validating that the person leaving a review actually purchased the product. This prevents businesses from paying for misleading online reviews. This is done by linking the reviewer to a point-of-sale, validating that they did buy the good they are reviewing.

True Reviews is also building a backend server that existing review companies can integrate. “We don’t necessarily want to be a social media site, I think that would require us to compete with TripAdvisor and Yelp with market effect and that’s going to be very difficult,” Murray said.

Instead, the company’s developing a backend platform that leverages blockchain technology to create incentives and validate that the reviews are real.

Ideally you’d never touch True Reviews as a website; we’d just be powering the technology that earns you money when you leave reviews.