Then number of so called review sites has exploded in recent years. Some charge you a membership fee, and others are free to use. The question is this – can you really trust any of them? If some can be trusted, how do you separate those from sites that have a hidden agenda?

For example, there’s a site based in Indianapolis called Angie’s List. It’s very popular and has made the originator, Angie Hicks, a ton of money since its inception. They have a top flight marketing campaign that essentially touts the website as “the place” to go for honest reviews of every thing from someone to fix your toilet to someone to do your brain surgery.

Once you sign up they encourage you to leave a review – no one verifies that you actually had a personal experience with the entity you are reviewing. They claim that businesses can’t review themselves, but anyone familiar with phishing schemes knows that this can be easily circumvented. Fake email addresses are easy to come by.

It’s also been reported that once your business has been reviewed, the  Angie’s marketing people will call the business and offer them an enhanced listing (for a fee of course). So just how credible is the List given the marketing tactics employed? Oh, Angie charges $62.40 a year to access the reviews for medical and non-medical categories. You have to decide if something you might not use that often is worth it.

Let’s be clear about one thing. A well designed membership site is a cash cow. Very little upkeep is required other than to maintain the infrastructure of the site and insure that it is working properly. All of the content is contributed to the list for free by the paying members. It’s a great business to be in.

Here’s the problem with sites like this – much as the problem with reviews on Amazon for example – no one is vetting the reviewers. All you need to do to place a review is subscribe to the service – either for a fee in the case of sites like Angie’s List, or for free with sites like Amazon.

Since you don’t personally know the people allegedly creating the reviews, there’s really no way you can know for sure that the reviews are legitimate.

So while review sites like this give the illusion that you can find qualified people to fix your toilet or your brain – the fact remains that you really don’t know that for certain.

Word of mouth from people you know is still the best referral – online referrals from people you don’t know come up short.

If you run a business, put your own referrals on your website from satisfied customers. Consider video testimonials as well. Video on your site that’s real and original is a very powerful marketing tool. Use it to your advantage, and don’t worry about the review sites.