Why Yelp should Seriously Eat S*^&% and Die

[Daniel J. Mondello]

Doug, This 20/20 news story is from Nov 2010 and only happened at the LA BBB. That was 1 out of 116 BBB offices around the nation. The BBB has taken some corrective measures including firing the CEO, and all of the LA BBB Staff. They have replaced the entire BBB in LA.. This does not represent how other BBB's around the nation conduct business. The BBB is just like any employer in America and can hire bad employees who don't follow policy! So please don't paint the BBB with this wide brush! This story was extremely sensationalized to begin with. The BBB does not give special treatment to celebs like Wolfgang Puck, he can respond to his complaints just like anyone else. I encourage you to step foot in a BBB office and learn more about their organization.. They do a bunch of great work protecting and educating the public on scams. Many of the BBB's around the nation work hand and hand with the Gov. to prevent scams.

This guy drank too much of "the kool aid"...

 

[CARBIZ]

This subject is very dear to my heart. We have focused on csi and online reputation for the past 5 years and have excelled and had great success. We have won Dealerrater used car DOTY nationally in 12 and the state award for 13 and 14 and our only online prescence that we struggle with is none other than "yelp.com". My main gripe is that they consistently filter out 95% of our positive reviews, leaving behind only the negatives. We also fell victim to paying them 300/month in hopes that they would not filter out authentic positive reviews. That did not happen.

One thing about their algorithm that unsettles me is that they claim to filter out reviews from people that have never reviewed any other business prior. Sounds reasonable, except for they filter out those positive one like that and have left negatives that fit that profile. They also have filtered out positive reviews from "yelpers" that have reviewed many different businesses. Can't win.

On a side note... my heart did sink a little a few years ago when I realized that Apple started using yelp for their map app.

 

[Daniel J. Mondello]

This subject is very dear to my heart. We have focused on csi and online reputation for the past 5 years and have excelled and had great success. We have won Dealerrater used car DOTY nationally in 12 and the state award for 13 and 14 and our only online prescence that we struggle with is none other than "yelp.com". My main gripe is that they consistently filter out 95% of our positive reviews, leaving behind only the negatives. We also fell victim to paying them 300/month in hopes that they would not filter out authentic positive reviews. That did not happen.

One thing about their algorithm that unsettles me is that they claim to filter out reviews from people that have never reviewed any other business prior. Sounds reasonable, except for they filter out those positive one like that and have left negatives that fit that profile. They also have filtered out positive reviews from "yelpers" that have reviewed many different businesses. Can't win.

On a side note... my heart did sink a little a few years ago when I realized that Apple started using yelp for their map app.

I think Reviews are a good thing as well. Our Mazda store won Dealer of the Year in Massachusetts in 2012 (dealer rater) and we were very pleased. We also have very high marks on google + local across the board which isn't an easy accomplishment given that each of our stores is the brand sales volume leader in our Marketplace. It's Hard to Please/ Win em all right?

Any time someone writes us a negative review on DealerRater, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc we do our very best to address the issue head on and make every effort to satisfy the customer. Yelp doesn't play fair. We have no way of knowing who is accusing us (could be disgruntled ex-employees, actual customers, people who just hate dealerships etc) which leaves us helpless to resolve the problem through research or face our accusers. Read this story --> Court Orders Yelp To Identify Anonymous Reviewers | WebProNews.

Also worth mention, we have a very diverse workforce here and Yelp doesn't filter out racially intolerant posts, slurs, and just blatant obscenities.

Yelp is a bad thing for businesses and consumers alike.

 

[yagoparamo]

We also fell victim to paying them 300/month in hopes that they would not filter out authentic positive reviews. That did not happen.

At least we k now one thing now:

"Is not about money, Yelp is just simply a car biz hater."

Dealers should ask geek-ungry-looking people where they work and if they say Yelp just don't sell them a car. Make them drive mopeds.

 

[Glenn Jimerson]

Daniel, have you set up a business owners account over at Yelp? https://biz.yelp.com/. You should be able to claim all your rooftops using that single login. If they are already claimed, you can contact their support which isn't fast but it is free and go through the hoops of getting access to an already verified account.

There are a lot of people very unhappy with the filtering and rightfully so. I believe that Yelp has an incentive to not mess with the filtering for two reasons:

1. They got spanked a few years ago when their sales people were promising better rankings in exchange for paying for ad packages
2. They need to keep it honest because once people know the fix is in, their business is dead. It's the same reason casinos don't cheat.

Is there Yelp manipulation going on outside of Yelp? Yes. I've seen it first hand. My most recent article is about review site manipulation: Increase Yelp Ratings The Black Hat Way - Snake Oil Social Media

 

[Daniel J. Mondello]

Daniel, have you set up a business owners account over at Yelp? https://biz.yelp.com/. You should be able to claim all your rooftops using that single login. If they are already claimed, you can contact their support which isn't fast but it is free and go through the hoops of getting access to an already verified account.

There are a lot of people very unhappy with the filtering and rightfully so. I believe that Yelp has an incentive to not mess with the filtering for two reasons:

1. They got spanked a few years ago when their sales people were promising better rankings in exchange for paying for ad packages
2. They need to keep it honest because once people know the fix is in, their business is dead. It's the same reason casinos don't cheat.

Is there Yelp manipulation going on outside of Yelp? Yes. I've seen it first hand. My most recent article is about review site manipulation: Increase Yelp Ratings The Black Hat Way - Snake Oil Social Media

That was the first thing that we tried... because we are a multi-rooftop business Yelp will not allow us to claim all listings. They will however let us pay to claim them. So Free it is not!

 

[Glenn Jimerson]

That was the first thing that we tried... because we are a multi-rooftop business Yelp will not allow us to claim all listings. They will however let us pay to claim them. So Free it is not!

Ok. Rage justified. Would they allow you to do it if you registered an individual account for each? Then, once registered, try to migrate them into a single account.

Edit: I just saw this today. Thought you might find it noteworthy http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/06/tr...artners-with-yelp-to-verify-business-numbers/

 

[Bill Simmons]

Yahoo to the Yelp rescue. Maybe? Seems like an odd combination.

Yahoo teams with Yelp on local search, says report

Yahoo's search results will feature Yelp listings and reviews "in the coming weeks," The Wall Street Journal reports, citing an inside source

Yahoo teams with Yelp on local search, says report | Internet & Media - CNET News

 

[Gerald]

I too detest Yelp. I have driven dozens of potential customers TO them via emails asking for a review there or at another sight. We all know how these new reviews will become filtered quickly. I wrote a note to them suggesting rather than castigating the review, why not ENGAGE them and ask them to review their other favorite haunts? I think we all know the answer to that- there is no money in that stoopid approach. Silly me.

Tried another tact- I have locked them out of a website using legal channels. Now I AM IN CONTROL of who can can't refer to my url.

 

[Daniel J. Mondello]

UPDATE: Although I'll never be a true fan of Yelp, Matt P. over at Yelp was able to help us square up our listing and show correct numbers to our customers. I guess it just goes to show that even if the company sucks you can still find reasonable people in these companies who are willing to do what is right for both the business and more importantly the consumer. Still hate Yelp. But Matt P, You're ok in my book bro!