This sample directory explains here how reviews are collected, checked and shown. Everything on this page is worked out from the current settings.
Who can write a review
Anyone with an account on this site can review a business once. Reviewers can edit their review later; every version is kept so moderators can see what changed.
Reviewers confirm their email address before their reviews are published.
How reviews are checked
A moderator reads every new and edited review before it is published.
Automatic checks also hold reviews that come from throwaway email addresses, from an email address on the business's own website domain, from one connection many times in a day, or that are very similar to another review. A person then decides.
We publish negative reviews as well as positive ones. A review is only refused or removed when it breaks the site rules or the law, never because a business does not like it.
Reviews written in return for a reward are labelled and are not counted in the Meadow Score.
What "Verified customer" means
Reviewers can send an order confirmation, receipt, invoice or booking with their review. A moderator checks it; if it matches the business and the experience, the review shows "Verified customer". The document is never shown to the business or the public, is stored encrypted, and is deleted 30 days after the check at the latest.
How the Meadow Score works
- Reviews from verified customers count 1.5 times as much as other reviews.
- Newer reviews count more: a review loses half its weight every 365 days.
- Every business starts as if it had 5 reviews of 3.5 stars, so a single review cannot make or break the score.
- The score is shown once a business has 3 published reviews.
- Businesses cannot pay to change their score or to have reviews removed.
Reports and removals
Anyone signed in can report a review. A moderator reads every report. After 3 reports a review shows "Under review" while it is checked; it stays visible until a decision is made.
Requests to remove content for legal reasons (defamation, privacy, copyright) are handled separately and recorded step by step. Send a legal request
Every moderation decision is recorded with its reason, and reviewers can see the outcome and the reason on their My reviews page.
The last 12 months in figures
| Reviews received | 23 |
|---|---|
| Reviews not published | 1 |
| Reviews hidden after publishing | 0 |
| Legal requests received | 1 |
| Reviews removed after a legal request | 0 |
| Reader reports received | 3 |
22 reviews are published right now; 9% of them are from verified customers.
This page is written from the site's current settings and records, so it changes when they do.