Following our CEO Tony Wheble's launch of our new manifesto - COO, Steve Powell explains his view on why Feefo's consistent approach to verified reviews has become the Gold Standard the rest of the industry is now racing to meet.
When I joined Feefo 12 years ago, as employee number 72, the "review economy" was a very different landscape. Back then, many saw customer feedback as a mere marketing "bolt-on”. A numbers game where the goal was simply to amass as many reviews as possible, regardless of where they came from.
Over a decade later I’m still here – now leading as COO – because I believed in a much more disruptive idea: that integrity is the only sustainable business model.
In an era of AI-generated noise and tightening regulations, the sector is facing a "Trust Crisis”. For many providers, this is a moment of frantic pivoting. For Feefo, it is a moment of total vindication.
The rest of the world is trying to play catch up to a truth we’ve championed since day one, and with our recent launch of our Gold Standard Manifesto we’re putting this into words.
In the tech world, "disruption" usually means moving fast and breaking things. Feefo disrupted the sector by doing the opposite, setting solid foundations and sticking to our principles over many years.
While others built "open" platforms where anyone, anywhere, could post a review, creating a breeding ground for bot-farms and incentivised fakes, Feefo chose the harder path. We built a closed, invitation-only model. No proof of purchase? No Feefo review.
It wasn’t the easiest way to scale, but it was the right way. We knew that without integrity, data is just noise. Twelve years later, that "stubborn" commitment to verification has made us the outlier that became the standard.
We are also keeping a close eye on the rise of AI search – the other side of the regulatory coin. Currently, many AI models are still in their infancy and are prone to prioritising quantity and "noise" over true authenticity. However, we are already starting to see a shift as these models mature. They are beginning to crave authoritative, real-world data to maintain their own accuracy.
If a review platform is diluted by synthetic, AI-generated feedback, it quickly loses its value to the algorithms that now power discovery. Because Feefo’s feedback loop is tied strictly to a verified transaction, we are uniquely positioned to serve as an "Anchor of Truth." As the internet moves toward a more curated future, Feefo is once again ahead of the curve, providing the high-fidelity, "Verified Human" insights that the next generation of search will demand.
People sometimes ask why I’ve stayed with one company for 12 years. I’ve seen Feefo grow from a small team into a global leader, but the reason I’m still here is much simpler – I genuinely believe in the utility of what we do.
There’s a real professional satisfaction in providing a tool that actually works for both sides of the counter.
I’m passionate about the fact that our platform helps businesses stop guessing and start making better decisions based on real evidence. It’s about helping a service manager fix a recurring issue or helping a marketing director spend their budget more effectively because they finally have "clean" data.
At the same time, I love that we protect the person on the street. We’ve all had that moment of hesitation before hitting 'buy'; knowing that Feefo provides the confidence to make that call, without the nagging doubt that a review might be fake, is why I still enjoy coming to work every morning.
The Gold Standard Manifesto isn’t about making grand statements; it’s about setting a baseline for how the industry should operate. It’s an invitation for brands to ask their current providers a simple, practical question: "Can you actually prove the person who wrote this review spent money with us?" If the answer is "no," then the data is flawed.
As COO, my focus is on ensuring Feefo remains the most reliable partner in the sector. We aren't interested in the "Wild West" of unverified content. We’re interested in the truth, because that’s the only thing that really helps a business grow. We’ve been operating this way since before employee 72, and we aren’t changing now.
Thanks for reading.
If are you reviewing the integrity of your customer feedback strategy, get in touch with us today.