Maybe you’ve  already heard of this issue, but I discovered it recently and wanted to share it with my readers. There are folks out there who are claiming that a popular online review site, Yelp, will take down negative reviews if small business owners pay them to. Seriously?!

Here are some of the articles that I’ve found regarding Yelp and small business owners who claim they are being told that in exchange for money, Yelp will reduce negative reviews of the business on their  website. While I haven’t had any personal experience with Yelp, I think small business owners should at least be aware of these allegations.

“Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0″
East Bay Express News
“Local business owners say Yelp offers to hide negative customer reviews of their businesses on its web site … for a price.”

BEWARE: Yelp.com is a fraud!
ScottWorldBlog.WordPress.com
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to call your attention to a very nefarious website called yelp.com, which you should avoid at all costs.”

CrossFit East Bay Rest Day 090223: Yelp Is A Scam
Cross Fit East Bay Website
“I can confirm that Yelp has been incredibly aggressive in trying to get me to advertise, and has removed six five-star reviews of CFEB after I declined to advertise.”

“Yelp ‘pay to play’ pitch makes shops scream for help”
The Register
“Over the last years, five San Francisco Bay Area businesses have told The Register that the company has offered to “push bad reviews to the bottom” of their Yelp pages if they paid to advertise on the site.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 8:16 am and is filed under the Spam & Scam Watch category. Read other Aldebaran Website Design Blog articles by returning to main blog page. Need a blog added to your website? Click here to read about blog installation services or click here to contact Aldebaran Web Design. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.