[bkbleikamp]

It's not worth mentioning. Almost every case has been a coincidence and they've gone out of their way to explain the review filter (which functions similarly to Google's PageRank algorithm and attempts to filter out spammy reviews using various factors).

Each court case related to this has been thrown out.

If you trust Google to be fair with PageRank then there hasn't been any evidence that should make you more concerned about Yelp.

Business owners complain about getting demoted in Google's PageRank algorithm quite a bit, too.

[mistermann]

I'm very suspicious of your review of Yelp.

> Business owners complain about getting demoted in Google's PageRank algorithm quite a bit, too.

Google rankings fluctuate over time, but it is never the result of a direct targeting of an individual company or URL by google, whereas there is ample evidence that Yelp directly targets individual businesses depending on whether or not they are paying customers.

[twoodfin]

> ...whereas there is ample evidence that Yelp directly targets individual businesses depending on whether or not they are paying customers.

Can you link to any of this "ample evidence"? Preferably not just allegations from business owners who don't like their reviews.

[chris_wot]

Not sure if there s ample evidence, but there is something very fishy going on with the reviews the article has pointed out. I won't be using Yelp!

[bkbleikamp]

Citing ample evidence without links to it. Amazing.

Yelp's filtered reviews fluctuate as well. Reviews that are filtered can be unfiltered if the system decides the reviews aren't actually spam.

[mikeash]

I don't recall ever hearing people receiving calls from Google salespeople who imply that a failure to buy advertising on Google may result in a reduction in PageRank, or that purchasing advertising may restore it.