Dooyoo vs Ciao (dooyoo vs other opinion websites)

Member Name: jesperado

Product:	dooyoo vs other opinion websites
Date:	01/04/09 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An exciting match with one clear winner

Disadvantages: A poor show by the loser

Having been a member of dooyoo for about 4 months I decided to join ciao to increase my earning potential. I have now been a member of ciao for a few weeks so I thought I'd give a review of my thoughts on how it compares to dooyoo. To make it a little more interesting, I have decided to set up an imaginary boxing match between the two sites.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, in the red shorts weighing 200 pounds, Ciao "The Champion" .co.uk!
And, in the blue shorts weighing a massive 230 pounds, I give you Dooyoo "The Destroyer" .co.uk!


Round 1: Ease of use

Out of the two sites, I much prefer using dooyoo. It is clear and easy to navigate. The front page highlights recent reviews as well as showing the categories for reviews and you can easily see how many points you have and when they will expire. There is a handy link to a list of the new reviews and you can filter these into the categories you are interested in. Ciao, on the other hand, seems cluttered and is nowhere near as visually appealing. There is far too much text on the front page and the new reviews page which makes it difficult to navigate. It also took me about 2 weeks to find the 'Ciao Café' (the equivalent of dooyoo's discussion section) which just goes to show how tricky the site can be to navigate.

Verdict: A barrage of body blows from dooyoo leaves ciao reeling

Round 2: Quality of reviews

A week ago this would have been an unequivocal knockout for dooyoo as there is so much copied material on ciao. Unfortunately, there seems to be more of it creeping into dooyoo. Each site has its own way of dealing with it. On ciao, less useful ratings do not earn rewards for the review so it is of no benefit to the reviewer to paste obviously copied reviews onto the site. Dooyoo still rewards reviews rated as 'not useful' but the community is more vocal about its dislike of copied reviews so this is very actively discouraged.

Verdict: Both contenders land an array of jabs but it's too close to call

Round 3: Rewards

I still don't understand the ciao rewards system! Having submitted 30ish reviews which have each received a number of good ratings I seem to have earned £1.72 and I can't work out what exactly I am being paid for which makes it difficult to know how to earn more. With dooyoo, it's simple: you get 500 miles for each review over 150 words (unless it is in the discussion category) then 15 miles per rating. I know exactly how I have earned the miles I have and know that to earn more I just need to keep up the standard of my reviews and participate in the community. It couldn't be simpler! Also, I was really impressed with how quickly I could reach the £50 payment threshold.

Verdict: An uppercut from dooyoo sees ciao hit the canvas but the plucky contender regains its composure before the referee can finish the count

Round 4: Community

I haven't been a member of ciao for very long but I haven't found the community to be anywhere near as welcoming or helpful as the dooyoo community. I recently posted a review about my Top 10 favourite websites and received comments along the lines of 'Not a very surprising list and you've missed a couple of obvious ones, I would have included youtube and Google'. So it seems that some members of ciao don't really read reviews properly - I made it clear that these were my favourite sites rather than 'the best' - and they don't seem as friendly as dooyoo members. Within a couple of weeks of being on dooyoo, people were giving me advice about how to improve my reviews and I already had some favourite reviewers as there is more interaction between users on dooyoo than there is on ciao.

Verdict: With a right hook worthy of Muhammad Ali, dooyoo knocks ciao clean off its feet. Ciao hits the mat hard, the referee counts, it's all over!

Dooyoo.co.uk wins by knockout!

Summary: And with that, ladies and gentlemen, Dooyoo the Destroyer is heavyweight champion of reviewing!