Filed Complaints

The following complaints have been filed.

With the FTC:

It is our understanding that the FTC requires a person or company who is paid to write reviews of a product or service be clearly designated so the public is aware (FTC 16 CFR Part 255).  Yelp! Inc., violates that ruling by:

1. Paying reviewers directly, and
2. Paying reviewers indirectly through parties and other incentives with paid-for entertainment, food, and liquor. 

Yelp does not designate in any way on their website that these reviewers are compensated by Yelp!.
We are a member of the "Coalition for Fair Reviews", which has a website at:  http://yelpscam.com.  This website provides detailed information regarding the practices of Yelp!, and we hereby request that the FTC begin an investigation of these charges.

With the California Attorney General:

Yelp!, Inc.  has caused and is causing significant damage to a number of California businesses, including my own.  We have formed a coalition comprising over 50 businesses to complain about and fight against Yelp's unfair business practices. 

This note is to give you an overview of the issues which we have detailed on a website at http://www.yelpscam.com which has been visited by thousands of people.  These people have largely found the website by typing "yelp scam" into Google, indicating that they think there is a problem with Yelp's business practices.  The coalition website itself details over 922 negative comments found on the web, and provides detailed source information.

At present a class action lawsuit has been filed alleging similar complaints against Yelp.  This lawsuit was not started by our group, but adds to the weight of evidence that Yelp's business practices are causing significant issues and are likely illegal.  The complaint was filed with the United States District Court, Central District of California; "Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital, inc., on behalf of itself And all others similarly situated, v. Yelp! Inc." and can be found on the web at http://yelpclassaction.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/yelp-cpt-final.pdf. 

We, the coalition, request that the California Attorney General's office begin an investigation into the business practices of Yelp.