I spend many hours reading reviews about websites before I give them my credit card information.
It is though, because:
1.Many review sites are full with sponsored recommendations.
2. Many website owners post positive reviews about their site.
3. And worse, some negative reviews are written by competitors!
4. Plus, occasionally, consumers exaggerate. Reviews yell that companies like Sprint & Pizza-Hut are Fraudulent. (They might not have the best customer service, but does this make them fraudulent?)
On the other hand there a few easy, fast clues that help me decide how establish a website is:
1. The age of a site
2. How popular a site is ? (I check age and popularity at http://reviewandjudge.org/
3. The look of the site: design, layout etc.
4. The content of the site: does it sound computer generated?
5. Does it have a phone number, are the contact forms answered promptly?
According to: http://reviewandjudge.org/General/internet-scams.html :
Quote: Scam websites die off quickly. A website that is around for at least couple of years is more likely to be a legitimate site.
Is it true? Could anyone suggest a website that is clearly fradulent but it?s been around for years?
Quote: High traffic volume often indicates a site that has many satisfied users. A popular site is more likely to be a legitimate site. On balance, a high-traffic site is likely to have a higher number of customer complaints online, simply by virtue of the high volume of business it does?.
So, is it acceptable for a high traffic website to receive many complaints?
How about ReviewAndJudges- Liked by Google Icon ? if Google trusts a site, so should I?