The Truth About Yelp
Yelp is NOT an unbiased source for business reviews
Yelp "filters" positive reviews if you do not pay them.
Yelp manipulates how a business is seen by the public, favoring paying businesses.
Yelp uses extortion and unscrupulous sales practices to generate revenue for themselves.
Class action lawsuits against Yelp are pending
By Noha Aboelata, MD
Medical Director and Owner of Isis Skin & Body
I used to love checking out Yelp to hear what other consumers had to say about a business I might be considering patronizing. But now that I am intimately familiar with Yelp's business practices, I can no longer trust what I read on Yelp, so I am back to the Google search, relying on the word of mouth of people I trust, and my own due diligence.
How it All Started
First, I had some happy clients tell me that they submitted reviews to Yelp on our behalf. Great! But when I went to check it out, the reviews were not there! It was the thought that counted, I figured, and I certainly wasn't going to bother the clients about it, so I left it alone...
At some point a Yelp salesperson called me to see if I was interested in being a "featured" business. Since I had them on the phone, I inquired about the mysterious disappearance of our reviews. They gave me a somewhat vague response, saying that they had a "computer program" that decided which reviews were worthy of staying up. They said that it may be the client who removed the review, or it may have been the "computer program" that automatically removed them. They apologized for any inconvenience, saying that they were just trying to protect the "integrity" of the site (?) even if it meant that "some legitimate reviews get deleted".
They then proceeded to explain how I could overcome the negative result of this computer program by becoming a featured business on Yelp. The lowest monthly subscription for this was $300 per month. They explained that the subscription would ensure that our page was viewed by a certain number of Yelpers, and explained the value of these page views (demographics and spending habits of the typical Yelper). Although at first they insisted I sign a 1-year contract, I managed to negotiate a six-month term and decided to give it a try. After all, at that point I often looked to Yelp, so I thought additional exposure on Yelp could only be a good thing.
When I Joined Yelp
Well, it was a miracle! Once I joined, the 4 and 5 star reviews my clients had left MIRACULOUSLY reappeared!! I was happy about that, don't get me wrong, but unfortunately Yelp's claims about driving more business to us did not materialize. In fact the page views were the same or lower most months I was a Yelp featured business. I did not notice any increased business or website traffic from this subscription, so, at $300 per month, I decided to end it.
When I Stopped Paying Yelp
Surprise, surprise! The 4 and 5 star reviews miraculously disappeared again! And a couple of negative reviews then popped up. So now, despite the fact that we have served hundreds of very satisfied clients, some of whom took the time to write great reviews, we end going from a 5-star to a 3.5 star rating on Yelp. All because I refuse to be extorted by Yelp just to keep reviews that are rightfully ours. They talk about integrity of the site? Integrity seems to be completely lacking here. I felt duped, not only as a business owner, but as a consumer who had trusted that what I had been reading on Yelp was an unbiased picture of what consumers were saying.
How to tell if a business is paying Yelp
If you are looking at a business on Yelp and you see a small banner right before that business' reviews advertising another business, that page does not belong to a paying business, while the one featured in the banner ad is. Typically there will be a 4.5 or 5 star rating on this paying business (or it will simply be one doing Yelp's half-off-type deals). If you check it out in more detail, you will notice that the paying businesses have more 1 and 2 star reviews in the "filtered" area (you must scroll to the bottom of the page and type in the "captcha" to view them), while the non-paying businesses like Isis have primarily 5 star reviews there. At the time of this writing, there are 16 5-star reviews that Yelp has "filtered". Yelp rarely filters our 1-star reviews, even when we provided evidence that the Yelper was never a real Isis client. We know that there are competitors as well as terminated employees that will purposely try to destroy a business by posting negative reviews. However, Yelp does not find it important to filter those reviews if the business is not paying. Furthermore, we have noticed that every time a new 5-star review pops up, Yelp filters one or two of our existing 5-star review. Thus we stay at 3 to 3.5 stars no matter how many 5-star reviews we get.We believe that this is done so that the paying competitor always has more stars than the non-paying ones because the filtered reviews are not included in the "star" rating. Thus Yelp is purposely manipulating how a business is seen by the public. This is an unquestionable conflict of interest, as Yelp is favoring paying businesses while claiming to be an unbiased source of business reviews.
Better Ways to Assess a Business
First, Isis is a medical facility with licensed providers (estheticians, RNs, MD). You may verify that our licenses are in good standing without complaints by visiting our respective licensing boards, such as the Medical Board of California. Additionally, the Better Business Bureau is a long-trusted resource for verifying the quality of a business.
And here are a couple of sources for UNPAID, UNSOLICITED reviews. None of these sites manipulate or alter the order or content of reviews to make us look better or worse. In short, unlike the Yelp page, these pages are unbiased to the best of our knowledge. They have also never asked us to pay them in exchange for any alteration of our page. Check out actual unbiased reviews on CitySearch, Yahoo and Google.
To view our filtered reviews on Yelp, visit our Yelp page and scroll to the bottom of the page and click [right now it says (16 filtered)...that is where you click]. One more step and you can view plenty of credible reviews that are not included in the altered Yelp star rating.And here just some of the Client Testimonials gathered by Isis over the years.
At Isis, we are proud to say that our #1 Source of new clients is referrals from our established clients! Most important in your quest to find a good business is to check it out for yourself! At Isis all of our consultations are free, so you can make your own determination risk-free.
Yelpers: please don't join into Yelp's methods of extortion!
At Isis, we stand behind what we do 100%. If any client is not satisfied, we do everything we can to be fair and make every client a happy one. We do minimal advertising, and since 2004 have continued to grow due to excellent word-of-mouth and repeat business. I have been truly shocked and dismayed to learn that there are (rare) clients who will not approach the staff with any complaint or issue, but will go straight to Yelp with a negative review, then offer to remove the review if they are given free services! Just as we will not be extorted by Yelp, we will not be extorted by clients. We will gladly work with anyone who approaches us directly. Please don't attempt to use the fact that Yelp has business owners caught in a terrible position as "leverage" against us.
The Backlash Against Yelp
There are two class action lawsuits pending against Yelp as a result of the business practices described above. The lawsuits allege extortion and unscrupulous sales practices to generate revenue for themselves. There is ample information about the lawsuits out there...we just want to make sure consumers know what it is they are looking at when visiting Yelp. After all, if the point is to become familiar with a business, we think you should know the caveats and pitfalls involved with choosing Yelp.
We felt the need to create this page because we believe that consumers should be fully informed, both at Isis and everywhere else. We especially believe that when it comes to advanced treatments such as the ones we offer, it is potentially dangerous for consumers to be steered to a particular location becuase of a false portrayal of the business, as opposed to real information about the skill level and technology that is avaialble. We encourage all of you to look beyond Yelp. Look at other websites and make consultation appointments so that you can have relevant questions answered. At your consultation, ask about the training and expertise of the staff, the presence of a medical director, the extent of their involvement in the practice, the protocol if there is an unwanted result. Ask about the center's experience working with your skin type, the technology available and its appropriateness for your skin, and whether (and how) they stand behind their products and services. Most importantly, do as many consultations as you need to until you feel comfortable that you have arrived at a decision because you will be treated with professionalism and skill, and not just becuase the business is well-Yelped.
This article sums it us well: Yelp Review Problems: Top 9 Reasons You Can't Always Trust The Review Site
In conclusion...
Thank you for your time in reviewing this information!