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jsr

(7,712 posts) Sat Apr 20, 2013, 01:36 PM Apr 2013

Turning a critical eye on Yelp (LAT)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-yelp-20130420,0,1409488.column

Turning a critical eye on Yelp
Crowd-sourced reviews may seem like a trustworthy guide to the unknown. But whose opinions are deemed worthy?
Sandy Banks
April 20, 2013

I spotted the restaurant while on a stroll near my daughter's San Francisco apartment. The menu looked good, the prices were right. I decided to check its reviews online.

Then I saw the sign on the window of Bai Thong Thai: "Stop the Bully. Boycott Yelp."

Yelp is my go-to guide to the unknown. Like millions of other folks, I use the site to get the low-down on restaurants, nail salons, auto repair shops.

Bai Thong was a "3" on a 5-star scale, according to 88 Yelp reviews.

3 replies

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Turning a critical eye on Yelp (LAT) (Original Post) jsr Apr 2013 OP

Anybody can say anything on Yelp and the internet. A bad review means zero to me. kestrel91316 Apr 2013 #1

I know what you mean about veterinarians... bbernardini Apr 2013 #2

Yelp hid my positive review of an auto repair shop for unspcified reasons. SunSeeker Apr 2013 #3

kestrel91316

(51,666 posts)

1. Anybody can say anything on Yelp and the internet. A bad review means zero to me.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Sat Apr 20, 2013, 01:46 PM

Apr 2013

I could spend the day writing bad reviews about restaurants I have never even set foot in. And I could spend the day writing endless bad reviews about a single restaurant under different names. People DO these things, for good reasons, bad reasons, and just because they can.

Miscreants have attacked veterinarians, too. And physicians. And we have no recourse, since they are anonymous.

bbernardini

(9,937 posts)

2. I know what you mean about veterinarians...

Reply to kestrel91316 (Reply #1)

Sat Apr 20, 2013, 02:14 PM

Apr 2013

We've been bringing our cats to the same vet for 14 years, and think she's absolutely wonderful. Yet we see reviews of her popping up online clearly written by, as you said, miscreants who a) clearly have nothing better to do, and b) expect a visit to a facility designed to care for animals that crap in a box to be just like going to a doctor for humans.

SunSeeker

(51,508 posts)

3. Yelp hid my positive review of an auto repair shop for unspcified reasons.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Sat Apr 20, 2013, 08:50 PM

Apr 2013

Yet it showed a really unfair bad review for the shop. The owner told me Yelp approached him and said if he paid a monthly fee (I seem to recall him saying it was around $400 a month) the positive reviews would all show up. Seems like Yelp is a shake-down scam targeted at small businesses.

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