Goodrec is a site which can be used to make and search for other people’s recommendations. This should make decision making much easier. It’s basically a product and venue review site. There are a number of different categories on the site, including bars, clubs, restaurants, local, books and products. There are already plenty of other review sites on the internet, however many of them specialize in just one area. Goodrec tries to do everything and it does pull it off pretty well. The reviews are also easy to read and straight to the point. Other review sites are also quite boring and difficult to submit new reviews to, that’s why Goodrec made this as easy as possible so that people are not put off the thought of adding new reviews. Recommendations are straight to the point and are from people that you know and trust. It’s also possible to access the site from your mobile phone on the move. Instead of the site having lengthy reviews it has short single lines that tell you exactly what you need to know. It’s also possible to add photos and leave your own review if you want. Goodrec has recently launched an iPhone app which you can use when you’re on the move. This is called GoodFood and is proving to be a real hit. Goodrec was launched in October 2007 and is based in San Francisco USA. In 2008 the site received funding of $1.1M from various sources including BetaWorks. The site is fairly popular in the US, however local versions of the site are lacking. Unlike many other product review sites this one is straight to the point. Instead of asking people to leave long reviews Goodrec just wants short straight to the point comments. This makes them easier to write, and also easier to read which should make it much easier to get reviews. Instead of reading a load of waffle, you simply need to read a single line. The more important comments move up to the top thanks to a voting system which makes it even easier. You won’t find using Goodrec difficult at all, in fact it’s very easy. If you’re just interested in reading other peoples reviews then you don’t need to register. Just spend some time on the site searching for what you want to read reviews on, and choose the location. This will bring up a list of products or places that you can read about. If you want to comment yourself, or vote then you will need to register. The site is very cleanly designed and is also very easy to use. All your opinion can also be posted on other social networking sites. If you want to comment or vote then you must register for an account. This is very easy you just need to enter your email address, password and name. You can then choose who you want to read reviews from, or skip that step. The next step involves looking at a list of restaurants; if you’ve been to any then you can make a review now by simply clicking a thumbs up or thumbs down button. Once you have finished you will then be sent an email however you don’t need to do anything with this. Using Goodrec is free, and there are no noticeable adverts anywhere on the site. Quite how this site is making money is a mystery. Goodrec is a great product review site because it features all sorts of different things, not only products, but also restaurants and bars. It is an international site however it’s only really popular in America. This means that the site is only really useful for US citizens looking for a night out, or finding out what product to buy. The short and to the point reviews make a nice change and make it very easy to read what people think.

• Read reviews on a variety of different subjects
• Search for restaurants in a certain area
• iPhone application for reviews on the move
• Participate in an active community

http://www.goodrec.com/