Avvo's new competitor
It has been a few weeks since I mentioned Avvo, the controversial Seattle online attorney rating service that was promptly sued after its debut in June.
Now, it turns out that Avvo will be facing some competition from an Arlington, Va.-based startup called HireTrade that has created a "legal marketplace" in which attorneys can post online profiles and clients can attempt to find attorneys to work on their cases.
For now, the company is focusing on the legal markets in Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia, but it plans to expand to other geographic areas in the future. HireTrade says its HourlyValue Ratings System taps the knowledge of clients to rate attorneys, a method that it believes is more effective than a 1 to 10 rating scale like what Avvo employs. (HireTrade says it will not post a rating of an attorney until it accumulates three projects/reviews of the attorney.)
At the present time, HireTrade's database does not appear to be as robust as Avvo's. I searched for three different attorney names and did not get a result or an attorney rating. (Similar searches on Avvo returned hundreds of attorneys.)
Still, I asked HireTrade Chief Executive Neil Sandhu how his company is different from Avvo. Here's what he said:
We think that existing professional ratings systems, including most numerical ratings systems, result in arbitrary values as it is impossible for a numerical algorithm to really capture every single nuance of a professional's background or decide what is the correct weight to place on different items of information such as experience, education, etc. (not to mention the fact that it appears that some of these systems merely assign higher scores to those professionals who take the time to fill out their profiles in more detail). Thus, meaningful comparisons are difficult to draw from the numerical values that result.
Furthermore, there is very little actual intrinsic value in any number generated by such a system.
And he continued:
But what does a 5.0, 7.5, or 10 really signify when it comes to the seller of a service and, even if a numerical system was somehow perfect at capturing and interpreting data, can you really effectively compare someone who has a 8.8 to someone who has a 9.5--what if the person with an 8.8 has worked on more difficult matters and the person with the 9.5 has worked a long time and done very well with less difficult work? When the service is at the heart of what is being sold, we think an entirely different system must be used.
Those are also some of the arguments made in the lawsuit against Avvo.
Posted by document.writeln(showE2("johncook","seattlepi.com","John Cook"))John Cook
John Cook at August 27, 2007 11:35 a.m.Category: Avvo
Comments
#48664Posted by unregistered user at 8/27/07 8:33 p.m.hey. i told those guys to turn their site into a myspace for lawyers but nooooo. what do i know
Report violation
#48671Posted by unregistered user at 8/27/07 9:31 p.m.Avvo's primary competition is certainly their own misguided idea and the shark who pounced on their inane offering.
Report violation
wallaceclient56 on 17 Aug 23Buy Twitter Retweets Introduction One of the most widely used social networking sites on the internet today is Twitter. Twitter may be a very helpful tool for marketing and promoting your goods and services, whether you run a little business or a major organization. Buying Twitter retweets is one of the best ways to achieve this. The Advantages of Purchasing Twitter Retweets: Your tweets are viewed and shared by a bigger audience when you buy Twitter retweets, which can assist to broaden the exposure and reach of your company. Also, purchasing Twitter retweets can aid in increasing the engagement levels of your tweets, which can further enhance the reputation and image of your brand. Buy Twitter Retweets In conclusion, purchasing Twitter retweets can be a highly advantageous strategy to advertise your brand on this well-known social platform. Buying Twitter retweets is a great option to think about if you want to enhance your Twitter marketing strategy. Introduction: Can you describe what Twitter is and how it might be useful? Users of Twitter, a somewhat well-liked social media network, can post up to 280-character "tweets" to convey quick updates or ideas. Twitter can still be useful for people and businesses even though it is not as popular as sites like Facebook or Instagram. The following three advantages of purchasing Twitter retweets: More visibility: More people will see your tweets when you purchase Twitter retweets, which may improve traffic to your website or blog (if you include links in your tweets). If you want to grow your brand's visibility or your online following, this can be helpful. 2.Twitter retweets can also increase the amount of engagement on your tweets, which can result in additional likes, comments, and shares. This may help you if you want to raise your engagement rate, which is a metric used to assess the effectiveness of your social media marketing initiatives. Buy Twitter Retweets Increased credibility: Having a lot of Twitt
