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Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

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Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#41

Post by csydas »

andybak wrote: post #29
panda888 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This simply doesn't happen. People have been saying it for years, but there's zero proof. My theory is something like this. A mom and pop shop opens Yelp one day to see they have some bad reviews. Then, if around that time a Yelp sales rep happens to call to pitch some ads or "enhanced profile" (actual name of an ad product they sell which doesn't alter reviews, just makes the profile prettier), and OMG all of the su…

I'm not generally a distrustful person, panda888 - but how come you created a new account to post this comment? Maybe you could post a little bit of background info about yourself and your lack of connections to Yell to avert any suspicion that you're not a genuine disinterested individual. In any case - from my memory there were stories about this in the mainstream press. I can't vouch for their veracity but if you…

off topic, is that what green highlighting on usernames means? age of account?

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#42

Post by TheCowboy »

oggedintocom wrote: post #5
brightball wrote: post #2

My only concern is around the lack of ability for businesses to respond or request any level of verification that a person actually did business with them. The BBB at least contacts the business and oversees a process for resolution (documenting the entire thing). I personally know multiple business owners who've dealt with threats from customers who will go and write a bad review if they don't simply bow to demands.…

Off-topic, but would Amazon have anything to lose if they completely purged all reviews by users without verified purchases? It would certainly combat the spam reviews problem.

Companies are gaming verified purchases now. There are several sites that provide a service of connecting reviewers with companies who provide their products for a hefty discount with the expectation of getting a perfect review.

Companies are allowed to vet your previous reviews to determine how likely you are to give a good review before giving you a discount code. If reviewers don't deliver, they stop getting discounted products, or even get banned from these sites.

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#43

Post by mcslick12 »

I think the biggest problem with Yelp is fake reviews intended to harm a business either from competition or disgruntled ex-employees. They allow 1-star reviews from throwaway accounts to stay on the front page and filter 5 star reviews from active users unless you pay for their service which includes 'account management support' to dispute fake reviews.

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#44

Post by pbhjpbhj »

csydas wrote: post #41
andybak wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not generally a distrustful person, panda888 - but how come you created a new account to post this comment? Maybe you could post a little bit of background info about yourself and your lack of connections to Yell to avert any suspicion that you're not a genuine disinterested individual. In any case - from my memory there were stories about this in the mainstream press. I can't vouch for their veracity but if you…

off topic, is that what green highlighting on usernames means? age of account?

Yes, green accounts are new, not sure the definition of new being used though.

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#45

Post by pbhjpbhj »

TimSchumann wrote: post #14

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Yelp is doing this? The same Yelp that was built on the back of some of the most aggressive, manipulative, downright shady marketing tactics out there? I've heard multiple complaints from Mom & Pop shops in my neighborhood which basically amount to Yelp calling and saying "Sign up for our premium business package or the negative reviews stay at the top"

You're certainly not the only one. My first thought was that Yelp would only be doing this so they could sell removal of the sued-customer flag to companies.

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#46

Post by Retric »

TheCowboy wrote: post #42
oggedintocom wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off-topic, but would Amazon have anything to lose if they completely purged all reviews by users without verified purchases? It would certainly combat the spam reviews problem.

Companies are gaming verified purchases now. There are several sites that provide a service of connecting reviewers with companies who provide their products for a hefty discount with the expectation of getting a perfect review. Companies are allowed to vet your previous reviews to determine how likely you are to give a good review before giving you a discount code. If reviewers don't deliver, they stop getting disco…

Seems like an obvious thing for Amazon to check out then ban all reviews and or products on these services.

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#47

Post by ngoede »

cloudjacker wrote: post #17

> but there will always be a small handful of businesses who mistakenly think it’s a good idea to threaten consumers who exercise their free speech right Wh... what? the free speech right only covers repercussions initiated by the government. Businesses are not the government so consumers have no free speech right or expectation here.

Lawsuits are absolutely governed by the constitution. You are using the force of the government to bring about your will. So the first amendment absolutely factors into how a speech related lawsuit plays out.

-Not a lawyer. Not legal advice-

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#48

Post by zentiggr »

coldtea wrote: post #33
codelord wrote: post #20

How adorable. Yelp taking the moral high ground. Once I wrote a negative review for a business describing my personal experience with them. The company first wrote me an email and asked me to remove it, I obviously didn't because everything I wrote was true. Then Yelp removed my review, because it was "irrelevant"! :-) Strangely enough, that business had all positive reviews on Yelp with near 5/5 score, while on Goog…

> Does anyone even care about Yelp scores at this point? Hundreds of millions of users?

Yelp, BBB, anyone who has a way to get money from the reviewed companies/professionals... impossible to remain unbiased. Haven't trusted, will never trust. Have a hard time believing Angie's List doesn't have the same issue in the other direction.

Finding unbiased, un-"washed" reviews is NP-hard :/

Re: Protecting Free Speech: Why Yelp Is Marking Businesses That Sue Their Customers

#49

Post by studentrob »

Good to see businesses advertising this too.

It's already against the law for a business to punish you for writing a negative review. Many people do not know they can sue when a business tries this. That's what the Consumer Review Fairness Act is about - letting the public know their rights. It's basically the government trying to teach people the law. And Yelp would be helping by promoting this.

Good job Yelp.

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