Consumer Alerts: We Don’t Tolerate Review Manipulation
Yelp launched its Consumer Alerts program nearly three years ago to catch people who might be trying to manipulate ratings and reviews. Today, we’re activating a new round of 51 alerts. Yelp has a team of investigators who scour the site, infiltrate message boards and classified ads, and research tips from our community of users… Read more
Freedom of Speech Deserves Better Federal Protection
Businesses and powerful interest groups routinely threaten the rights of consumers who speak out on matters of public interest on sites like Yelp. Many of them try to pervert the legal system with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and bogus non-disparagement clauses in an effort to silence their critics. In the United States, Yelpers enjoy… Read more
Yelp Consumer Alerts: Shady Business Tactics? Not on Our Watch
Yelp began its Consumer Alerts program in October of 2012 to help consumers make more informed spending decisions. Our team of detectives is on a mission to catch businesses which may be trying to mislead consumers. We place a clear warning on the front of the offending business’ Yelp page, and link to relevant evidence…. Read more
Yelp Consumer Alerts: Helping You Make Educated Spending Decisions
Yelp goes to extraordinary lengths in an effort to protect consumers from fake reviews. Our recommendation software is at the center of our operations, highlighting only those reviews that we think are going to be most helpful and reliable for consumers. In addition, we employ a team of investigators who track down the most egregious… Read more
Attempts to Mislead Consumers? Not On Our Watch!
We have just issued a new round of Consumer Alerts that let people know when we’ve caught a business trying to artificially inflate Yelp reviews. The reason so many people use Yelp is because of the lengths we go to showcase the most helpful and reliable consumer reviews among the millions that we receive. Our… Read more
Yelp Consumer Alerts: We Weren’t Fooled, but Thought You Should Know
As a consumer, would you want to know if someone was trying to mislead you? We know we would. This is exactly why we introduced our Consumer Alerts program back in 2012: to warn people when we see brazen attempts to manipulate ratings and reviews – either by purchasing or incentivizing people for positive reviews… Read more
An Open Letter to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer
Dear Governor Brewer: I write to express my concern about SB 1062 and to respectfully request that you veto this legislation. At the heart of Yelp’s mission is giving consumers the ability to find great local businesses. Protecting the consumer has been – and will continue to be – our main priority. I believe that… Read more
You Have the Right to Express Your Opinion Online
Because of the First Amendment, it is rare that we hear about consumers being sued for exercising their right to free speech — even with nearly 50 million reviews contributed to-date. That's probably why there's been a fair amount of media attention surrounding a couple of recent cases in Virginia. But despite this press hype,… Read more
Protecting Consumer Free Speech in Virginia: A Fight We’ll Continue
Earlier this week, the Virginia Court of Appeals announced a ruling that sets Virginia apart from other states when it comes to free speech rights for consumers. In this case, the owner of a Virginia carpet cleaning business argued that because he could not find in his customer database the screen names of some… Read more
Los Angeles County Restaurant Hygiene Grades Now on Yelp
Earlier this year, at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., Yelp announced an open data project with the City of San Francisco: bringing restaurant hygiene scores onto Yelp business listings. Soon thereafter, Louisville, Kentucky — a model city for embracing open data standards — signed up, followed by Wake County (Raleigh), North… Read more