> Perhaps a version of opt-in ads or trustworthy places where you can get real recommendations are the way to go.
Also unfortunate on the B2B side, sites like G2 and Capterra (basically yelp with B2B) have both turned into pay to play.
Then again, I’m not even sure what a realistic business model would be for a unbiased review site. (Maybe the answer is it shouldn’t have a business model at all)
The profit motive inevitably destroys these types of businesses.
There's a reason threads here on HN in the category of "what did you buy/read/do recently?" are so popular. People want reliable information that advertisement is definitely not giving us.
Thinking about it, nothing beats recommendation from a known trusted individual. Be it for a restaurant, an appliance, a car, etc.
This tells me how little advertising is about the discoverability of products/services. This creation of needs is 99.9% of the time unnecessary. It's only there because people want to sell regardless of how useless their product is.
If people need something, they will search for it.
Also unfortunate on the B2B side, sites like G2 and Capterra (basically yelp with B2B) have both turned into pay to play.
Then again, I’m not even sure what a realistic business model would be for a unbiased review site. (Maybe the answer is it shouldn’t have a business model at all)