Can customer reviews of agents be truly transparent?

Is the Facebook and Trip.com model applicable to real estate, or will consumers always be suspicious that content has been edited to present only the positive?

Internet-based ZipRealty says the company’s goal is to market its agents without spin and allows only registered users to post a review. Most reviews are generated by customers involved in a closed transaction.

ZipRealty said the unfiltered rating system had been under development for seven months and 47 percent of its agents had signed to the service.

The company reported that 85 percent of its agents in the Seattle market (a total of 78) have accepted the unfiltered review system. None scored lower than 4.0 overall on a 5-star rating system. Many had nearly perfect scores, and a few had nothing but 5-star reviews.