Why Allow Early Reviews?

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Why Allow Early Reviews?

So I don't understand why students are allowed to leave a review if they haven't completed the course? I would say at a minimum a student should be 50% of the way through before being allowed to leave a review.

 

The reason I'm posting this is because I have gotten a legit 5-star review from a student who has gone through most of my course and left a really nice message about it.

 

But then yesterday I got my 2nd a review and it's a 2.5 star review from a student who is only 10% of the way through. Didn't leave a comment or anything, won't answer any of my messages, so I have no idea what he doesn't like about it. And since I got this review, enrollment has tanked. Only 2 new students since this fake review.

 

This is review abuse. He's trying to tank my new course for some reason. Since the student won't respond to any messages I've sent, I've reported the review so hopefully it will be removed. But a great way to stop this sort of review abuse would be to not allow reviews until students have gone through much of the course, right? It's logical.

11 Replies
Thor
Community Champion Community Champion
Community Champion

Because there is a very sharp decline in reviews if not at 10 minutes, like 90% less or more. 


Thor Pedersen - IT , Project Management, and Cyber Security trainer

So? Quality over quantity, my guy. I've purchased many courses on Udemy and as a customer, I would much rather trust reviews from someone who, you know, completed the course than some guy who watched 1 video and for whatever reason left a bad review because he isn't having a good day. I know this isn't your call at all, but maybe have reviews that are posted by 5%ers be hidden/not counted and only have reviews by 50%+ actually count toward the score.

ScottDuffy
Community Champion Community Champion
Community Champion

Yes, I'll take a high quantity of reviews every day. If you want 90% fewer reviews, I wish Udemy would let you opt-in to that.

 

Imagine a course marketplace where 90% of courses had no reviews. How would students decide what courses to buy? 

 

More reviews equal more sales. What you need to combat one bad review are more reviews. Try to get 5 or 10 more reviews. Good luck!

Thor
Community Champion Community Champion
Community Champion

Well .. not my rules, they are the rules you signed up for. 

I agree a quality review is nicer than a review of less quality with less to base it on.

 

That said everyone gets hit equally hard with the reviews, they all get promted at ~10 minutes. You, your competitors, everyone. 

 

If they did not ask early you would get only 10% of the reviews you get now, your course has great reviews, with later reviews you would (on average) have 0.8 reviews by now.

 

It works in your favor having them early.

 

Also "I am not your guy, buddy" (sorry had to get that south park reference out of my head). 
@JeffT302 


Thor Pedersen - IT , Project Management, and Cyber Security trainer

When I was new to this platform, I also used to get furious on the bad reviews. However, reviews without any word or anything don't affect me anymore. I have taken genuine reviews into consideration and improved the course which has helped me to significantly improve the rating of the course.

Messaging the student won't help you at all. Most of the time, they don't reply. Reporting also won't help you because udemy takes reviews seriously and only remove the review that is not associated with your content. For example, if a student gives you a poor rating because he didn't receive a certificate. In all other cases, the review will remain as such. 

If your course is good enough, you will certainly get good reviews and that will improve your overall rating. The reviews become outdated after 90 days, so , no need to panic. 


Engineer, Engineering Academy-Nepal

It doesn't become outdated though if no new ratings (or very few) come in over the next few months. Which can happen if you make very few sales over a few months. Not all courses make hundreds and thousands of sales per month, and that doesn't mean they are bad, it might be the topic. In my area I've seen high rated courses that looked fine, they were up for a couple of years and had less than 100 sales. You know, sometimes it's just the market. And not everybody wants to make courses on topics they are not qualified for just because there is high demand. And what they are qualified for might just not be the big hit on Udemy (or maybe you speak the "wrong" language with a "wrong" accent). Those instructors are the ones that get hurt most by unfair reviews.

The same thing happened to me with my 2nd course. When it was brand new I had like 2 good reviews and then I got a one star. The guy also took the effort to tick all the boxes, apparently the course sucked just in every single aspect. With a rating below 4 it took ages for the course to get back on its feet. About a year later now, it's a solid 4.7 but for several months I missed out on the sales that I am now getting. I checked that person's profile a year later, and he never booked another course. Which is more probable: my course being so horrible that he left Udemy because of it, or he really only wanted to pull my course down? It is a shame that it is possible for such people to succeed.

It now happened again with my last course. Third review and I get 2 stars after 13% and no comment. Pulled my rating down drastically. The few sales I made in the past month now went to no more sales. It is not like I don't understand the procedure but the reality is that one person can kill your course, maybe not for good but for a long time, and that shouldn't be possible.

Udemy should publish reviews alongside the percentage of the course student completed. They should calculate rank accordingly.

Thor
Community Champion Community Champion
Community Champion

Review weight is based on % complete, written review and many more factors.

They just don't publicize it. 


Thor Pedersen - IT , Project Management, and Cyber Security trainer

Early reviews affect the overall rating less. If the student continues to watch the videos and if he doesn't change his review, the review's effect on overall rating increases.

You want them to complete a Course that might not be good at all? Just to leave a review? Nah....

I do think is a good way to let them review the course. If it is good so far, they will review it 4-5 star. Then focus on those few mins! Rarely students will change a high rating to a lower one.

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