Love To Write Or Read Reviews?
Viewpoints.com Is Ultimate Online Destination

CHICAGO--(EON:Enhanced Online News)--Opinions are like noses, they say—everyone has one. And for those of us who have way more than one (opinions, that is, not noses), there’s now an online home just for you.

“Why should they have to go to three different web sites to do that?”

Viewpoints.com, a recently-debuted Web site, gives people who enjoy reading or writing reviews a one-stop outlet for topics ranging from laptops to hotels, blenders, even hospitals and schools. Nearly 700 categories, in fact, make Viewpoints.com the most comprehensive “citizen review” resource on the Web.

“Through more than 100 hours of interviews with people who like the review process, we discovered two major sources of frustration,” said Matt Moog, founder and CEO of Viewpoints.com. “First, reviewers are frustrated that there is no single web site where they can build their reputation by reviewing products and services across a broad set of categories. Second, while most people favor user reviews, they would like to know more about the reviewers.”

Moog, former chief executive of Q Interactive (formerly CoolSavings), a leading interactive marketing services company, realized the need for such a site back in 2005 when his father was facing serious health issues.

“I wanted to find the best specialist in the world for my father, and was shocked at the lack of information online. I was forced to work the phones for recommendations,” he recalled. “It occurred to me that the Internet fell short on reviews for topics that aren’t in some way product-related.” He later resolved to build a site where people could review anything and everything—a true community for the sharing of thoughts and opinions.

“Reviewers are not one dimensional—one day they might be moved to write a book review, the next day a hotel review, and the next a review of their favorite restaurant,” Moog observed. “Why should they have to go to three different web sites to do that?”

Need Evident

As Moog and his team researched the online review marketplace, they found that more than 85 percent of consumers use the Web to purchase everything from airline tickets to automobiles. Thirty percent of all Internet users have rated a product, person or service in some way. Yet no single site had emerged as the most trusted and credible source of reviews. Obviously, they concluded, there was a need for an all-inclusive site that was well organized, highly regarded, and strongly promoted.

Based on the credibility he gained at Q Interactive, an $80 million company twice recognized by Deloitte & Touche as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., Moog was able to attract $5 million in Series A funding from a stellar group of angel investors.

Financial backers in Viewpoints.com include successful CEOs and entrepreneurs such as Joe Mansueto, Founder & CEO of Morningstar Inc. and Michael Alter, President of The Alter Group. Prominent members of the Chicago venture capital community also participated such as J.B. Pritzker, CEO of The Pritzker Group; Matt McCall, co-founder and Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson & Portage Venture Partners; and Lon Chow, General Partner with Apex Venture Partners.

Moog was also able to attract a world-class management team, a testament to the strength of Chicago’s vibrant technology and interactive community. Among the firm’s executives are Jolie Fleming and Tim Brennan, both former Senior Vice Presidents at Q Interactive, and Leon Chism, former Orbitz Chief Internet Architect.

Community Tools

Because people who enjoy writing and reading reviews desire a sense of community as much as they do competent and trusted advice, Viewpoints.com has taken a fresh approach to the rating and review process. Reviewers are asked to create unique “I Am” tags that tell others about themselves as those traits relate to the item they are reviewing.

Someone who loves cruises might call themselves a “cruise addict” or a frequent golfer might call themselves an “avid golfer”. The tags are searchable, enabling readers to both filter reviews and find individuals with similar interests. “Viewpoints.com helps reviewers express themselves more completely and in doing so, gives readers a much better sense of who the reviewer is,” Moog states.

In addition to establishing reviewers as individuals, the site also lets users rate the quality and value of the reviews they read. Readers can click on “GoodPoint” at the bottom of a helpful review; writers who are active based on their tenure, number of published reviews, and multiple helpful ratings, can move up in the recognition system, with the top echelon of reviewers entering the Publisher’s Circle. To foster a user community, Viewpoints Network created “friends” and “fans”. “Friends” are people that the user likes and trusts, while “fans” are people who report they like the reviewer’s writing.

“Architecture of Participation”

The site, which launched on April 30^th, is off to a fast start, generating participation from reviewers and users alike. The company will soon debut a major advertising campaign to promote the site; once it does, Moog says, it expects to get much larger very quickly.

“We believe Viewpoints.com lies at the intersection of ‘wide’ and ‘deep’,” he states. “This is an exciting concept that leverages what our chief of technology likes to call ‘the architecture of participation’.

The Internet is the most democratic medium ever for sharing, empowering, connecting and informing. We hope Viewpoints.com helps lead the way.”

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