This could affect your business - BIG TIME

[Ronkh]

The internet`s all in a tizzy the past few days thanks to a Wednesday ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which said that review site Yelp could manipulate its ratings for money.

So, say a small diner makes a big ad buy on the site, those extra dollars could maybe boost the diner`s rating, thus potentially gaining it more customers. (This could be one way to explain the enduring popularity of the solidly mediocre Codmother Fish and Chips on Yelp`s Top 100 list for San Francisco, but of course it`s probably just that legions of Fisherman`s Wharf tourists love the place.)

Yelp still swears up and down that it totally doesn`t manipulate ratings, despite longtime accusations from business owners; it uses an automated process to surface restaurants and star ratings on the site yadda yadda yadda. And there is no hard evidence that it does engage in such behavior, either — all the court ruling said was say that such behavior wouldn`t be illegal if the review site decided to try it.

The ruling obviously sucks for small business owners as the company could essentially extort them out of their money for better reviews (though the court noted that this practice was just "at most, hard bargaining," which I guess it is, in the cold-hearted logic of capitalism).

But it is a reminder that Yelp is a massive, publicly traded corporation whose goal is to make money. Yelp is not a public service, as much as we treat it as such sometimes. It is not just like getting a recommendation from a friend, as much as it positions itself that way. We have no rational reason to believe that the company will be 100 percent fair about business ratings and placement just because it seems like the right thing to do.

Take your Yelp reviews with a grain of salt from now on, as you should have been doing all along.

[via SF Chronicle]


Yelp Now Has Court Permission to Change Business Ratings for Money. Don`t Forget It. | SFoodie | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly

[Migue]

So sketchy, ever since i heard from either from a pro detailer here or someplace else that their good reviews suddenly disappeared and rumors of Yelp manipulating these things, i don`t even trust that site and try to search someplace else for a review of a business.

[XxBoostinxX]

I just don`t use it. Never really enjoyed using their app. I rather look at how reputable a company is through their google business reviews.

[Setec Astronomy]

I don`t think this is any kind of news--advertising has always been about manipulation, from magazine ads that emulate the magazine`s copy style to appear to be editorial content rather than ads, to sponsored special sections, to hiring actors in commercials to pose as real users.

I even hear that internet forums sometimes have people posting and talking about products who actually work for companies with something to gain, how about that?? Or sites that sponsor product giveaways in exchange for reviews...how does that skew the reviews?

Doesn`t everybody take online reviews with a grain of salt, anyway? I was talking to a friend a few years ago, and made some sort of comment about "today, everything is about money" to which he replied "don`t kid yourself, it was ALWAYS about money". I mean really, these forums are about money, Facebook is about money, Yelp is about money. If there was any innocence in the beginning about the internet age, that`s long gone.

[heisenberg]

There is just no substitute for meeting and talking with someone vs reading reviews about them online.

Some of the best establishments I`ve ever been to had no internet presence whatsoever, but I heard about them from someone I knew and trusted.

[Ronkh]

Yes word of mouth is the best advertising.....

But the fact that a company can change ratings for $$$$, kinda sucks.

You can normally differentiate between a substantive review and someone with an agenda, so this kind of changes the game.

[Envious Eric]

Ive had it happen to me...some good reviews were removed when I told them I had no interest in advertising with them. Sucks, and then I see competition on there with more and more reviews everyday because they pay 800 bucks a month.

[Ronkh]

Ive had it happen to me...some good reviews were removed when I told them I had no interest in advertising with them. Sucks, and then I see competition on there with more and more reviews everyday because they pay 800 bucks a month.

My gf told me that was happening to her. She said good reviews were removed, and they keep calling her to advertise.

[Bunky]

I always take reviews with some skepticism. The first thing to notice if all the reviews are 5 stars for almost every product. Even the best products always have a few haters.

[Paul Mitchell]

My gf told me that was happening to her. She said good reviews were removed, and they keep calling her to advertise.

That should be considered a form of internet extortion.

[trashmanssd]

[Migue]

Straight up Yelp Mafia.