Online reputation is important

Robinson & Associates, Inc., a service consulting firm to the global gaming industry, has reported on the importance of good internet reviews for the land gaming and well as online gambling operational sector.

Chief executive officer Martin R. Baird says in a company statement on a special report published by his company Tuesday that a casino’s reputation suffers when negative Internet customer reviews and comments lower Google search rankings, something experienced internet players, webmasters and operators have known for some time.

Baird says that Google and other search engines lower casinos’ rankings when negative customer comments appear on Internet review websites, and that causes an enterprise’s online reputation to suffer.

“Our report titled ‘5 Tested Reasons Why Reputation is More Valuable Than Marketing’ is aimed at opening casino management’s eyes to the role of the Internet customer review,” Baird says. “A high percentage of Internet users give great weight to the opinion expressed in online reviews. Patrons pay much less attention to casino marketing, particularly advertising.”

Baird claims that much of what casino management believed to be true regarding their advertising efforts has turned out to be wrong.

“Even if they sensed the truth before, they have no idea how pervasive the online review’s influence is,” Baird notes, adding that a high percentage of Internet users believe in the credibility of casino reviews as they appear on review sites.

“Conversely, Internet users are rather dismissive of casino advertising campaigns.”

There are reasons why a casino’s reputation is more important than management’s advertising efforts, Baird says. “For one, Google uses the reputation in search engine rankings – the lower a casino is ranked, the more difficult it is to find. Google is the default tool that people use when it comes to locating things. That means when guests look for information about gaming or casinos, it’s important to be well ranked.

Negative feedback drives patrons away, according to Baird. “If casinos think they can sidestep this problem by paying for positive reviews, they should think again,” he notes. “Purchasing of several positive reviews is detected by Google’s search bots and disregarded. Google discounts reviews when they arrive in unusually high numbers.”

“If a casino usually gets 1.7 reviews per month and it tries adding three, the search engines could reject all of them because there were too many reviews.”

Honest assessments do offer a bright spot. Many online comments are honest assessments, and they can point to steps casinos can take to improve, Baird says. “The failings a reviewer complains about may actually measure a casino’s success, providing it with a marker from which to continue to improve,” Baird explains. “If there’s a pattern to the comments, the casino has an opportunity to address real issues and concerns.”

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