Which?’s billboards show a slew of five-star ratings, coupled with ominous text that warns how easily online reviews can be faked. By helping people to recognise how effectively misleading reviews can be, Which?’s billboards highlight the importance of impartiality when it comes to product reviews.

A normal trip to the furniture store to deck out the home is on the decline in Germany, where more people are ordering their furnishings online. As people come to put their faith in the anonymous reviews of strangers, attitudes towards trust are impacting people's decisions on big ticket items.

As professional critics lament their ebbing influence on consumers who increasingly rely on the opinions of online peers, the question is being raised of whether top-down reviewers matter anymore. Are crowdsourced reviews – a sort of ‘online word of mouth’ – the only currency that counts?