Weekend Bias Skews Online Ratings

A large study of 400 million reviews across 33 e‑commerce and hospitality platforms finds that reviews posted on weekends are systematically less favorable than weekday reviews. This implies star ratings blend product/service quality with temporal mood or context effects, not just user experience. — If ratings drive search rank, reputation, and consumer protection, platforms and regulators should adjust for day‑of‑week bias to avoid unfair rankings and distorted market signals.