Small businesses everywhere must rapidly adapt to a world where their services and products are discussed openly and critically on the web by customers, more or less al the time. Local listings now offer customer ratings on all types of business, from the local plumber to the bakery and bank. Discomforting for some, the enforced visibility and criticism on the web is proving for others a liberation, and sales advantage. The evidence is mounting that of two otherwise identical businesses, the one that responds quickly and positively, and above all transparently, to customer complaints on will rapidly gain the better on-line ratings, with obvious consequences for their likely sales.