User-generated review site Yelp is getting a bit of negative feedback of its own, as of late. According to CBS News, some business owners who have received less-than-glowing yelps on the 10 million-user strong site are unhappy about the company’s faux-open platform. Some point to their “Sponsorship Program,” a way for poorly-reviewed businesses to improve their presence on the site, as an example of Yelp’s unfair treatment of shop owners who can’t fork up the extra money to keep their Yelp profiles positive. According to one business owner, Selena Kellinger of Razzberry Lips (a makeover party planning company), the site responded to her dismay over her company’s negative reviews by asking her join the Sponsorship Program and open a business account - which, for $350 a month, means she has the option of placing a ‘favorite review’ at the top of the profile as well as add a photo slideshow and sponsored message. Mary Seaton, another disgruntled shop owner, reported:
…Yelp contacted us, and said, ‘We noticed that you had some negative reviews, and we would like to help you with that. … If you pay $350 a month’,” said Seaton.
So she paid for five months, a total of $1750. Seaton said some of her negative reviews were moved to the bottom. But, Seaton said, “All of a sudden some more negative reviews got posted, but there were no favorable or positive reviews.”
…Both Seaton and Kellinger said they have customers who posted favorable reviews that were taken down. But Yelp said they have proof that some of those favorable reviews are written by the business owners or their friends. “When we see that kind of suspicious activity taking place, we will move quickly to take action against it,” said Ichinose.
…But in fairness, you can “Yelp” Yelp. Kellinger did. “We posted a bad review about Yelp that they did this, but they removed that one,” said Kellinger.
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So here’s the problem, Yelp needs to generating revenue now. Obviously its a good idea but initially it was launched to aid the public with thinking much about making money. But making money becomes important after your funded about $30 million. We at Jippidy.com give local businesses a voice.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Yelp is having serious issues becoming profitable. At $350 month for sponsorship businesses are going to EXPECT Yelp to have a positive impact; but Yelp can’t guarantee that without compromising its entire people-power foundation. And businesses that have positive reviews already have no incentive to sponsor; Yelp’s already marketing them for free.
In the end you’ll have negatively reviewed businesses becoming short-term Yelp sponsors until, as above, they realize Yelp can’t turn public opinion around without compromising the site’s entire image. And Yelp will end up needing another round of funding (I think they’ve already had 4?). And who at that point will fund them, knowing their business model is hopeless? Yelp is on its last legs. They’ll have to get acquired soon.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
1) Yelp needs a better spokeperson that Stephanie Ichinose. On the CBS airing , she looked terrified and appeared to be reading Que Cards. Maybe this is her first job ?
2) The majority of people who frequent Yelp and write the majority of the reviews appear to be unemployed , uneducated
and people who wander malls with too much time on their hands
3) Yelp has strayed far away from being a review site.
Yelp is now a low life grafitti site , or the new “smokers corner” in high school.
It is a hang out for people to waste time.
Yelp encourages reviewers to trash people , places and things
4) The value of Yelp as a review site has evaporated.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Yelp is running at a disastrous burn rate and will be out of business by Q’1 2009.
I hear this first hand every day because the VC who funds Yelp also funds our company
(also a failure).
August 6th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
The official Yelp policy is that businesses who have purchased a Business Owner Account are allowed to remove one review of their choice for every 6 consecutive months of Business Owner Account membership.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Here is an example of how Yelp operates. Paid Yelpers communicate on a Yelp Topic Site ( http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-jose-yelp-being-bashed-on-cbs-5).
Two Yelpers who have never been in the establishment plot revenge because of the bad press brought to Yelp by establishment :
Linda “JuRae” L. says:
Oh yeah, I totally want ROTD now! aargh!
4 hours ago Jack “.” W. says:
wtf thats some fuct up shit yo fuck rasberry lips imma give them a 1 star
I looked up ROTD and it means :
ROTD Rage of the Dragons (game)
ROTD Requiem of the Dead (game)
ROTD Return of the Dragons (gaming, Warcraft III Campaign)
ROTD Review of the Day
August 11th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I can tell you the technique completely backfired. I am a native new yorker, and a business owner in New York. When Yelp came to the city, it sounded like a great idea, until I realized that their reviews were mostly being generated by very few people (some with thousands of reviews) and comments from San Francisco. After a little review myself I realized that the reviews that were written were often inaccurate, as they were the reflection of plagiarized comments from other sites, or total fabrications. I dropped my advertising in less than one billing cycle, and refuse to have anything to do with it. Jeremy Stoppleman and Geoff Donaker are the ones who are flat out misrepresenting the situation, I can attest to that. And not in secondary markets. I made writeen and verbal complaints to staffers in New York and San Francisco. For fun, look up Sam Perwin and Nish N - they generated 50% of the new york content a few months ago.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:09 am