Review policy

What is published

A review that describes a genuine experience is published whether the rating is high or low. The business cannot veto publication, cannot edit the text, and cannot pay for the review to be taken down. There is no queue in which a business approves reviews before they appear.

What is refused

A review is refused when the reviewer says they are the business, when it is unlawful, when it is not about a real experience of that listing, or when there are reasonable grounds to think it is fake. Refusal is for those reasons. A low star rating is not one of them. The reviewer is told when a submission is refused because they identified themselves as the business.

Commercial relationships

Reviewers are asked what connection they have to the business. If they were offered a reward, work for the business, or have another commercial connection, that fact is shown on the review. Featured and Sponsored labels are separate: they mark advertising on the listing. They do not let the business curate its reviews, and they are not themselves reviews.

The directory does not buy reviews, does not ask businesses to solicit five-star reviews, and does not publish staff testimonials as if they were customers. The example businesses on the site are fictional and start with no reviews.

Checks

The email address on a review is not published. It is kept so a suspected fake review can be investigated. A business may reply in public once accounts exist. A reply is not a rewrite. Anyone can report a review through the contact form. Reports are read against this policy. A report that simply dislikes the rating is not a ground for removal.