Thank you for downloading this programme. In this edition of the bottom line, rating hotels, restaurants, electricians or hairdressers.

Evan Davis and guests discuss the Consumer Review websites that can make or break a business.

Hello and welcome to the programme. Now, since the dawn of trade thousands of years ago, human beings have struggled to cope with a particular problem. When I buy something from you, I often can't tell in advance whether it is any good. Reading a book, booking a holiday, watching a film, buying a watch from cars to care homes, trade-only works, when buyers can trust

sellers. Now, in recent history, humankind's dealt with the problem in various ways,

giving disproportionate rewards to the companies or brands that have a good reputation,

newspaper reviews of products, consumer associations that test products and sell the insights

they have. These have all been useful. But has the internet solved the problem once and for all?

Uninformed consumers can inform themselves by swapping stories in a systematic fashion,

using review websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp.

It is potentially the start of a new epoch in the way markets operate,

a new balance of power between buyers and sellers.

But the revolution only works if the reviews we read are reliable.

And let's get some idea of that now because my three guests today are all from Consumer Review websites.

And let's start by taking a few minutes to meet each of them.

And first of all, Kevin Byrne, founder and chief executive of a company called Checker Trade.

And you've actually been in this field, haven't you, Kevin?

Back to the early days of the internet.

So give us the origin of your business.

Well, back in 1998, a tornado went through my hometown.

That's Selsey in Sussex, yeah?

Correct, yeah.

And it carved about a quarter mile of devastation.

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