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Thanks Scott. I led with her because I think the incident, while extreme, is a vivid illustration of the way that Yelp (and not just Yelp, but all online review

Thanks Scott. I led with her because I think the incident, while extreme, is a vivid illustration of the way that Yelp (and not just Yelp, but all online review sites) is making business owners feel. This owner is not the first or the last to take criticism personally and respond without thinking. As to your second question, I don't think anyone thinks that the the owner's actions were reasonable. (As I say later I the story, she feels terrible about what happened.) Sean C.'s review was negative, but not overwhelmingly so. And whatever someone says on a review site, I think that everyone has a right to privacy.

scott_s 17y ago
I don't see the anecdote as an example of how Yelp is making business owners feel. I see it as an example of how one sadly troubled woman got into trouble - the mechanism through which that happened seems incidental to me. By the end of the first page, I'm thinking "This woman sounds crazy," not "Yelp can cause trouble." I don't think she's a good example for the problems Yelp can cause. I'll read the rest of the article later. But the problem with leading with such an anecdote is that after thinking "This woman sounds crazy," my next thought was "Does this reporter not see that? If not not, is it worth reading the rest?"
rubberbunny 17y ago
Doesn't she know she can just become a "Yelp! Sponsor" and have the offending reviews removed? My whole Yelp account was banned for calling out a local restaurant owner for being so psycho that he made my date cry. It was a mighty coincidence that my account ban and deleted reviews coincided with his shit-hole restaurant deciding to sponsor Yelp. But I'm sure Yelp has excuses. Maybe I didn't log in frequently enough, or they thought because my experience was so out-there that it must be fake. Either way, I'll never trust or use Yelp again. It's pay for play all the way.
- Tangurena 17y ago
  That sponsorship costs $300/month. That's a lot of money for many small businesses and can easily push a business that's barely scraping by in this economy into the red. And I don't know about you, but I get angry when I think of people trying to extort $3600/year from me. It is my business - not theirs. Yet somehow I'm the one getting my wallet picked.
  - rubberbunny 17y ago
    My bad, cynicism is not easy to convey via text. To be clear, businesses are not supposed to be able to remove any review from the site. Yelp makes a big deal about claiming that they don't let businesses, even Yelp Sponsors, remove negative reviews. That being said, I know first-hand that they do remove negative reviews, so... fuck Yelp, I guess. I'm angry too that Yelp pits businesses against customers for profit while claiming to be an unbiased source. Just the fact that it's even possible for a business to "sponsor" an "unbiased" review site should set off a lot of red flags. Just ran a search on "yelp unbiased" and this popped up: http://ask.metafilter.com/142694/Yelp-sucks-I-need-unbiased-reviews-Help http://ask.metafilter.com/142694/Yelp-sucks-I-need-unbiased-...

scott_s 17y ago

I don't see the anecdote as an example of how Yelp is making business owners feel. I see it as an example of how one sadly troubled woman got into trouble - the mechanism through which that happened seems incidental to me. By the end of the first page, I'm thinking "This woman sounds crazy," not "Yelp can cause trouble." I don't think she's a good example for the problems Yelp can cause. I'll read the rest of the article later. But the problem with leading with such an anecdote is that after thinking "This woman sounds crazy," my next thought was "Does this reporter not see that? If not not, is it worth reading the rest?"

rubberbunny 17y ago

Doesn't she know she can just become a "Yelp! Sponsor" and have the offending reviews removed? My whole Yelp account was banned for calling out a local restaurant owner for being so psycho that he made my date cry. It was a mighty coincidence that my account ban and deleted reviews coincided with his shit-hole restaurant deciding to sponsor Yelp. But I'm sure Yelp has excuses. Maybe I didn't log in frequently enough, or they thought because my experience was so out-there that it must be fake. Either way, I'll never trust or use Yelp again. It's pay for play all the way.

Tangurena 17y ago
That sponsorship costs $300/month. That's a lot of money for many small businesses and can easily push a business that's barely scraping by in this economy into the red. And I don't know about you, but I get angry when I think of people trying to extort $3600/year from me. It is my business - not theirs. Yet somehow I'm the one getting my wallet picked.
- rubberbunny 17y ago
  My bad, cynicism is not easy to convey via text. To be clear, businesses are not supposed to be able to remove any review from the site. Yelp makes a big deal about claiming that they don't let businesses, even Yelp Sponsors, remove negative reviews. That being said, I know first-hand that they do remove negative reviews, so... fuck Yelp, I guess. I'm angry too that Yelp pits businesses against customers for profit while claiming to be an unbiased source. Just the fact that it's even possible for a business to "sponsor" an "unbiased" review site should set off a lot of red flags. Just ran a search on "yelp unbiased" and this popped up: http://ask.metafilter.com/142694/Yelp-sucks-I-need-unbiased-reviews-Help http://ask.metafilter.com/142694/Yelp-sucks-I-need-unbiased-...