Angie's List = Scam [View all]

[Cooley Hurd]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angie%27s_List#Criticism

Angie's List has been criticized for the fundamental contradiction between its claimed philosophy ("Companies can't pay to be on Angie's List&quot and the conflict of interest caused by reliance on advertising revenue for 70% of cash flow. Answering a complaint from a user, David Segal found that when subscribers post a negative review of a company to Angie's List, a staff member discusses it with them in an attempt to rectify the situation. If the company is one that advertises with Angie's List, the negative review will be removed and then the customer must give an A or B grade. The company's effort to keep advertisers happy reveals their conflict of interest.

The October 2013 issue of Consumer Reports Money Adviser reported:
"We think that the ability of A- and B-rated companies to buy their way to the top of the default search results skews the results. Cheryl Reed, a spokeswoman for the company, disagrees. 'We don’t believe that,' she says. But Angie’s List marketing materials intended for businesses say that companies that advertise get 'an advantage of increased exposure' that 'can propel you ahead of your competition.' They get 12 times more profile views than companies that don’t buy ads. Angie’s List encourages businesses to solicit reviews by giving customers free, postage-paid forms, stickers on thank you notes, and Web links embedded in e-mail invoices. But experts who study survey techniques say that can create a bias for positive reviews. Angie’s List misleads consumers by prominently promising that '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. Angie’s List tells consumers that it provides 'reviews you can trust,' and takes steps to detect and remove fraudulent positive and negative reviews. But company investment disclosures say that 'we cannot guarantee the accuracy of our reviews.' ”

Competition is a major concern. Competitors such as Yelp offer similar reviews, with a much larger database, for free, causing concern for the future of ANGI's paid membership model. Angie's List reviews for home services are liable to be hundreds of miles away, and not local as advertised.

Investors worry that the company has been in business for more than 18 years, yet never has shown an annual profit, and that valuations of the company are unrealistic based on the actual revenue the company produces.

There have also been complaints that the stock has been excessively diluted by gifts of stock to business insiders, so that if the company ever did show a profit, little if any would accrue to outside investors/ stockholders.

Why am I picking on poor ol' Angie Hicks? Because...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krystal-ball/angies-list-rush-limbaugh_b_1523842.html

Angie's List recently made news and not in a good way. The popular business referral service has apparently decided to risk the reputation of their own business by supporting Rush Limbaugh's hate radio. I can only presume that they are hoping to take advantage of Limbaugh's last distress-sale advertising rates in order to create buzz following their recent Initial Public Offering. In doing so, they have traded dollars and cents for any sense of common decency. Their ad dollars are supporting a man who has called women sluts, prostitutes and lard-asses. While Angie's decision to associate with Rush Limbaugh is revealing in and of itself, a closer inspection of the company reveals that their association with Rush should not be all that surprising. Angie's List, it seems, has a problem with women too.

Angie's List was co-founded by Angie (Angela Bowman Hicks) and William Oesterle in 1995. The two came together in order to create a reliable source of business referrals and Angie's List was born. Though Angie is the public face of the eponymous organization, Bill Oesterle is actually the CEO. Oesterle's career did not start in business however. It started in Republican politics.

...and:

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/angela-hicks.asp?cycle=10

Candidate Name Angela Hicks
Contributions Received
(click on $ amounts for details)
$78,171 Total Money Receipts
$44,615 From Individuals
(Amounts over $200)
$500 From Political Action Committees
$0 From Indian Tribes
$0 Self-Funded
Office Running For United States House of Representatives (Congress)
State Georgia (GA)
Party Republican
Election Year '10
District 08
Campaign Address 509 S. FIELDSTONE DR.
MACON, GA 31210
Candidate Committee Angela Hicks For Congress