Its such a refreshing news for us all .. the last word in F&B market place “ZOMATO” did it again. With 62.5 million (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomato) user base and almost 1,60,000 restaurants listed and reviewed by people across the globe I fail to understand how could their rating system have such a flaw/loophole as below :
One case in particular : One Restaurant in Dwarka has been rated as 4.3 (excellent rating by Zomato standard) with 53 votes( non approved) out of which 6 are spam as per Zomato). See below :
But if we dig inside we have a very different story altogether. Out of the 47 Review/Votes—9 reviews are by a foodie named Neeraj ;11 reviews by a foodie Sachin ; 3 reviews by Gaurav ; 2 review by Rakesh. The total works out to be 25. All these reviews/Voting have been taken into consideration while rating this restaurant and it works out to be 47 as listed on the site as on 8th Nov 2013, 13:18 Hrs (IST). However, Zomato has just reported 6 spam votings only.
Few Reviews Snapshots:
More interesting is the contradiction they have in one of their notes :
On one hand ZOMATO writes very specifically —- “Warning: this section might contain fake reviews and spam.” But on the other this very spam or fake voting is reflected in the rating of the Restaurant in a particular area( which might not be a true picture ). In this case its on TOP in an area called Dwarka. Wow.
With millions of people (including me both as foodie & foodpreneur) relying on ZOMATO reviews and ratings this comes as a shock to me. Are we to understand that ratings and reviews can be so easily manipulated on Zomato ?
The Question is ” Is it acceptable” ?
Next time if you order from a 4.3 rating Restaurant will you still have the same mindset ?
Don’t hesitate … reply in numbers big enough that ZOMATO takes notice and makes rating more robust & accountable for us all to enjoy without worrying about the authenticity of the rating …. after all ZOMATO is our Biggest Desi Consumer Internet Company & this is the least we can expect from them.
Rajeev Roy
rajeev@zephyr.in
(PS: I love Zomato ….You guys ROCK … “Foodiebay to Zomato — A case study in itself” )
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asha chaudhry
rajeev,
your review screenshots aren’t readable at all. can u take better ones and replace them?
Pankaj Chaddah
Thanks for pointing this out. We are constantly fighting spam and this looks like we overlooked something very trivial. We will fix this very soon. Thanks again, please keep the feedback coming!
Rajeev Roy
Dear Ma’m,
Sincerely hope it’s legible NOW.
Thanks
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Thank you Pankaj for being so positive and transparent. No wonder you guys are who you are.
Respect!
arpit shekhar
more the feedback more improvement more transparency more revenue and more funding…keep growing
Amar Pratap Singh
Hi Pankaj,
Wow, I was looking for such platforms for years. I am surprised why I had not seen Zomato until now.
Couple of quick questions if I may :
1> As we all know the quality content is going to be the next challenge – Do you have any Reseller Program for Entrepreneurs like just dial ?? I did notice you hiring content associates, I mean why to hire so many content associates when same thing can be achieved through widely available paid per content entrepreneurs.
2> I did not notice Zomato USA. Is there any specific reason ?? When do you plan to roll out in USA ??
All the best Zomato…
Best Regards,
Amar
Rajeev Roy
Dear Pankaj,
I was intentionally holding my reply to understand as to how long will it take Zomato to rectify the same on the website.
What is really remarkable is the fact that the issue was addressed in a few hours by Zomato ( read the founder) and the same was rectified in short two days. Hats off to the TEAM ZOMATO.
BTW, Where is my GOODIE-BAG for pointing this out !!! ? 🙂
Cheers.
Rajeev Roy
The RODINHOOD Effect.
From being No.1 position to 31st position.
The rating down from 4.3 / 5 to 3.2 / 5
Rajeev Roy
Well said Arpit ….
Cheers
Rajeev Roy
Noble Cause ….Kudos to Zomato
Rajeev Roy
Dear Amar,
Though we all might be more than interested to get a direct reply on the above but I really doubt if this is the right platform to get such queries answered “one on one”.
Cheers.
asha chaudhry
rajeev,
you will be surprised how often rodinhooders get one on one replies. maybe not always on post threads. but in private for sure!
the fact that pankaj signed up and responded to you shows how one on one he is!
i suggest you browse some older discussions – ones that have lots of comments on them. they are full of learnings…
checked how linkedin signed up only to respond to himanshu’s post on one of their plans. and how when edocr was mentioned in one of the comments – the founder & ceo of edocr also commented!!!
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/slideshare-pricing-bullying-plan
CC Avenues sorted out everyone’s issues here!
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/need-help-regarding-payment-g…
🙂
Rajeev Roy
Dear Ma’m,
Pardon my ignorance. Awesome read above.
Though, we all would be more than happy to receive replies on the above.
Cheers.