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February 24, 2009
Unappetizing: Yelp Tampers with Online Restaurant Reviews?
By Marian Short
California based newspaper East Bay Express broke the story of allegedly fraudulent practices of Yelp.com, a popular online restaurant review site covering the San Francisco area. Several restaurateurs speaking on condition of anonymity said Yelp sales reps regularly called to inform them about negative reviews readers had posted. What could be done about them?
Well, offered one representative, “We can move them…for $299 a month." Other businesses have reported positive reviews disappearing, - or negative ones appearing - on their restaurant page, after having declined Yelp’s offer to move reviews. East Bay Express reported that several businesses likened Yelp to the mafia.
Yelp officials denied any wrongdoing, though allegations have arisen frequently enough for them to address the situation on their FAQ page. As always, (potentially) bad behavior makes for a juicy story… this item has been dugg over 1,500 times. Read more.
Posted by staff at February 24, 2009 11:27 AM
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