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I'd love someone to point to evidence of this beyond pure anecdotes. Yelp clearly allows negative reviews on accounts which advertise with them which can be see

I'd love someone to point to evidence of this beyond pure anecdotes. Yelp clearly allows negative reviews on accounts which advertise with them which can be seen with this Google search [0]. Furthermore an independent Harvard Business School study showed no evidence of fraud [1]. Sure Yelp gives a hard sell, but until some disgruntled ex-employee blows the whistle, or multiple businesses record evidence of this extortion, I'm not ready to believe this is any widespread fraud. I'm sure there are isolated cases, but surely someone would have come forward to back up claims that Yelp can manipulate reviews and ratings? [0] https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=site%3Ayelp.com+%22this+place+sucks%22+OR+%22if+i+could+give+them+zero+stars+I+would%22+OR+%22rude+staff%22+AND+%22yelp+advertiser%22&cad=h https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=site%3Ayelp.com+%22thi... [1] https://www.yelpblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hbs-study-yelp-reviews.pdf https://www.yelpblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hbs-stud...

strathmeyer 10y ago
Damn, who do you know what owns business that Yelp hasn't tried to shake down? At some point you are being willfully ignorant like climate change deniers.
- tomjakubowski 10y ago
  Climate science isn't built on anecdotes and hearsay. I have yet to see real hard proof of the long-standing Yelp shakedown allegations. Shouldn't one of these business owners have posted a recording of a phone call or meeting or something to the Web by now? Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard to find any, but GP is not unreasonable in asking for evidence.
- thomasdub 10y ago
  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan, JS is not exactly a model CEO, and they do sell hard. A tough sell, however, isn't illegal or fraudulent. a shakedown is something else though - are you suggesting they engage in any fraud? Do they manipulate reviews? Or do you have evidence that they, as a company, change reviews if you do/don't buy their ads?
tunap 10y ago
They claim ignorance of how their algo works, under oath in courts of law. The lawsuits and settlements have been mounting since 2010, AFAIK. Google yelp+lawsuit+algo.
ryuker16 10y ago
Anecdotal but I did reputation cleanup for a company. I never recalled any 'we'll remove low star reviews' offers from the Yelp sales team. My guess is some sales guys get desperate and the Yelp ad package was not cheap/scaleable like Google ads so they definitely had to dig. Incidentally removing low star reviews from some sites is easy(prove review violates TOS) .... I remember Yelp being strict on not doing so. If you want to see some real grade A con games....look up Groupon. Great idea, greedy as hell execution.

strathmeyer 10y ago

Damn, who do you know what owns business that Yelp hasn't tried to shake down? At some point you are being willfully ignorant like climate change deniers.

tomjakubowski 10y ago
Climate science isn't built on anecdotes and hearsay. I have yet to see real hard proof of the long-standing Yelp shakedown allegations. Shouldn't one of these business owners have posted a recording of a phone call or meeting or something to the Web by now? Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard to find any, but GP is not unreasonable in asking for evidence.
thomasdub 10y ago
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan, JS is not exactly a model CEO, and they do sell hard. A tough sell, however, isn't illegal or fraudulent. a shakedown is something else though - are you suggesting they engage in any fraud? Do they manipulate reviews? Or do you have evidence that they, as a company, change reviews if you do/don't buy their ads?

tunap 10y ago

They claim ignorance of how their algo works, under oath in courts of law. The lawsuits and settlements have been mounting since 2010, AFAIK. Google yelp+lawsuit+algo.

ryuker16 10y ago

Anecdotal but I did reputation cleanup for a company. I never recalled any 'we'll remove low star reviews' offers from the Yelp sales team. My guess is some sales guys get desperate and the Yelp ad package was not cheap/scaleable like Google ads so they definitely had to dig. Incidentally removing low star reviews from some sites is easy(prove review violates TOS) .... I remember Yelp being strict on not doing so. If you want to see some real grade A con games....look up Groupon. Great idea, greedy as hell execution.