Yelp

[MerlaTurner]

I'm curious what people's experiences are with yelp: the good? the bad? the ugly?

Any ideas on how to use this growing customer review site for the better?

 

[Andrew Ward]

Personally I like Yelp and use it to find restaurants in metro areas - that is Yelp's sweet spot.

Things to think about:
1) You can't edit, moderate, remove or comment on reviews. They are posted immediately and they are permanent.
2) Customers can post their Yelp review to their person FB page. This is great if the review is positive.
3) You can use it free.
4) They get picked up by Google but their have been issues between Google and Yelp.
5) Yelp has proprietary filters to try to screen out fake reviews of which their are many which can cause reviews to disappear. They try to rate the reviewer which favors reviewers with many post.

 

[mbmotorsports]

Yelp doesn't want a business to ask their customers for reviews. They filter most of the reviews we get within a day or so. Looks like they do this on reviews that the reviewer has just joined yelp or hasn't reviewed other businesses. They don't consider them quality yelpers. We are still asking people to review in hopes that the reviews will come back one day.

Check out our yelp page. MB Motorsports - Tinton Falls, NJ it says we have 3 reviews but if u look under the 3rd review it says (16 Filtered). you can click on the link and enter a captcha to view the filtered reviews. Kind of a bummer because these are reviews from real customers who bought from us and are sharing their experience.

Come on YELP - were just a business trying to make a living doing things the right way!!!!

 

[Andrew Ward]

Yelp doesn't want a business to ask their customers for reviews. They filter most of the reviews we get within a day or so. Looks like they do this on reviews that the reviewer has just joined yelp or hasn't reviewed other businesses. They don't consider them quality yelpers. We are still asking people to review in hopes that the reviews will come back one day.

Jesse, You are correct about Yelp. A big problem with reviews sites is the volume of fake reviews since anyone with a free email address can participate. A VERY larger percentage of single reviews are fake so that is one of Yelp's filters. I have heard that a person needs to have over 10 reviews to be counted a quality yelper, but other factors influence that too.

 

[vehicle girl]

I know what you mean about the hidden reviews. you can see them by clicking the link in the bottom corner that says in grey: (2 filtered) or however many are filtered.

Then you might have to fill in a CAPTCHA or see a silly ad for something (seriously, it's one of the other and I dont know/care why.)

Anyway. then you can see the review. There's nothing stopping you from promoting that review yourself.

I like to take a screen shot of it and put it in a facebook album i call "reviews and awards"
Reviews & Awards | Facebook

I will also copy pasta the review and put it on the website, myself.
New and Used Mitsubishi Dealer in Walpole, MA

i know they are real customers, because i remember them. Just because yelp hides them, doesn't mean i cant find creative ways of showing them off!