Comments on: Why I don’t trust Yelp

By: Jenna

Jenna — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:26:38 +0000

I have submitted 6 reviews on Yelp over the course of the year, and all but 1 has been suppressed. Most of them were positive and only one business was rated a 1-star. I don’t care to go into the minutiae of Yelp’s filtering system,so I don’t care why my reviews were suppressed. I am more concerned that Yelp is engaging in deceptive practices by encouraging people to submit reviews, which take a lot of time and effort to put together. And now, Yelp is planning an IPO to cash in on the (uncompensated) efforts of its “reviewers”. I am through providing free labor to Yelp. It has no credibility. I also suggest going to alternative websites which publish ALL submitted reviews.

By: Estella

Estella — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:30:41 +0000

Hi folks.
I was a new Yelp user too. My first post on a dining experience was removed after two days (and two useful ratings by yelp users). I suggest visiting alternative websites to Yelp to get your message heard.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/
http://www.chowhound.chow.com
http://www.tripadvisor.com

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:04:31 +0000

Yeah. I just discovered my reviews both positive and nagative are not showing. What is the point in wasting my time on this site when I can post a review on another site or a blog and see it. I’ll never go on Yelp again. What a great idea I thought Yelp was, but once again, idiots prevail. If someone is going to take the time to write a review, then most of the time there is a good reason for it.Most people have better things to do with their time. I will not waste anymore of mine on Yelp.

By: Latch S.

Latch S. — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:20:25 +0000

It is true. Yelp is not honest! I had bad experience with Japanese Beetle Inc. They ripped me off $440 for a regular car checkup. I posted 1 star review which was filtered it wasn’t included in the ratings.
I went to this place, because of great reviews in the first place. Thus Yelp collaborated in this scam!

What significance it makes how many reviews one already wrote? If the review is FACTUAL and not purely perception – it is genuine in my book. I can’t care less about professional pitchers who wrote 1000 reviews. Yelp MUST go!

By: Trina L.

Trina L. — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:23:37 +0000

I have the same problem with Yelp. My review only appears when I am logged in. If I am not logged in it does not appear. This is very shady? Why is Yelp trying to fool me into thinking my review has been posted? I suspect that they are getting a payoff from the company (ie. sponsorship or advertising).

I don’t trust Yelp, and I won’t be using it in the future.

By: FFMom

FFMom — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:31:27 +0000

Same thing – my posts only appear when I am logged on – I don’t only post bad reviews either – gave a glowing review of a restaurant in Auburn, NY and unfortunately it’s not in the “public” view – what a joke yelp is! I won’t be using it for my research of businesses any more now that I realize how slighted the information!

By: Rhonda D.

Rhonda D. — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:54:11 +0000

…I am afraid Yelp has no credability as far as I am concerned – They are essentailly the “Fox News” of web review sites.

I have also had Yelp reviews totally deleted, and others that disappear unless I am logged in.

The reason I love sites like apartment.ratings dot com, among others, is that I can see negative as well as positive reviews, and I can BE THE JUDGE of the integrity of the reviewer. I do not need my reviews to be pre-digested for me.

And, of course, I am suspicious of any business that has 100% positive reviews – my goodness, it must be run by Nother Theresa!

Goodbye, Yelp.

By: Deanna

Deanna — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:10:42 +0000

I submitted a positive yelp review about about a salon I had recently visited. Yelp said it posted my review and it only shows the review if Im logged. I think its shady that yelp only posts what reviews they like. I thought that this was freedom of speech. A lot of people that I have spoken to have had the same problem with YELP…Shady

By: sneaker

sneaker — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:48:59 +0000

@Jeremy, Yelp CEO: Jeremy, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to respond to my post. I appreciate your well worded response and acknowledge the danger to business owners from fake reviews.

I guess this brings up the issue of identity and credibility. Even though I posted the review using my real name and identity, there is presently no good way for Yelp to be able to know that and use that in its algorithm. I think that is an area that is ripe for innovation — both in establishing an authority for identity (at one point Network Solutions/Verisign used to hand out certificates for individuals, perhaps they still do) and for the ranking algorithms that get used once there is good identity/credibility data.

I am not a fan of anonymous review sites either, and I believe that if one has something to say, then they should also have the gumption to stand behind it. And if necessary, the humility to acknowledge when you’re wrong. So I will be the first to acknowledge that I was wrong in doubting Yelp, and your response has gone far in restoring Yelp’s credibility for me.

I guess now it’s my turn to establish my credibility on Yelp by posting more reviews

By: Jeremy, Yelp CEO

Jeremy, Yelp CEO — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:07:30 +0000

Thanks for the thoughtful post. The reason your review is not shown on the business page publicly is (for better or worse) our best attempt to make sure that the reviews on this businesses page reflect objective, unbiased, consumer opinions.

We decided early on that Yelp wasn’t going to be another anonymous review site where everyone is given credibility whether they’ve earned it or not. We created an automated system that decides how much trust to instill in a particular reviewer. If the reviewer isn’t involved with Yelp it’s awful hard for our software to have much confidence in the reviewer and so it may not show that review (as is the case here).

While this is may seem unfair to you it’s a great relief to a business owner that is targeted by a competitor with a fake review. Or to a consumer who may be tempted to trust a fake review written by a business. It’s worth mentioning your review is always in your personal profile which is still publicly posted and therefore publicly visible.

Happy to discuss further, feel free to ping me at jeremy.yelp.com . Figuring out how to communicate and solve these tricky spam issues is a priority for me and Yelp.