A few months back, Google decided to use its acquisition of Zagat data to incorporate a 30 point rating system into its Google+ Local listings. The problem, as a wise man pointed out, was that a 30 point scale isn’t really all that meaningful to most consumers. After all, what’s the real difference between a rating of a 24 and a 27?
Thankfully, Google has taken a step toward user-friendliness by shifting away from the numerical scale and embracing something we all understand and identify with, good old-fashioned words.
There’s still a cumulative score available, but when perusing individual reviews, or leaving a review yourself, you will see more accessible ratings like “excellent” or “poor to fair.” This should deliver a better overall user experience for customers leaving reviews and consuming reviews, and for businesses trying to get a handle on their public perception.
With that conquered, maybe they could look into not overwriting location data based on outdated and inaccurate sources next…