4 ms·

I see it differently: Yelp has built a platform that has a large audience. If you don't pay for certain things then you don't get visibility in their platform.

I see it differently: Yelp has built a platform that has a large audience. If you don't pay for certain things then you don't get visibility in their platform. Everyone from Google to Capterra does some version of the same thing. You can call it "shaking down" local businesses but no one is entitled to positive or even fair promotion on someone else's platform.

Skunkleton 7y ago
Ok, well then I suppose that you agree that I am free to spread false rumors about you, as long as I do it on a platform that is privately owned?
- askafriend 7y ago
  You can already spread false rumors about anyone or anything with your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. There's very little stopping you (within reason, of course).
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
    That sure sounds like potential defamation.
    - askafriend 7y ago
      Ha good luck suing for defamation for every random tweet and internet comment from a bunch of random nobodies. That's neither possible nor sustainable.
      - X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
        Oh you're right I guess this situation would only really apply to large identifiable entities, like maybe tech corporations that selectively surface and moderate reviews.
        Skunkleton 7y ago
        Yelp would _never_ do that. Far too moral.
- goatherders 7y ago
  Who said anything about false rumors?
save_ferris 7y ago
There are numerous accounts of businesses receiving calls from Yelp salespeople essentially telling them to buy an ad package or the negative reviews get prioritized. I agree that no one is entitled to positive promotion, but to argue that a massive platform that's established itself as the go-to place for consumer business reviews absolutely should be held to fair promotion. I can't believe that this an argument on HN. You're saying that if you had a small business with a Yelp profile and I found your identity and started posting false negative reviews on your business profile, you'd have no problem being called by a Yelp rep to pay money to make them go away?
- smallgovt 7y ago
  > There are numerous accounts of businesses receiving calls from Yelp salespeople essentially telling them to buy an ad package or the negative reviews get prioritized. Sure, there are numerous accounts (read:hearsay) but there's zero physical or hard evidence. After all this press, don't you think there'd be at least one recorded phone conversation or email that showed up in the numerous lawsuits' discovery processes? There is literally zero physical evidence corroborating Yelp account execs' extortive practices.
  - orangejuice101 7y ago
    Louis Rossmann disagrees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hhL15yJUnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hhL15yJUnI
    - save_ferris 7y ago
      This is exactly the video I was about to respond with
    - smallgovt 7y ago
      To summarize: - A Yelp account exec inappropriately shared another business's profile stats with Louis. - Louis reported this privacy violation to Yelp, and Yelp decided to fire the account exec. - The fired account exec blamed Louis for getting fired and subsequently got her friends to write negative reviews on Louis's Yelp page. That's not evidence that Yelp practices extortion.

Skunkleton 7y ago

Ok, well then I suppose that you agree that I am free to spread false rumors about you, as long as I do it on a platform that is privately owned?

askafriend 7y ago
You can already spread false rumors about anyone or anything with your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. There's very little stopping you (within reason, of course).
- X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
  That sure sounds like potential defamation.
  - askafriend 7y ago
    Ha good luck suing for defamation for every random tweet and internet comment from a bunch of random nobodies. That's neither possible nor sustainable.
    - X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
      Oh you're right I guess this situation would only really apply to large identifiable entities, like maybe tech corporations that selectively surface and moderate reviews.
      - Skunkleton 7y ago
        Yelp would _never_ do that. Far too moral.
goatherders 7y ago
Who said anything about false rumors?

save_ferris 7y ago

There are numerous accounts of businesses receiving calls from Yelp salespeople essentially telling them to buy an ad package or the negative reviews get prioritized. I agree that no one is entitled to positive promotion, but to argue that a massive platform that's established itself as the go-to place for consumer business reviews absolutely should be held to fair promotion. I can't believe that this an argument on HN. You're saying that if you had a small business with a Yelp profile and I found your identity and started posting false negative reviews on your business profile, you'd have no problem being called by a Yelp rep to pay money to make them go away?

smallgovt 7y ago
> There are numerous accounts of businesses receiving calls from Yelp salespeople essentially telling them to buy an ad package or the negative reviews get prioritized. Sure, there are numerous accounts (read:hearsay) but there's zero physical or hard evidence. After all this press, don't you think there'd be at least one recorded phone conversation or email that showed up in the numerous lawsuits' discovery processes? There is literally zero physical evidence corroborating Yelp account execs' extortive practices.
- orangejuice101 7y ago
  Louis Rossmann disagrees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hhL15yJUnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hhL15yJUnI
  - save_ferris 7y ago
    This is exactly the video I was about to respond with
  - smallgovt 7y ago
    To summarize: - A Yelp account exec inappropriately shared another business's profile stats with Louis. - Louis reported this privacy violation to Yelp, and Yelp decided to fire the account exec. - The fired account exec blamed Louis for getting fired and subsequently got her friends to write negative reviews on Louis's Yelp page. That's not evidence that Yelp practices extortion.