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Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Yelp is doing this? The same Yelp that was built on the back of some of the most aggressive, manipulative, downright

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Yelp is doing this? The same Yelp that was built on the back of some of the most aggressive, manipulative, downright shady marketing tactics out there? I've heard multiple complaints from Mom & Pop shops in my neighborhood which basically amount to Yelp calling and saying "Sign up for our premium business package or the negative reviews stay at the top"

elliotec 10y ago
Wondering the same thing... odd it has not been mentioned.
- lsmarigo 10y ago
  apparently there's a doc coming about this called "Billion Dollar Bully" from some small independent filmmakers which yelp is already trying to pre-emptively discredit: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yelp-accused-mob-like-behavior-814981 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yelp-accused-mob-like-...
panda888 10y ago
This simply doesn't happen. People have been saying it for years, but there's zero proof. My theory is something like this. A mom and pop shop opens Yelp one day to see they have some bad reviews. Then, if around that time a Yelp sales rep happens to call to pitch some ads or "enhanced profile" (actual name of an ad product they sell which doesn't alter reviews, just makes the profile prettier), and OMG all of the sudden in their mind it's a case of "pretty good store you've got here... Would be a shame if something were to happen to it".
- lsmod 10y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t65dfO8vZTA&list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1Ca69zlSMSmie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t65dfO8vZTA&list=PLkVbIsAWN2... Watch the third video in the playlist
- svskeptic 10y ago
  This absolutely does happen. I have a small business that is facing it right now. I either pay the Yelp tax or they have taken our community-created page with all 5-star reviews completely off the site. Can still find it from Google search, but can't find it from search within Yelp. And if you search for us, they show our competitor as a search result. Got a call from Yelp sales guy about an offer 'that expires this week', just the day after our listing could not be found. Now, I can't tell you my business name, because they will bury it even further. Yelp is as shady as it gets on the internet. PM me and I'm happy to tell you who I am after I confirm who you are.
  - raverbashing 10y ago
    > or they have taken our community-created page with all 5-star reviews completely off the site Is this page inside Yelp? You have two business pages on Yelp? What I could suggest is that you get (old) Yelp users to put (legitimate - not exaggerated) comments on your page. And of course, you can make a video lambasting them on YT as well.
    - svskeptic 10y ago
      There is only one page. The community-created one. As a business, we never created one. If you google "yelp $business", you can find this page today. If you go to yelp.com and search for "$business", it used to be there. But, in the last week, it was taken off the search results and now a competitor is shown as a search result instead. Going back to the users is not feasible for us, because we don't know who they are! They are some of our customers who felt the service was great enough to leave glowing reviews. We didn't solicit it. What actions to take is an interesting discussion for us. Ethics aside, we just might cave and pay the Yelp mafia tax, as a cost of doing business. Which is what they want. And we want to get on with our business. Edit: $business = 'Real Business Name';
      - raverbashing 10y ago
        When you mean google "yelp $business" is $business like "chinese restaurante" or the actual name? All pages are "community created", you can try to recreate the page if your page is gone, you go to "Write a review", search for it and then "Add a Business" Of course you might pay, or take them to court as well
- andybak 10y ago
  I'm not generally a distrustful person, panda888 - but how come you created a new account to post this comment? Maybe you could post a little bit of background info about yourself and your lack of connections to Yell to avert any suspicion that you're not a genuine disinterested individual. In any case - from my memory there were stories about this in the mainstream press. I can't vouch for their veracity but if you bother to reply then I'll try and find a few references.
  - lsmarigo 10y ago
    Honestly I don't even know which way is up anymore with the yelp extortion fiasco, so much misinformation and yelps defense sounds credible vs some random angry small business owners. My cynicism says they're executing the ultimate public relations and smear campaign against anyone who dares speak up, panda888 being some low level drone in a messaging agency they hired whose radar picked up this thread /tinfoilhat
  - csydas 10y ago
    off topic, is that what green highlighting on usernames means? age of account?
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      Yes, green accounts are new, not sure the definition of new being used though.
pbhjpbhj 10y ago
You're certainly not the only one. My first thought was that Yelp would only be doing this so they could sell removal of the sued-customer flag to companies.

elliotec 10y ago

Wondering the same thing... odd it has not been mentioned.

lsmarigo 10y ago
apparently there's a doc coming about this called "Billion Dollar Bully" from some small independent filmmakers which yelp is already trying to pre-emptively discredit: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yelp-accused-mob-like-behavior-814981 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yelp-accused-mob-like-...

panda888 10y ago

This simply doesn't happen. People have been saying it for years, but there's zero proof. My theory is something like this. A mom and pop shop opens Yelp one day to see they have some bad reviews. Then, if around that time a Yelp sales rep happens to call to pitch some ads or "enhanced profile" (actual name of an ad product they sell which doesn't alter reviews, just makes the profile prettier), and OMG all of the sudden in their mind it's a case of "pretty good store you've got here... Would be a shame if something were to happen to it".

lsmod 10y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t65dfO8vZTA&list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1Ca69zlSMSmie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t65dfO8vZTA&list=PLkVbIsAWN2... Watch the third video in the playlist
svskeptic 10y ago
This absolutely does happen. I have a small business that is facing it right now. I either pay the Yelp tax or they have taken our community-created page with all 5-star reviews completely off the site. Can still find it from Google search, but can't find it from search within Yelp. And if you search for us, they show our competitor as a search result. Got a call from Yelp sales guy about an offer 'that expires this week', just the day after our listing could not be found. Now, I can't tell you my business name, because they will bury it even further. Yelp is as shady as it gets on the internet. PM me and I'm happy to tell you who I am after I confirm who you are.
- raverbashing 10y ago
  > or they have taken our community-created page with all 5-star reviews completely off the site Is this page inside Yelp? You have two business pages on Yelp? What I could suggest is that you get (old) Yelp users to put (legitimate - not exaggerated) comments on your page. And of course, you can make a video lambasting them on YT as well.
  - svskeptic 10y ago
    There is only one page. The community-created one. As a business, we never created one. If you google "yelp $business", you can find this page today. If you go to yelp.com and search for "$business", it used to be there. But, in the last week, it was taken off the search results and now a competitor is shown as a search result instead. Going back to the users is not feasible for us, because we don't know who they are! They are some of our customers who felt the service was great enough to leave glowing reviews. We didn't solicit it. What actions to take is an interesting discussion for us. Ethics aside, we just might cave and pay the Yelp mafia tax, as a cost of doing business. Which is what they want. And we want to get on with our business. Edit: $business = 'Real Business Name';
    - raverbashing 10y ago
      When you mean google "yelp $business" is $business like "chinese restaurante" or the actual name? All pages are "community created", you can try to recreate the page if your page is gone, you go to "Write a review", search for it and then "Add a Business" Of course you might pay, or take them to court as well
andybak 10y ago
I'm not generally a distrustful person, panda888 - but how come you created a new account to post this comment? Maybe you could post a little bit of background info about yourself and your lack of connections to Yell to avert any suspicion that you're not a genuine disinterested individual. In any case - from my memory there were stories about this in the mainstream press. I can't vouch for their veracity but if you bother to reply then I'll try and find a few references.
- lsmarigo 10y ago
  Honestly I don't even know which way is up anymore with the yelp extortion fiasco, so much misinformation and yelps defense sounds credible vs some random angry small business owners. My cynicism says they're executing the ultimate public relations and smear campaign against anyone who dares speak up, panda888 being some low level drone in a messaging agency they hired whose radar picked up this thread /tinfoilhat
- csydas 10y ago
  off topic, is that what green highlighting on usernames means? age of account?
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Yes, green accounts are new, not sure the definition of new being used though.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

You're certainly not the only one. My first thought was that Yelp would only be doing this so they could sell removal of the sued-customer flag to companies.