It looks like indeed the public sources aren't cutting it anymore. Maybe there is a niche to be filled: I mean something that would use recommendations (maybe not limited to explicit ones) from one's actual friends to get valuable info on products and services.
After all that's what most people successfully used and there might be some potential in using the internet to boost this process. I'm not saying which Google product fits here, because HNers already grumble about it getting too much coverage :)
Look, you and I and just about all the readers here can figure out where to find this type of information. But for a lot of internet users - maybe most of them - the internet is viewed through the slit of Google Search, so to speak. And this used to be fine, since Google would helpfully point you on your way to where you want to go.
We used to laugh at people who came to some forum or newsgroup and asked "how much should this cost" or whatever. Can't you google that, buddy? Well, you really can't anymore.
Oh, and for the category of products at which you hinted - spam-flavored pseudo-viral marketing is even more annoying than search engine optimization. But yes, I do get the idea of going directly to trusted sources and skipping the search engine; the problem is that search engines were invented because they are so convenient, and it would be a shame to lose that.
After all that's what most people successfully used and there might be some potential in using the internet to boost this process. I'm not saying which Google product fits here, because HNers already grumble about it getting too much coverage :)