4 ms·

Good riddance to an exploitative business.

by 23B1 7y ago

stri8ed 7y ago
Please explain.
- orky56 7y ago
  Yelp is accused of predatory practices on business owners including pushing them to sign up for a paid subscription to hide negative reviews on their Yelp page. Otherwise, you are vulnerable to their algorithm which hides/shows reviews that are often less than favorable. Yelp reviews are now overtaking business' own pages on Google searches leaving businesses with less option to control, let alone, curate their brand's messaging.
  - luckylion 7y ago
    They're not just hiding negative reviews if you pay, they are hiding legitimate positive reviews if you don't. It's simply the online equivalent of the mob asking for protection money.
    - ViViDboarder 7y ago
      If you’re so inclined, you can look up your local Denny’s for proof of the opposite. They are a big time advertiser with pretty poor reviews on average.
    - jdross 7y ago
      This just is not true. I have worked with a number of companies that have tried to pay Yelp to unhide their legitimate, positive reviews and there was nothing Yelp would do about it, no matter what proof you offered of the transaction or customer relationship. Their algorithm rules all, sales has zero say in it.
    - timr 7y ago
      They're not doing either. I worked there, on the systems in question.
  - dntrkv 7y ago
    Is there any evidence of this actually happening?
    - starpilot 7y ago
      Numerous credible reports from business owners, and numerous denials from Yelp. I don't really know who to believe.
      - smallgovt 7y ago
        I would hardly call them credible reports. It's easy to see how business owners could draw false inferences when they receive a Yelp sales call and coincidentally get a negative review shortly after. Honestly, I thought this was long since debunked. There is no physical evidence of Yelp sales execs extorting small businesses.
    - trevor-e 7y ago
      My friends who own or help run local small businesses have told me it happened to them, so I believe my friends. Of course, it's not explicit extortion like "pay us $500 a month or else", so there's no hard evidence for anything. Instead, magically not too long after they refuse a cold-call sales pitch, they have a bunch of bad/fraudulent reviews surface to the top of their Yelp page and then get another sales call later on.
    - smallgovt 7y ago
      Simply put, no. No evidence other than hearsay. And this, after countless lawsuits.
- rimlicker 7y ago
  No need to repeat what is already spoken. YouTube ROSSMAN YELP for more information.
  - rimlicker 7y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1Ca69zlSMSmie https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1...
- biggc 7y ago
  The hiding of positive and negative reviews if you don't/do pay is hard to prove, but one thing incredibly shady thing that Yelp does and is proud of is: They will prominently display ads containing positive reviews for competitors on a business's page unless that business pays Yelp.
- microtherion 7y ago
  In addition to other things mentioned in this threat, Yelp recently set up unsolicited GoFundMes for restaurants, and while their intent may not have been sinister, restaurant owners were NOT fond of the move: https://www.eater.com/2020/3/27/21196593/yelp-gofundme-automatic-fundraisers-restaurants-coronavirus-covid-19 https://www.eater.com/2020/3/27/21196593/yelp-gofundme-autom...

Good riddance to an exploitative business.

by 23B1 7y ago

Good riddance to an exploitative business.

stri8ed 7y ago

Please explain.

orky56 7y ago
Yelp is accused of predatory practices on business owners including pushing them to sign up for a paid subscription to hide negative reviews on their Yelp page. Otherwise, you are vulnerable to their algorithm which hides/shows reviews that are often less than favorable. Yelp reviews are now overtaking business' own pages on Google searches leaving businesses with less option to control, let alone, curate their brand's messaging.
- luckylion 7y ago
  They're not just hiding negative reviews if you pay, they are hiding legitimate positive reviews if you don't. It's simply the online equivalent of the mob asking for protection money.
  - ViViDboarder 7y ago
    If you’re so inclined, you can look up your local Denny’s for proof of the opposite. They are a big time advertiser with pretty poor reviews on average.
  - jdross 7y ago
    This just is not true. I have worked with a number of companies that have tried to pay Yelp to unhide their legitimate, positive reviews and there was nothing Yelp would do about it, no matter what proof you offered of the transaction or customer relationship. Their algorithm rules all, sales has zero say in it.
  - timr 7y ago
    They're not doing either. I worked there, on the systems in question.
- dntrkv 7y ago
  Is there any evidence of this actually happening?
  - starpilot 7y ago
    Numerous credible reports from business owners, and numerous denials from Yelp. I don't really know who to believe.
    - smallgovt 7y ago
      I would hardly call them credible reports. It's easy to see how business owners could draw false inferences when they receive a Yelp sales call and coincidentally get a negative review shortly after. Honestly, I thought this was long since debunked. There is no physical evidence of Yelp sales execs extorting small businesses.
  - trevor-e 7y ago
    My friends who own or help run local small businesses have told me it happened to them, so I believe my friends. Of course, it's not explicit extortion like "pay us $500 a month or else", so there's no hard evidence for anything. Instead, magically not too long after they refuse a cold-call sales pitch, they have a bunch of bad/fraudulent reviews surface to the top of their Yelp page and then get another sales call later on.
  - smallgovt 7y ago
    Simply put, no. No evidence other than hearsay. And this, after countless lawsuits.
rimlicker 7y ago
No need to repeat what is already spoken. YouTube ROSSMAN YELP for more information.
- rimlicker 7y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1Ca69zlSMSmie https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2luXUhlA1bO1...
biggc 7y ago
The hiding of positive and negative reviews if you don't/do pay is hard to prove, but one thing incredibly shady thing that Yelp does and is proud of is: They will prominently display ads containing positive reviews for competitors on a business's page unless that business pays Yelp.
microtherion 7y ago
In addition to other things mentioned in this threat, Yelp recently set up unsolicited GoFundMes for restaurants, and while their intent may not have been sinister, restaurant owners were NOT fond of the move: https://www.eater.com/2020/3/27/21196593/yelp-gofundme-automatic-fundraisers-restaurants-coronavirus-covid-19 https://www.eater.com/2020/3/27/21196593/yelp-gofundme-autom...