In its new report, Brightlocal reveals new trends in consumer behavior when it comes to online reviews. From 2015 to 2016, 77% of the US adults had smartphone ownership, which made online reviews rise, and it also helped many local businesses. This trend increased much more in Covid-19 when 59% of the US consumers said that they visited their local businesses online every other day. After 2020, the trend of consumers researching local businesses decreased.

Many of the consumers say that they do not care about traditional review metrics due to several reasons, like less expectations in five-star ratings, and caring less about differences between reviews from now and reviews from 2018-2020. Even though ratings still matter to consumers on a vanity metrics basis, most of the consumers don't see them as something that describes a business’ quality.

The report also found that even if most consumers do not care about ratings when they are deciding what to buy, it isn't stopping them from writing reviews. Almost three-quarters of US adults reported writing a review in the last five years. The data also suggests that more consumers are willing to write more reviews even if they didn't do so in the last year. Consumers love leaving reviews on Google, and it is the top platform to write reviews for consumers. However, Facebook, Yelp, YouTube, and local news outlets are increasingly popular for user reviews. This shows that the lines between alternative and traditional platforms are being blurred.