Forum

We decided to remove the star ratings system on article pages.  We did this for two reasons..

First off we realized that some articles were getting unfair 1 star ratings from obvious griefers, while we know occasionally a user might honestly rate an article 1 star, getting 5 1 star ratings across an entire category in one day just seems fishy to us. 

Secondly the ratings system is entirely subjective to the readers knowledge level.  An expert in a field may rate an 'entry level' article 1 or 2 stars because of it's basic information.  Another reader may rate it 8 or 9 stars because the article contained the exact, basic information he or she was looking for.  So, since the rating of the article depends mostly on the readers knowledge level it doesn't seem fair to allow the article to be rated since only the individual user can know it's true value.

In the end we believe this will, over time, have the effect of increasing clicks on ads.  Part of the reason people don't click ads is because they don't trust the content on the page.  Removing the stars gives every new reader the opportunity to judge the content on it's own merit, not on what other readers rate it.