[mPReDiToR]

This isn't just GOOG products, it's everything with a review.

It's cheaper to buy a thousand five star reviews than improve your service to the point where honest reviewers give you top marks.

The review/stars system is not fit for basing decisions on. Unhappy people are more likely to leave a review in frustration and one bad review outweighs twenty good ones. The deck is stacked poorly.

I do leave reviews when I'm happy about a place, but I try to make it obvious I've been there and am relating an experience rather than just tapping a star.

[maelito]

I wonder why there is no review system between friends.

Friends' advice is a very good metric.

Add in some discovery mecanism to avoid loops, and you've got a cheap and trusted system.