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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.mini storageOct. 13--Dear Action Line: Of the "business service rating" organizations, other than the Better Business Bureau, which ones are the best? -- T.M., Tulsa.The September 2013 Consumer Reports (bit.ly/bizratings) ponders the question, "Online ratings services promise unbiased reviews of local businesses but do they deliver?" It studied methods used by five leading rating providers serving the San Francisco Bay area. Of those, we are not covering Porch as it has been in business only 1 { years or Google+ Local as it has been in business only one year.Consumers' Checkbook: This has been in business 37 years and costs $34 for a two-year subscription. Local companies are involuntarily rated by Center for the Study of Services, based on surveys of Consumers' Checkbook's own subscribers, Consumer Reports subscribers and CSS' own research. Consumer Reports gave CSS $25,000 in matching funds to get started in the mid-1970s and has allowed it to survey subscribers in the seven metro areas it covers. Center research includes undercover price shopping and states' attorneys general complaint data and the Better Business Bureau.Yelp: This free service is 9 years old, and anyone can look up companies for their overall rating and individual reviewers' ratings and comments. Reviewers must set up a user name and provide an email address and ZIP code, creating a profile in which reviews are stored. Its site says it filters bogus reviews, keeping legitimate ones, but this hasn't been objectively tested. Companies appear on Yelp involuntarily but can claim their page and gain access to tools that let them contact reviewers publicly or privately to work out problems. Companies can make amends with negative reviewers, but this lowers rating integrity and accuracy, as placated gripers can later change their reviews, says CR.Angie's List: This heavily advertised self storageirm has been around 18 years. In San Francisco, a membership costs $46 per year, entitling members access to highly rated service providers. After hiring a business, members rate it based on nine measures, affirming their information is true and accurate and attesting they are not employed by Angie's List. Companies set up free online profiles or involuntarily get one when a member rates them. When they get two reviews and a B average and have no alerts, they can advertise, offering coupons positioning businesses to rotate onto page 1 of search results.Consumers Reports worries the ability of companies to buy their way to the top of search results skews results. Its marketing materials say companies advertising get "an advantage of increased exposure propelling them ahead of the competition," with ad buyers getting 12 times more profile views.AL encourages businesses to solicit reviews by giving customers free postage-paid forms, stickers on thank you notes and Web links embedded in email invoices. But experts who study survey techniques say this creates a bias for positive reviews. AL misleads consumers by promising "businesses don't pay" and that it's a consumer-driven service supported by membership fees.But almost 70 percent of the company's revenues come from advertising purchased by the service providers being rated. It tells consumers it provides "reviews you can trust" and takes steps to detect and remove fraudulent positive and negative reviews, but company investment disclosures say "we can't guarantee the accuracy of our reviews."------Submit Action Line questions bycalling 918-699-8888, emailingphil.mulkins@tulsaworld.com or by mailing them to Tulsa World Action Line, PO Box 1770, Tulsa OK 74102-1770.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage