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How does Yelp keep escaping charges of extortion? Secret shills? Cowardly censorship? Pieces of the story get told, but somehow the whole story isn't out. And the pieces that have come out have slid off Yelp's back as if it were greased and slimy. Let's see the whole story! Let's see regulatory and legal action! Let's see the CEO get sacked! Press writers: please email us for an interview at yelpscam@yelpscam.com. |
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Choice Quote |
Our Take |
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Winstron & Strawn, LLP Manipulation Of Online Reviews May Defeat CDA Immunity |
...the court indicated that the Communications Decency Act (CDA) would not preclude liability stemming from Yelp's allegedly deliberate manipulation of customer reviews | The key issue is proving damages - and Yelp may not have protection! |
Yelp is Evil - SF Chronicle Newspaper Ad |
We often hear local small business owners lamenting their presence on Yelp – and the strongarm tactics that some describe hearing from Yelp salespeople. | You said it! |
S.F. review site Yelp under fire in merchants' lawsuits |
...at least three lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed against the site by a dozen companies... | Regulatory and legal action is needed to fix the Yelp issues. |
Review Site Yelp Under Fire in Business' Lawsuits |
...exactly what happened may never be clear. And regardless of what happens in court, the lawsuits could taint Yelp's reputation as a leader in online reviews. | ...It's about time. |
Business owners say Yelp extorts ad dollars |
Yelp Inc.'s legal challenges continue to pile up, with a San Francisco business filing the third class-action complaint in recent weeks and nine additional firms joining an earlier lawsuit | Great comments by both positive and negative reviewers! |
Yelp's Legal Troubles Mount |
...two days after he refused to pay "at least $300 a month" for advertising, six of seven 5-star reviews vanished from the site | A great example of how the Yelp model hurts business - with proof. |
Yelp's image tarnished by extortion claims |
...it would be a huge blow to Yelp's brand and valuation," said Ray Valdes, a Gartner Inc. analyst | We agree, "it would be stupid on Yelp management's part". Would, and is. |
Yelp Disputes Extortion Story |
Asks readers, "Have you gotten underhanded ad-sales pitches?" | 86% of respondents say YES, they have gotten underhanded sales pitches. |
Chicago Proprietors add to Yelp Allegations |
...a Yelp Chicago staffer walked into her Gold Coast shop and “guaranteed us good reviews on the site if we catered one of their parties for free.” | Where there's smoke... |
Yelp Should Review Its Disclosure Efforts |
But is Yelp also a shakedown racket for merchants? | That's our question, too! |
| The Reg can confirm, however, that multiple sales reps have made the offer to multiple businesses, and some pitches occurred in recent months, well after our initial interview with Stoppelman. | Investigative reporting with evidence. Stoppelman must go. | |
 Web Site's Advertising Practices Criticized |
"What they offered to do was to move the more positive reviews toward the top," Spencer said. "You could move more than one review to the top. You pretty much got your pick of anything you wanted to move." |
Gee, Mr. Stoppelman. Why are so many people saying you are a liar? |
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Kellinger said Yelp told her they would move the negative posting to the bottom of her page. Kellinger refused to pay. "I felt like that was really unfair, and that they were holding me hostage," said Kellinger. | It's painful to see what Yelp is doing to business owners...watch the video. People call this extortion. |
Follow up: Business Owners Raise More Complaints About Yelp,
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"I think that the money aspect starts to creep into what I would at least call perhaps not fair…" said Core Cheshire of the UC Berkeley School of Information. "That ...effects how people come to trust or not trust the information or the people who are supplying the information." | Another 25 negative comments on the Topix site based on the CBS article. |
| Of the 10 San Francisco sponsor business we called, each of which pay that monthly fee, only one was willing to comment on their experience with Yelp’s advertising policies and telemarketers | Sound like Mafia extortion victims? Don't talk or we'll... |
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A Problem with Pitch |
"If you went with them, then you could put your favorite reviews on top," Easley said. "Now that I know that people can pay to switch things around, I'll go to the bottom to read reviews." |
If this is a misinterpretation, it's a very widely held one, so the sales process is flawed. So the product must be hard to sell. So the CEO is flawed. |
| [Comment] The clash between business owners and yelp is based on business ethics, not technology | Many more well-reasoned, impassioned negative comments, and links to a great response by the author, Chris O'Brien: |
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| Yelp recruits paid "marketing assistants"... The marketing assistants are also encouraged to write reviews | Proof that there are paid, secret shills on the Yelp site. They also get compensated at free parties. | |
| Shaking down small businesses isn't just for Yelp's adverting sales team any more | People call this extortion. | |
Yelp.com's Ethics Questioned |
...the sites' own transparency is often questionable... | Yelp is as transparent as mud. Oozing mud. |
(c) 2009-2011 by The Coalition for Fair Reviews. Requoting Freely Allowed with attribution and link back to YelpScam.com