BeerAdvocate and Untappd Have Joined Forces

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Feb 24, 2020.

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  1. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,291) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Welcome to the forums, letshaveonemore. Different strokes for different folks. Contribute to the site in any way that you feel comfortable. I don't review beers except on rare occasion. I do rate some beers, and oftentimes will write just a comment to explain a low score for a beer's characteristic that I rated very low, or high, just to justify my score. That's an easy thing to do and I assume it is appreciated more than writing nothing.

    Enjoy the site however you want to define 'enjoy.'
     
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  2. ReadySetBeer

    ReadySetBeer Initiate (85) Feb 19, 2018 Minnesota
    Trader

    I'd argue that reviews in general are crowd-sourced here as well as at UT. IMO, unless you have a particular reviewer you watch, you're generally looking at averages. That being said, I look at BA for more detailed reviews, but I look at UT for what raters (my UT friends) I know personally give for ratings, since I know their tastes from drinking with them, talking with them. And I believe the collective generally larger numbers for more widely available beers tends to push averages down on UT, not up. Small sample size will cause a larger variation at either site.

    But, looking at the top about 20 beers on each site (yes, UT breaks out vintages more, but tries to keep beers that aren't specifically IDed with a vintage on the label itself as one), there are eight that appear on each list. Of the beers that aren't on both lists, excluding the two meads on UT's top 20, there isn't a beer on either list with an overall rating of less than 4.48. That means top 250-ish average score on BA. UT only shows its top 50.

    50th rated beer on UT is 2017 ChemTrail Mix. 2725 unique checkins, 3091 total - average 4.6
    On BA, that same beer is 82 ratings, 17 reviews - average 4.74

    50th rated beer on BA is Kern Citra. 413 reviews, 1825 ratings - average 4.61
    On UT, that same beer is 11105 unique checkins, 20406 total - average 4.37

    On average, it seems a large chunk of scores are number only, on both BA and UT.

    So, yes, you're getting some more in-depth reviews here in places, but perhaps with friends you get just as equally relevant information on UT, even if it's just a number and (often) a picture.

    $.02 given.
     
  3. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    It's been a pretty intense week or so. Just wanted to thank everyone for their support and constructive feedback. :beers:
     
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  4. MikefromDormont

    MikefromDormont Zealot (608) Dec 11, 2004 Pennsylvania
    Society

    I am a beer bottle label collector as well. Some cans do have peel-off vinyl labels, but I prefer beer to be in bottles.
     
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  5. elliot23

    elliot23 Crusader (498) Jan 27, 2009 Maryland
    Trader

    Clearly not since Untappd has almost completely replaced BA for rating beer. Apps are designed for ease of use. This website is still setup for desktop use.
     
  6. hottenot

    hottenot Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2018 North Carolina
    Deactivated

    I used to work for a printing company too.
    Now I work for a global juggernaut. In the linear motion field.
    The pay is awesome. The rules however, are fluid here.
     
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  7. hottenot

    hottenot Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2018 North Carolina
    Deactivated

    I feel like Beeradvocate is a bit like Facebook for Beer.
    But without the baggage.
     
    TongoRad likes this.
  8. hottenot

    hottenot Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2018 North Carolina
    Deactivated

    The Great BA Purge of 2009??
    I wasn't around for that. More?
     
  9. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,282) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I find this website, which is optimized for mobile, far easier to use than Untappd's janky app. Adding a beer to UT is hugely annoying.
     
    officerbill, FBarber, jmdrpi and 3 others like this.
  10. Junior

    Junior Pooh-Bah (1,859) May 23, 2015 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Oh good? I’m the only one. And thanks for explaining the difference between apps and websites.
     
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  11. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    scream and thesherrybomber like this.
  12. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    For adding beers on Untappd, I find that the website is much easier to do that than the app.
     
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  13. SoCalBeerIdiot

    SoCalBeerIdiot Pooh-Bah (2,057) Mar 10, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I've gone more than a few rounds with folks on here on my feelings with the BA rating system. I abandoned rating on here, for the most part, long ago for Untappd's easier single-scoring system. I argued that BA could (and should) cater to BOTH long-winded, self-important reviewers AND mindless, un-civilized tickers by allowing folks to do either—write a full on review using the look, smell, taste, feel, and 'overall' scoring method -or- just give it a single, quick 'overall' score with maybe a few comments (or not)--and then let people filter search results as they see fit. I was put in my place with something akin to 'we cater to folks who take beer seriously.' OK, well how has that been working out?

    Shade aside, I love BA and Untappd equally and for different reasons. I wish nothing but the best for both.

    But now that they are both under the same umbrella, my thoughts on this have changed. Whereas before I felt that BA should find a way to cater to a wider audience (old-school reviewers and new school tickers alike), now that they and Untappd are under the same umbrella and no longer necessarily competing, I see more value in keeping them separate and letting reviewers cling to BA and to try and show the new generation the way and to let tickers stay on Untappd where their scores and supposed hijinks won't sully scores on BA. Why meld them into one? Why not just keep them separate forever?
     
  14. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    :+1: We'll explore ways to work together and share resources, but I think my post made it very clear that we're not merging BeerAdvocate and Untappd.
     
  15. SoCalBeerIdiot

    SoCalBeerIdiot Pooh-Bah (2,057) Mar 10, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Sounded more open-ended than that to me, but what do I know...I'm an idiot.
     
  16. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    From the opening bolded paragraph:
    And then in the second paragraph this is reinforced:
     
  17. jmdrpi

    jmdrpi Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,245) Dec 11, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I disagree. About 75% of my usage of BA is from my mobile and I don't have any issues.
     
  18. SoCalBeerIdiot

    SoCalBeerIdiot Pooh-Bah (2,057) Mar 10, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I was mostly referring to the rating systems.

    From your FAQ post way up above.

    Can I sync my BeerAdvocate ratings with Untappd check-ins or vice versa?
    Not at this time.


    Not at this time...but maybe in the future??? That part is open-ended.
     
  19. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    It is, but it was meant to be a simple answer an anticipated FAQ. That's it.
     
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  20. Roguer

    Roguer Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,757) Mar 25, 2013 Connecticut
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I finally had the chance to dig into this to some level of detail.

    First off, I'm glad for the merger. Untappd has an excellent and well-tested model for rating via app, and while it's more of a social media sharing app (kind of like distilling WBAYDN? into app form), if someone wants to use it for tracking beer ratings, it works, it's user friendly, it's - well, it's good enough!

    BA, by contrast, is really focused on beer ratings and resources. Our sharing threads are lively, but they aren't why most people joined (in my opinion).

    I think I speak for the average person when I state that Shangri-La is an Untappd app that links to the BA database, eliminating the "need" to review a beer in separate places. I know that's a hell of a bridge to cross, and might be too far, at least in the near future.

    Finally, I really appreciate @Todd getting ahead of this and being so transparent, including the anticipatory Q&A and links. Being cynical is always an easy response to any news, in particular business news, but Todd has done (IMO) a good job of getting things out in the open right off the bat.

    Hopefully this is a mutually beneficial partnership under the Next Glass umbrella, and helps to maintain the proficient and professional "little guy" in a business world increasingly dominated by conglomerates.
     
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