Short answers, pulled from the story.
A review aggregator is a digital system that collects and synthesizes thousands of individual opinions into a single metric to influence stock prices, royalty rates, and consumer behavior. These platforms assign a numeric value to every review to create a standardized language of quality that allows consumers to compare vastly different products with ease.
The first true review aggregators emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s to fill a void left by traditional media outlets that could not possibly cover every new release. Movie Review Intelligence was one of the early pioneers that collated and analyzed movie reviews to provide a clear picture of public sentiment.
Review aggregators determine whether a video game developer receives a bonus or a studio executive keeps their job by tying royalty payment rates and employee bonuses directly to the scores they generate. A low aggregate score can trigger financial penalties for creators in an industry where development costs can reach millions of dollars.
Review aggregators generate a vast trove of private information that is sold to third parties about consumer tendencies including the specific language used in reviews, the demographics of the reviewers, and the timing of the feedback. This data allows companies to learn about their actual and potential customers and tailor future products to specific market segments.
Some film studios ignore review aggregators to focus on building a loyal fanbase that operates outside the mainstream review ecosystem rather than making creative compromises to please the average reviewer. The tension between artistic integrity and commercial success is often played out in the numbers generated by these systems.