Clark has long been a fan of Yelp.com and the collective wisdom of customers that it compiles on a variety of retail stores, restaurants and even doctors.

However, many business owners have been less than enthusiastic about the site. They've found that if a customer has a beef and posts it, there's no recourse once they've been maligned. In some instances, the poster could even represent a disgruntled competitor who's out to ruin their reputation.

But that one-sided dialogue is about to change. Yelp will now allow businesses to give a reply when they get trashed on the site.

The consumer champ loves all the collective wisdom sites, including TripAdvisor.com, Kudzu.com and others. By sharing your experience as a customer, you can help steer others toward a good experience too.

When Clark brought his staff to Shanghai, associate producer Joel was concerned that the hotel the consumer champ had booked was not optimally located near all the action. TripAdvisor, however, said it was the greatest hotel in Asia. In the end, Joel ate his words when he saw the accommodations and location.

Think about the old days. A bad review in The New York Times could kill a play. A restaurant reviewer for a city newspaper could dramatically boost business. In the travel business, it used to be that travel writers had enormous sway in the marketplace.

Yelp, TripAdvisor, Kudzu and others help democratize the review process.

One final thought: When you're considering online reviews, you may want to ignore those that are excessively negative or excessively positive. Look for the middle ground in opinion to get a real feel.