Business Owners Be Aware and Beware of Yelp.com

I almost screwed up! I was going to advertise a local business I have on Yelp.com. It seemed like one of those friendly and free directories that allows you to list a business and obtain honest reviews.

I had a browser window open to Yelp.com waiting for my registration information when I realized I hadn’t used a search engine to find out about Yelp. Something I always do when I’m about to list information on a site I’m not familiar with. I opened another browser window and did a search. Smart move!

I was quickly given a number of blogs and reports that all talked about the Yelp scam, the apparent extortion, and the arm-twisting sales tactics (as reported) used by Yelp.com. Apparently, you will be contacted and asked to pay for advertising. Refuse the offer and positive reviews are removed, or negative reviews appear and are moved to a prominent position. If you want a better rating, or those negatives to be buried, buy the advertising.

Scary shit. They have a class action lawsuit being developed against them and are being investigated.

For more info and to get you started on finding out more about Yelp you can begin HERE. Business owners beware of Yelp.com.