Yelpers Should Have Review Credit Ratings

Here's a thought about Yelp, and well, actually any other review site out there these days.  Why not give Yelpers (or other reviewers) a credit score like rating? 

Imagine looking for a new place to eat sushi, a hotel while on vacation, or well, even a new doctor.  Reviews can play a critical part for many while trying to decide which place to eat at, what hotel to say in and which doctor to entrust your health.  Why should these companies overall review ratings be tainted by reviewers who really have no experience reviewing or are "Negative Nancy's" that only review when they have something to gripe about?  Wouldn't you rather see an overall rating based on facts (not temper tantrums) from individuals who frequently share their thoughts and experiences?

This is my proposal.  Give reviewers a credit score like rating.  The higher their "credit score" the more influential their review plays into the overall star rating or point scale.  In contrast, the lower the reviewer's credit score, the less impact it has on said overall rating.

Now, I'm not saying filter out people's reviews (hint hint Yelp).  Everyone, no matter if they leave one review a year, or are, well I will say it, crazy Yelp Elites that have nothing better to do with their time than leave 42 reviews a day, deserve to be heard.  Maybe, however, post the one review from the person who has never reviewed on Yelp before at the bottom of the page, and only factor in their rating slightly (positive or negative) to the overall star rating.  Then, take the Yelp Elite's review, and give that one much more bearing on the star rating (again, positive or negative).

Additionally, with all these "super high-tech, fancy schmancy algorithms" that Yelp (and others) claim to have, shouldn't it be safe to assume that they could probably figure out people who shouldn't be Yelping (or reviewing) at all?  Case in point, people who ONLY leave negative reviews that offer no useful information.  Allow me to elaborate on this one.

In doing research on Yelp, I came across several reviewers that had anywhere from 5-50 different reviews, all of which were one star reviews.  In on instance, a reviewer with several one star only reviews gave a local Starbucks a 1-star because there were 2 customers outside smoking.  The reviewer never mentioned anything about the service nor the coffee.

Same reviewer then left a 1-star review for the local Home Depot.  She stated, and I quote, "I am giving them one star because too many people came up and asked if they could help me find anything."  Ok, enough said on that.  I think you get the point.

Sadly, there are many reviewers like this on Yelp (and I'm sure on other sites as well).  If a business only has 5 or 6 reviews, a 1-star from an idiot like this could dramatically affect their overall Yelp Rating.  How is that fair?

Personally, I think reviewers like this should be treated like someone with a 398 credit score because they have never paid a bill on time in their life.  A bank does not trust an individual like this, so why should we trust an individual like the one described above?

Again, I'm not saying filter these people, or filter the folks who only occasionally leave reviews; just don't let those reviews affect a business' rating as much as a reviewer who leaves a review every week about and has a mix of positive, negative and neutral reviews based on facts about the service and/or product they purchased and/or experienced.

Yelp's reputation for many is horrible!  Rightfully so in my opinion.  This is just one small step, they and others could take to put more trust and validity into their online reviews.  Not that it will ever happen because Yelp is corrupt (again, my opinion).