I can still remember my first encounter with the Internet when I was in middle school. I recall being taught that the blue highlighted text meant it was a “link” that would take me to a new page if I clicked on it. In order to find what we were looking for, we were taught how to use a search engine. There were several to choose from, though they have likely all gone the way of the dinosaur by now, with the exception of Yahoo!.

That was more than a decade ago, and since then the World Wide Web has become more worldly, much wider, and significantly more sticky. There are more useful tools than ever and more potential pitfalls as well. Not surprisingly, the best and worst of both of these will turn up quite frequently if you happen to find yourself browsing the Internet as a shopper. I imagine that many of you have purchased something online before, whether it was just a single eBay auction that caught your eye (and your wallet), or whether it’s been your trick for avoiding unpleasant holiday crowds and weather for the past several years.

Outside of groceries, clothing, and basic essentials (such as toothpaste and shampoo), I make nearly all of my purchases online. I even rent movies that way. Some purchases, such as airline tickets, I cannot even conceive of buying offline. I am not writing to coerce you into the realm of online shopping, however. Rather, I am writing to share with you a tool that I have found to be useful as I upload my cash to the Internet.

This tool is something of which you are likely already aware. It is a feature that is becoming nearly omnipresent on the Internet, and one that all but encompasses the concept of Web 2.0. I am referring, of course, to user feedback. Since my first days exploring the magical portals of the blue text, the Internet has been evolving from a lecture-type format to that of a discussion group. Information is now flowing both directions as users are helping define and generate content. User feedback can have a variety of applications, but I am going to specifically address how it affects online purchasing.

When shopping online, you will notice that user feedback comes in two basic forms: ratings and reviews. Ratings simply provide a score for the quality of the item in question, often on a scale of five stars. A review consists of actual written comments from the user. For the obvious reason that it is much simpler to provide a rating than a review, you will find that products receive many more ratings than reviews. However, many companies are beginning to shift towards unifying the two. In these cases, ratings can not be submitted separately and must be part of a review. This does not however, prevent a user from submitting a rating with an overly brief, unhelpful review.

There are two things that I take under consideration when evaluating a product by rating. First, of course, is the average rating that the product has received. The second is the total number of ratings given. I will generally view an item with a four star average out of 100 ratings as more favorable than an item with a five star average out of five ratings. A rating provides only the simplest level of feedback on an item, but it is a decent starting point. Additionally, many websites will allow you to sort products by rating, enabling you to browse the highest-rated items first. Because of this, ratings provide a useful tool to begin the weeding-out process.

Some examples of product ratings:

• USB Drive on Amazon.com
• Blank DVDs on Yahoo Shopping
• Hard Drive on Newegg.com

The major weakness of ratings is their purely subjective nature. One cannot know what criteria these consumers are evaluating when they rate a product. The same laptop may receive a high rating from one person for its compact size and light weight, while another may give it a low rating based on its short battery life. While this is somewhat alleviated by knowing what criteria you are looking for (which is to say that some laptops are designed to be compact, whereas others are designed for long battery life), it still remains that there is no standard for rating products. In fact, two individuals in complete agreement over the quality of the laptop may rate it differently simply because their notions of what comprises a five star rating are different. It is because of this subjective nature that a higher number of ratings is more desirable. With a larger number of total ratings, individual biases have less net effect on the average rating. Another weakness of ratings is that they are somewhat less useful when shopping for products whose quality is based entirely on personal taste rather than function. Examples of these types of products include books, CDs, and DVDs.

Reviews are much more valuable than ratings alone, as they enable you to see the specific pros and cons of the product through the eyes of another consumer. The availability of even a few well-written reviews can provide you with a wealth of information beyond the standard product description provided by the seller. In short, a review serves as an outlet for the consumer to provide the reasons for their rating. A well-written review will identify the criteria that led to the rating, allowing you to focus on the features in which you are most interested and disregard those in which you have no interest. A review can even provide you with criteria that you had failed to consider.

Some examples of product reviews:

• Router on Buy.com
• Monitor on Overstock.com
• Mouse on Apple.com

Ultimately, a review can be every bit as subjective as a rating. However, it provides the opportunity to convey objective data. Be sure to look for objective comments when reading through reviews. “The camera lens arrived broken” is a more informative statement than “The camera didn’t work”. “Battery lasts 4 hours” is more informative than “Long battery life”. The reviews that are most specific in their writing will often be the ones most helpful to you, whether they praise or criticize the product. Additionally, many websites have a feature which enables users to rate reviews as helpful or not.

As a final note, if you are shopping for a high-dollar item such as a laptop or video camera (as opposed to something such as a hard drive or carrying case), be sure to search for reviews on independent, non-vendor websites. With an entire article devoted to an individual model, you can expect an unmatched level of detail on the product. Even if you cannot find an independent review, you can always read user reviews on the websites of other vendors.

Some independent reviewers:

• CNET
• Consumer Reports
• PC World

As a frequent online buyer, I’ve found ratings and reviews to be indispensable tools in my shopping. Just as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I’ve found that a bit of research before purchasing results in better buyer satisfaction.