[a5seo]

Yelp's strategy could backfire. Now all a competitor has to do is put ads on Craigslist or Mturk begging for reviews for all of its competitors, knowing Yelp will see them and penalize them.

Yelp is going to find themselves boxed in on this. Google has already been down this road with links, and they've taken the stand that "no link can hurt you" because it's too easy for competitors to manipulate that.