Australia's biggest crowd-review site: free to read, genuinely tough on fake reviews, but the brands it ranks are also the ones buying ad placement on its pages.
What it's really for An Australian crowd-review site; businesses pay for brand-management tools and featured listings.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its crowd star ratings of products and shops, not everything the site does.
Medium Scoring Confidence Mostly sourced, but a detail or two still needs a primary source, so the grade could shift slightly.
Listed brands pay it most (via advertising and paid Brand Management plans); by the company's own disclosure those commercial ties don't change a listing's star rating or moderation, though advertising can buy prominent placement at the top of category pages.
Source →- Operating since
- 2003 (23 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Free for consumers; it earns money from paid Brand Management subscriptions, on-site advertising (featured listings and display banners), and affiliate purchase links.
- What they do
- It hosts millions of crowd-sourced star ratings and written reviews of products, services and the shops selling them, with proof-of-purchase "Verified" labels in some categories.
- What to watch for
- Ratings come from self-reported consumer opinions, not hands-on testing, and the company sells "featured listings" that push paying brands to the top of category pages alongside the organic rankings.
- Composite score
- 2.80 / 5.00 → grade C+
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- The company's own About page states it is "Australia's first and most comprehensive consumer opinion site, online since May 2003," establishing the founding year and that ratings come from public reviews rather than first-hand testing. Source: ProductReview.com.au – About Us →
- Its advertising page sells "featured listings at the top of category pages and within competitor listings" plus display banners, showing that paying brands can buy prominent on-site placement adjacent to the organic rankings. Source: ProductReview.com.au – Advertising →
- Per its own disclosures, ProductReview says commercial relationships have "zero influence" on moderation, requires proof-of-purchase documents for some categories (earning a 'Verified' label), and has referred fake-review cases to the ACCC, which has prosecuted offending businesses — evidence of relatively strong manipulation controls. Source: ProductReview.com.au – Debunking misconceptions / Moderation Process →