Consumers are quite used to the quick star rating when it comes to sharing our input on how we feel about a business’s customer service. Not only has it been available to us throughout companies feedback boxes for years in-store, it has been provided nearly everywhere online too. Heck, even movies are rated in a 5 star format. However it looks like Facebook has finally caught on; better late than never.

Since this type of rating system is widely known, it only makes sense that it makes its way onto Facebook, although you would never know of the change unless you actually click on the recommendations section on a Facebook Page for a business.  It seems like Facebook secretly rolled it out, and even though a secret roll-out is nothing new for Facebook, adding a new feature that will impact a business will be more than subtle.

A whole new way for a happy or unhappy customer to quickly and easily rate a business is surely going to have a greater impression than Facebook’s original and still available commenting system under its recommendations feature. This will undoubtedly affect the Facebook Edgerank (Facebook Algorithm) as you are still able to recommend a business (or express your dissatisfaction) without using the star rating, however, you cannot leave a star rating without leaving a written recommendation.

Since this is a new secretly released feature the impact on its latest form of recommending a business is unknown. As frustrating as it may be for many businesses since this feature not only comes with specific Facebook page categories as a non-deleted default, it is public without a proper public response system.

With that said, since the rating system still requires a comment this means that there can still not be anonymous ratings and if someone is truly happy or unhappy, they are willing to grab your attention publicly using their profile. Thus, giving businesses still the opportunity to message the individual privately by clicking the name associated with the recommendation and then clicking the message button located on the profile. Of course you will need to be acting as your page to professionally respond and will need to respond professionally since even though it is a direct message, nothing “has” to remain private on the web.

What do you think of the new 5 star rating for business pages as a consumer or business owner?