March 13, 2013
Yabbly Ups the Online Review Game with ‘Two-Way Karma’
"Our team can solve this problem because we helped create it," Yabbly founder Tom Leung told Mashable.
The problem of which Mr. Leung speaks is the "useless"-ness of online reviews. He doesn’t believe social media sites, Q&A sites or e-commerce site review threads are geared properly to aid consumers in purchasing decisions. As a Yabbly promotional video puts it, seekers of advice "wind up sifting through a sea of adorable cat pictures or navigating around egos competing for center stage."
The Yabbly website and app are currently in beta. The team behind the effort that Mr. Leung refers to includes a former Amazon engineer and a designer who worked on shopping apps for Target and REI. Mr. Leung was a product manager at Google. The app, according to a news release, nabbed one of the 11 social technology slots in the SXSW Interactive Startup Accelerator program.
Yabbly’s answer to the online review problem, in a nutshell, is to alternatively provide a "thoughtful conversation" with peers who have experience with the product in question. More important to the company model perhaps is the motivation behind the answers given. Whereas online review threads are often infiltrated by reviewers-for-hire and verbose "know-it-alls," the model Yabbly reviewer is there for the "karma."
The company uses what it calls a "two-way Karma system." Reviewers gain merits for answering questions satisfactorily. These points are considered when they themselves have a question; they are connected with people they’ve helped before so the good deed can be returned. The objective is to form a more tight-knit community built on trust and mutual support.
Yabbly membership requires approval. The criteria for acceptance is not made expressly clear on the website but applicants are asked to submit a comment about a product they love. "One of our core values is thoughtfulness so please try to be specific," the company advises.
Of course, e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com built their review structure with the best intentions of tapping the power of the crowd. Time will tell if special interests will find a way to subvert Yabbly’s best-laid plans.
![[Image: Yabbly]](/public/images/discussions/16636/yabbly-still.jpg)
Discussion Questions
Do you see Yabbly representing an evolution of online reviews or more of a niche for power reviewers? If online advice services improve, how might it pressure retailers to offer better product information and recommendations?
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It is true, to whom much is given, much is expected, and unfortunately the internet gives a lot but asks very little. This is a great idea and it will be interesting to see how Yabbly reigns people in, as opposed to open comment forums today.
Yabbly is trying to become a filter for reviews. Still in its infancy, it will be interesting to see if it catches on. It may be too elitist or might not offer reviews on enough items to become a destination for consumers.
Whether or not online advice services change, improve or remain the same, retailers need to monitor their online chatter and offer a more helpful, transparent shopping experience. Consumers expect no less.
I see Yabbly as being too structured and exclusive. A conversation means to me, being civil. When searching for information about a product, I want the truth.
There will always be some outliers and it is up to the reviewer to determine the truth. Or perhaps one of the outliers just happens to point out a pet peeve of yours and would make or break your experience, too? Yep, free form, honest comments work best in reviews for many categories.
Now, if you are looking at electronics and other such categories, this means expert opinions to me. Perhaps a conversation among experts would work, but would not necessarily be required. The good ole spreadsheet approach to compare and contrast with some expert comments, now that sounds like a good service. Just sayin….
I’m not convinced that those seeking reviews for a service or product will want to go to another site…after actively assessing what is out there in terms of where to find it, availability and pricing. For sure, product reviews at the site (or website for the source) offering the product are suspect. But we consumers have a way of weed whacking through them.
If convenience is part of what drives consumers from one place to another (and it does impact me), having another site to go to in search…of experienced users is off-putting. And what if I find none? Or just a few? And their interests vary because their needs are different?
The YouTube video promoting Yabbly uses a car as an example. If I want a car where I can feel the road that’s what I’ll talk about in my review. However, as the review seeker I may be interested in creature comforts. That’s way too much to think about or encounter at this separate site. If I go to the manufacturer’s website or other sites that specialize in auto reviews I will have an easier time of it.
Angie’s list shows reviews of the individual providers of the service I seek. I can tell if the reviewer had a private home and wanted the plumber for a basement boiler. I can tell if the user lives in an apartment (just like me) and had a toilet that wouldn’t flush (just like mine). I can match my needs quickly, examine the relevant reviews and move on. Yabbly sounds more difficult to navigate and less reliable for relevant perspectives.
Separate review sites such as Yabbly that are not category focused have too many potential pitfalls for me to be an advocate.
Interesting! I’d agree that there could be an unmet need in this space.
A few aspects I’m curious about on Yabbly are:
In terms of the other question, I have 2 comments.
Hi Folks, this is Tom from Yabbly. Wanted to provide some more thoughts to the conversation. I’ll be the first to admit this is an evolving product so very much appreciate everyone’s interesting and thoughtful feedback.
@Zel agree we’ll need to reign in conversations. We intend to allow the member to control who can participate as well as curate contributions which are off topic or spammy. We also may not show everyone all of the conversations as we roll out enhanced targeting and personalization based on content and karma relevance.
@Max agree we’ve taken a selective approach to growing our community in an effort to maintain a high quality of conversations. in the long run, we think it’s more powerful to create a community than an archive of static reviews since people can always participate and chime in on a product discussion that resonates with them versus having to review everything they own. Time will tell how this evolves as we grow but that’s our hypothesis!
@Lee all fair points. We’re betting custom conversations anchored off of each member’s specific requirements will make those conversations more authentic and easier to divine which responses are the most helpful. One thing is for sure, the more the original poster puts into this thread, the more he gets out of it so people can give him/her the best most customized advice.
@Joan I hear where you’re coming from. Our view is that some people value a third party site versus a manufacturer or retailer site in the interest of getting a more objective point of view. Also, the problem with vertical review sites (e.g., Kelly Blue Book) is you don’t get the community vibe since you only go there once a few years. As an example, we think a customized conversation works better than reading old reviews if you’re looking for a 3 row SUV. You may want to hear from a fellow parent of two young children who just bought one about how easy it is to park in the pre-school parking lot, access the third row when you also have the trunk filled with a stroller, or whether it will handle those drives through Steven’s Pass in the winter, etc.
Thx for everyone taking the time to think about Yabbly and how our approach to focus on communities, karma, and conversations instead of old one-way reviews!
As a follow up to my original post…I went to the site and submitted an application, which was accepted. This morning I began offering some feedback to Yabbly members who posed questions. So far, I’m impressed, and intend to remain active on the site. Looking forward to seeing how Yabbly grows over the coming months.
I’m very impressed that Tom Leung quickly responded to our comments. Retailers take note!