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by exue
4454 days ago
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What I really want to know is, if the conspiracy about Yelp taking down reviews based on whether you pay for its premium services. I imagine this is most of the fight with FTC complaints. I've seen so many accusations, but no actual proof of a page losing its reviews, or even a recorded phone call with a rep (legal in most states, one of the exceptions being CA), just stories. I believe most negative reviews are legit and many businesses that complain about getting them are in denial. Aside about reviews: Everyone loves to hate on how Yelp is biased and reviewed by idiots, but for me it's been better than the alternatives, and the star ratings generally reflect quality (especially for places with 100+ reviews). I usually don't have the same tastes as professional critics, since they often have a far higher price range and pay attention to the professionality of a restaurant, and have their own biases away from the "plebeian" tastes. The sample size of a lot of Yelpers is usually pretty effective in finding good food. ZAGAT et al often also don't review small tea shops, food trucks, etc. |
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I told them it was not necessary for the success of their website, that the decision was up to them and they should not feel rushed into signing up for extra advertising since the site was just launched. I suggested they wait it out and see how much traffic they received.
They politely declined Yelp's services, and over the period of a month I saw a decline in their yelp ratings due to questionable reviews over very superficial stuff not indicative of overall service quality.
Idunno what to believe, but a couple colleagues know people with similar experiences. If Yelp is in the wrong here, I sincerely hope they are exposed and get the negative publicity they deserve.