BazaarVoice.com - Word of Mouth Marketing

BazaarVoice is an enterprise solution whose aim is to provide a better means of direct and democratic communications between customers and companies. Basically, they believe that nothing is more powerful than consumer word of mouth. Customers' opinions go a long ways, especially on the net. BazaarVoice, therefore provides a platform whereby companies can leverage customer reviews, recommendations and editorials in order to boost sales and retention. Other products include Ask and Answer, a hosted community driven Q&A platform (customs who have already purchased a product, answer questions about said product), and Syndicate Voices which uses product reviews to increase site traffic.

'"Bazaar" is a word that is symbolic of the beginning of commerce – the initial marketplaces. Word-of-mouth was a driving factor in these markets, just like it is today. Bazaars were social centers where tales would be shared of products brought in from places like the Far East and the original consumers would communicate with each other on various topics (not just shopping) as these were the original town centers. Bazaarvoice literally translated is the "voice" of the "marketplace".'

Bazaar's specialty is leveraging the consumer voice in order to market products. The idea is that using Bazaar's setup is ultimately cheaper for companies than developing their own in-house campaign department. Their service is ideal for online companies, where consumer's opinions mean a lot, and where product reviews are key to purchasing.

How does Bazaar perform in comparison to other marketing services/strategies? How easy is it for customers to customize and control their ads?