LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Mark Dubis, president and co-founder of CarFolks.com, has issued an impassioned appeal to dealers, arguing that “chasing reviews” has done little to foster trust between dealers, manufacturers and car buyers.

In an open letter to the industry, “It’s Not About Reviews,” Dubis says today’s empowered, Internet-savvy customer is more interested in dividing good dealers from bad than picking through reviews. He points out that several so-called “reputation management” providers have been caught abusing the system and posting fake reviews on sites such as Google and Edmunds.com, the latter of which is currently suing the authors.

“The challenge for consumers not familiar with a particular dealership comes in when they look for reviews from customers and social media feedback and often see only glowing reviews,” Dubis writes. “They know these reviews have been filtered and seek a more honest solution to find those good dealers.”

To read “It’s Not About Reviews” in its entirety, visit the Carfolks blog site,  www.CarFolks.net.