Bazaarvoice, a hosted service that manages customer rating and review functions for Web sites, has launched a service that will syndicate those reviews out to consumer portals and shopping comparison sites.
Called SyndicateVoice, the platform is intended to help merchant Web sites build word-of-mouth marketing by taking their consumer-generated content to the vertical sites that people use to research purchases. MSN, Pricerunner.com and Smarter.com have already signed up to integrate the syndicated content from Austin TX-based Bazaarvoice into their product pages.
SyndicateVoice will take the relevant product reviews from clients’ Web sites and normalize them into feeds that are then pushed to the portal partners. The syndicated content will include client branding, any ratings that customers may have generated on the product, a short clip of the leading review, and a live link back to the client’s Web site. Bazaarvoice will make the program free to portals and will earn its money from charging the client on a pay-for-performance basis.
On the inbound side, Bazaarvoice retailer customers will be able to pull reviews generated on the sites of the portal partners into their own Web pages, keeping the look and feel of the reviews consistent with their own content.
Participation in the SyndicateVoice program is an optional decision for current Bazaarvoice retail clients, who include CompUSA, Macys.com, PETCO.com, CarMax and Golfsmith. The clients have complete ownership of their ratings and reviews and can define which portals or comparison shopping sites are allowed to take their content.
“SyndicateVoice represents the next major step in the evolution of customer ratings and reviews as a key word-of-mouth marketing strategy,” Bazaarvoice founder and CEO Brett Hurt said in a release. “Companies who silo reviews to their product pages or a single portal outlet are missing a tremendous opportunity to build their business.”
In April, a study from Forrester Research found that more than 71% of online adults use consumer-generated product ratings and reviews. A JupiterResearch study published earlier this month found that the number of online buyers who cited customer ratings and reviews as the most useful feature of shopping sites has doubled, and that while customers who write reviews make up only 20% of the online buying population, they account for 32% of sales.
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