Sitejabber

Sitejabber is a consumer review platform founded in San Francisco in 2007. It enables consumers to rate and review online businesses while giving companies tools to monitor reputation, collect feedback, and use customer reviews in marketing. The service emerged during a period when online shopping and web-based services were expanding rapidly, but when buyers had limited independent information about unfamiliar websites. Its stated founding purpose was to reduce online fraud and improve transparency in digital commerce. The company was started by Jeremy Gin, Rodney Gin, and Michael Lai. According to descriptions of the company’s early history, the initial service was developed with support from a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Sitejabber’s original proposition centered on user-generated information about online businesses: buyers could share experiences and assess factors such as service, value, shipping, returns, and product or service quality. The resulting ratings and written reviews were intended to help other users distinguish reputable businesses from deceptive or unreliable sites. Sitejabber has commonly been characterized as a review service for websites and online businesses, sometimes described as a web-focused counterpart to Yelp. Its consumer-facing platform allows users to create accounts, assign overall star ratings, and publish reviews. The platform’s business value is based on the aggregation and distribution of customer feedback, including the use of ratings and review content in online purchasing and marketing decisions. The company also developed relationships intended to improve trust and safety in particular categories. In 2010, it partnered with LegitScript to help identify fraudulent prescription-drug websites. It also formed a partnership with Health On the Net to help users identify trustworthy health and medical websites. These initiatives extended Sitejabber beyond general consumer commentary into the evaluation of higher-risk online services, where misleading websites could create financial or health-related harm. Sitejabber expanded its accessibility through an official Google Chrome extension released in 2015. The extension provided a browser-based way for users to access information about websites while browsing, reinforcing the company’s focus on evaluating unfamiliar online businesses at the point when a consumer might be considering a purchase. The business has operated across both consumer and business-facing contexts. Consumers use Sitejabber to research companies and share experiences, while businesses use reputation-management capabilities to solicit, monitor, organize, and distribute reviews. Sitejabber has stated that its services can support the use of reviews across destinations such as Google Seller Ratings, the Better Business Bureau, and other customer-review websites. It has also described itself as a certified Google Reviews partner. In 2023, Sitejabber relaunched or rebranded the business-oriented reputation-management portion of its service as Jabio. The change was intended to distinguish the company’s business platform from the Sitejabber consumer-review website. Jabio is positioned around review sourcing, feedback management, reputation monitoring, and the use of reviews in online marketing, while Sitejabber continues to represent the consumer-facing review destination. Sitejabber has received attention from technology, business, and general-interest publications, including The New York Times, MarketWatch, MSN Money, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, PC Magazine, and CNN. Its history also includes regulatory scrutiny. In 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company had represented feedback from initial shopping experiences as reviews of actual products or services. The FTC issued an order prohibiting the practice going forward. This matter illustrates the broader challenge faced by review platforms: maintaining a clear distinction between genuine experience-based reviews, early-stage feedback, incentivized submissions, and other forms of consumer commentary. Sitejabber’s current identity therefore combines two related functions: a public review community for researching online businesses and a business-facing reputation-management operation conducted under the Jabio name. Its central positioning remains the creation, organization, and distribution of trust signals for online commerce.

Sitejabber was founded in 2007 in San Francisco by Jeremy Gin, Rodney Gin, and Michael Lai. The founders described the service as an effort to reduce online fraud and make online commerce more transparent. The initial platform was reportedly developed with support from a National Science Foundation grant, reflecting the founders’ focus on the information problems faced by consumers dealing with unfamiliar websites and online businesses. From the beginning, Sitejabber combined a public information function with a participatory review model. Users could create accounts, rate online businesses, and describe their experiences. Reviews addressed overall satisfaction as well as practical dimensions of an online transaction, including service, value, shipping, returns, and quality. This structure positioned the platform as a source of reputational information for consumers deciding whether to engage with a company online. The company broadened its trust and safety role in 2010 through partnerships focused on specialized categories. Its relationship with LegitScript was intended to help identify fraudulent prescription-drug websites, a category in which deceptive practices could expose users to both financial and health risks. A separate partnership with Health On the Net focused on helping users identify trustworthy health and medical websites. These partnerships demonstrated an effort to supplement user reviews with category-specific signals and external trust expertise. Sitejabber later extended its service into the browsing experience. In 2015, it released an official Google Chrome extension, allowing users to access Sitejabber information while visiting websites. The extension supported the company’s broader objective of helping consumers evaluate a business before completing an online transaction rather than relying only on information supplied by the business itself. As online reviews became increasingly important to customer acquisition and reputation management, Sitejabber developed a more explicit business-facing offering. Companies could use its tools to source reviews, monitor feedback, manage their reputation, and incorporate customer commentary into digital marketing. Sitejabber has described the business platform as capable of distributing or facilitating reviews across destinations including Google Seller Ratings, the Better Business Bureau, and other customer-review websites. The company has also identified itself as a certified Google Reviews partner. In 2023, the business-oriented reputation-management operation was relaunched under the name Jabio. The rebranding separated two closely related propositions: Sitejabber as the consumer destination where people research and review online businesses, and Jabio as a platform for brands seeking to collect, manage, and distribute feedback. Jabio’s stated functions include review sourcing, feedback management, reputation monitoring, and marketing use of customer reviews. The platform has been covered by a range of major media outlets, including The New York Times, MarketWatch, MSN Money, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and The Chicago Tribune. It has also received recognition or coverage from technology and general-interest publications such as PC Magazine and CNN. This visibility reflects the wider importance of review platforms in online shopping, where customer ratings can affect trust, conversion, and the ability of consumers to identify deceptive websites. Sitejabber’s history has also involved scrutiny over how review information is collected and described. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company had misrepresented initial shopping experience feedback as reviews of actual products or services. The FTC issued an order barring the company from continuing that practice. The matter highlights a central governance issue for review businesses: users and businesses must be able to distinguish reviews based on actual product or service experiences from preliminary feedback, general shopping interactions, or other forms of consumer input. Sitejabber remains an active brand with a dual structure. The Sitejabber name continues to identify the consumer review community, while Jabio represents the company’s business-oriented reputation-management proposition. Together, the services address both sides of online trust: consumers seeking credible information before buying and businesses seeking structured ways to gather, respond to, and promote customer feedback.

• 2024

  Federal Trade Commission order addresses review representations

  The FTC alleges that Sitejabber misrepresented initial shopping experience feedback as reviews of actual products or services and issues an order prohibiting the practice going forward.

• 2023

  Business platform is relaunched as Jabio

  [1]Sitejabberen.wikipedia.org

  The reputation-management portion of Sitejabber’s services is relaunched under the Jabio name to distinguish the business platform from the consumer review site.

• 2015

  Official Google Chrome extension launches

  [1]Sitejabberen.wikipedia.org

  Sitejabber releases a Chrome extension that brings website review and trust information into the browsing experience.

• 2010

  Partnerships target fraudulent and untrustworthy health websites

  [1]Sitejabberen.wikipedia.org

  Sitejabber partners with LegitScript on fraudulent prescription-drug websites and with Health On the Net on trustworthy health and medical websites.

• 2007

  Sitejabber is founded in San Francisco

  [1]Sitejabberen.wikipedia.org

  Jeremy Gin, Rodney Gin, and Michael Lai establish Sitejabber to reduce online fraud and improve transparency for online buyers. The early service is described as having been developed with support from a National Science Foundation grant.

A trust and reputation layer for online commerce, connecting consumer-generated reviews with business tools for collecting, managing, and distributing customer feedback.

• Consumer review platform · 2007

  Sitejabber

  The consumer-facing Sitejabber platform allows users to create accounts, rate online businesses, and publish reviews describing their experiences. Reviews can include an overall star rating and assessments of service, value, shipping, returns, and quality. The service is designed to help buyers research unfamiliar online businesses, compare trust signals, and avoid deceptive or unreliable websites.

• Business reputation-management platform · 2023

  Jabio

  Jabio is the name adopted in 2023 for Sitejabber’s business-oriented reputation-management operation. The platform is described as helping brands source reviews, monitor and manage feedback, and use customer commentary in online marketing. It can facilitate the publication or distribution of reviews across destinations including Google Seller Ratings, the Better Business Bureau, and other customer-review websites.

• Browser extension · 2015

  Sitejabber Google Chrome extension

  The official Chrome extension brings Sitejabber review and website information into the browser. Its purpose is to let users consult trust and reputation information while browsing an online business, rather than requiring them to leave the shopping journey and search for the company separately.

• 2024

  FTC action over characterization of shopping feedback

  The Federal Trade Commission alleged that Sitejabber represented feedback from initial shopping experiences as reviews of actual products or services. The resulting order prohibited the company from continuing to make those representations. The action concerns the accuracy and transparency of review descriptions, a central issue for consumer-review platforms.

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• 2023

  Separate the business platform under the Jabio brandStrategy

  Background

  Sitejabber operated both a consumer review destination and a business-facing reputation-management service. The company sought to clarify the distinction between those audiences and functions.

  Action taken

  The reputation-management portion of the service was relaunched under the name Jabio, while Sitejabber remained associated with the consumer review platform.

  Aftermath

  The brand architecture gave the company separate identities for consumer research and business review-management activities.

  Source

• 2015

  Launch of the Google Chrome extensionProduct launch

  Background

  Consumers often need reputation information while visiting an unfamiliar online business, making browser access a natural extension of a review platform.

  Action taken

  Sitejabber released an official Google Chrome extension that made its website and review information available during browsing.

  Aftermath

  The extension expanded the points at which users could consult Sitejabber information before making an online purchase.

  Source

1. 1Sitejabberen.wikipedia.org