Product

Find Gender-neutral Restrooms at 160,000+ Businesses on Yelp

Friday, June 23, 2017 • #Product, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Since launching our new gender-neutral restrooms attribute on Yelp in March, the feature has really taken off. There are now more than 160,000 businesses on Yelp that are marked as having gender-neutral restrooms. That’s one of the largest databases available for this information! A breakdown of the categories of business that have been marked as… Read more

News

Now Use Yelp to Find Gender-neutral Restrooms

Friday, March 3, 2017 • #News, #Product, #Impact

Today we’ve begun rolling out a new business attribute that helps users identify businesses that offer gender-neutral restrooms to patrons. What constitutes a gender-neutral restroom, you ask? Gender-neutral restrooms are accessible to persons of any gender and are a locking, single-stall bathroom. On desktop and mobile versions of Yelp, users will be able to see… Read more

News

Consumer Alerts: Zero Tolerance For Review Manipulation

Wednesday, February 1, 2017 • #News, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Today we’re releasing a new round of 90 Consumer Alerts to notify consumers of businesses that have attempted to mislead them. We already discourage businesses from asking their customers to write reviews because review solicitation programs tend to bias selectively toward positive reviewers. Our recommendation software works to sniff out these subtle biases, which will… Read more

Don’t Ask For Reviews: Why Yelp Does Not Recommend Solicited Reviews

News

Don’t Ask For Reviews: Why Yelp Does Not Recommend Solicited Reviews

Wednesday, January 18, 2017 • #Business Owners, #News, #Impact

It’s obvious why a review that is paid for or written in exchange for a discount or freebie may be biased: the reviewer might be willing to shower false praise on a business if they get something of monetary value in return. Yelp lets consumers know when we see this behavior with a Consumer Alert… Read more

News

New York Attorney General Goes After Misleading Businesses

Friday, December 2, 2016 • #News, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Today — in a continuation of its pioneering investigation a few years ago — the New York Attorney General announced settlements with two businesses that tried to mislead consumers, including through attempts to manipulate Yelp reviews. We applaud the NY AG for recognizing the harm these deceptive activities can cause and are proud that Yelp’s… Read more

News

Yelp Adds Restaurant Inspection Scores for Florida Businesses with HDScores

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 • #News, #Product, #Impact

At Yelp, we work hard to surface the most useful information to consumers while they’re in the process of making a spending decision. That’s why we launched the LIVES program (LIVES stands for Local Inspector Value Entry Specification) back in 2013. The LIVES open data standard makes it possible for local municipalities to display their… Read more

News

Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

Monday, July 25, 2016 • #News, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Since Yelp was founded in 2004, we’ve made it our business to help protect consumer free speech. Consumers have the right to share their opinions about their experiences with businesses, but there will always be a small handful of businesses who mistakenly think it’s a good idea to threaten consumers who exercise their free speech… Read more

News

Yelp Fights for Free Speech at the House of Representatives

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 • #News, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice is holding a hearing on the SPEAK FREE Act of 2015. This legislation will bolster our First Amendment protections, ensuring that honest speakers have a way to quickly and economically end meritless lawsuits that target them for what they’ve said online — on review… Read more

News

New York Attorney General Prosecutes Fake Reviews and Validates Yelp’s Own Efforts

Thursday, February 11, 2016 • #News, #Impact, #Consumer Advocacy

Today, the Office of the New York Attorney General announced that it took action against several businesses that tried to mislead consumers through paid, fake reviews, also known as astroturfing. We applaud these efforts, which further demonstrate that deceptive reviews are a form of false advertising and therefore subject to prosecution. These actions of the… Read more

News

Yelp Consumer Alerts: We Take the Guesswork out of Online Reviews

Monday, February 1, 2016 • #Official, #News, #Impact

For nearly twelve years, we at Yelp have been working around the clock to promote consumer trust. At the heart of this mission is the belief that consumers need access to reliable information before deciding where to spend their hard-earned money. Yelp’s Consumer Protection Initiative has produced a variety of programs that empower and protect… Read more