Business software purchasing, particularly at the enterprise level, can be a lengthy and difficult process, something startup G2 Crowd is hoping to alleviate with a new review site aimed at enterprise applications.

G2 Crowd has been in the works for some time, but on Thursday the company announced what amounts to a public beta, as well as the unveiling of some new features. “We think we’re ready to go to the broader world,” said co-founder Godard Abel, in an interview.

The site includes a rating system called the G2 Grid. ‘We really think it’s a better version of the Gartner Magic Quadrant,” Abel said. That’s because all of the data involved is sourced from end-user reviews and social media sites.

User reviews carry 70 percent to 80 percent of the weight in rankings, but social media traffic can provide some significant insights into which companies and trends are getting hot, according to Abel.

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