There are few more useful tools when making a decision between broadband providers than broadband reviews written by existing customers. Thanks to the internet, reviews of all types are more readily available than ever before. Along with the proliferation of online reviews has come the important question of attribution. Reviews written by magazines or newspapers are usually attributed to a certain specific individual, and more broadly, they are attributed to the newspaper or magazine in which they appear. With the advent of the internet, sources can be produced by almost anyone, almost anywhere, and uploaded to hundreds of thousands of different domains. What this means for reviews is that there are opportunities for unscrupulous service providers to upload reviews of their own services. In this way, it is possible for businesses to spread false recommendations and fake feedback throughout the online community. This can make it difficult for the cynical internet user to trust reviews garnered from unfamiliar sources on the internet. As ever, the market has proffered a solution in the form of web sites that specialise in collecting reviews together. Some of these web sites ask users posting reviews to provide various prerequisite proofs - in some cases, proof of custom, and in others, simply some form of proof of identification. Others simply rely on large volumes of legitimate users to dilute any manufactured responses. At this point it must be noted that there is no such thing as an unconditionally watertight system: expert internet abusers will always find a way to manipulate the system. Nevertheless, reviews from trusted review database web sites and other well-established independent forums are amongst the least likely to be manufactured by providers. By relying on these reviews rather than testimonials or reviews hosted on the providers' own web sites, consumers can go a long way towards avoiding misinformation. Another important thing users can do to ensure that the reviews they read form a representative sample is to choose reviews from a variety of different sites. Although it is quite possible for an unscrupulous business of any sort to infiltrate one review web site, it is highly unlikely that they will infiltrate all such web sites. By reading reviews from a number of different source domains as well as a number of different users, a more accurate picture of consumer satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) can be formed. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that whilst reviews on the internet are a useful resource for anyone considering any service, there can be no substitute for the hard graft of independent research. In other words, reading every word of the terms and conditions offered by various providers will often tell you more about the nature of the service on offer than reading tens of reviews. It is also sensible to ask people you have personal relationships with for their thoughts on the matter - one trusted advisor is sometimes worth a hundred anonymous figures.
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