2arrs, 2ells - Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0

25th February 2009

Link reblogged from dromosphere with 6 notes

Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0 →

2arrs2ells:

givemesomethingtoread:

Local business owners say Yelp offers to hide negative customer reviews of their businesses on its web site … for a price.

I’m not sure what to make of this. Something is definitely sketchy - six sources seem to agree that ad reps have promised to make negative reviews disappear. But the evidence that this actually happens (and the other claims - like the one that ad reps themselves give a business negative reviews before calling them) seem anecdotal and not well-established. The writer also lost a lot of credibility in my eyes with some sensationalist descriptions of very non-sensational things.

So is it some rogue sales people over-promising (and likely under-delivering), or is Yelp a sketchy, evil corporation?

A related thing I’ve found annoying: I feel like the prices listed on Yelp/Menupages are basically ALWAYS substantially lower than the restaurant. It’d be nice if those sites held the restaurants more accountable for updating their menus, etc.

Surprise, surprise… it looks like the East Bay Express was up to some shoddy journalism.

Source: givemesomethingtoread