Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100 • Hacker News Board

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#211

Post by jdross » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:47 PM UTC

luckylion wrote: post #145

orky56 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yelp is accused of predatory practices on business owners including pushing them to sign up for a paid subscription to hide negative reviews on their Yelp page. Otherwise, you are vulnerable to their algorithm which hides/shows reviews that are often less than favorable. Yelp reviews are now overtaking business' own pages on Google searches leaving businesses with less option to control, let alone, curate their brand…

They're not just hiding negative reviews if you pay, they are hiding legitimate positive reviews if you don't. It's simply the online equivalent of the mob asking for protection money.

This just is not true. I have worked with a number of companies that have tried to pay Yelp to unhide their legitimate, positive reviews and there was nothing Yelp would do about it, no matter what proof you offered of the transaction or customer relationship.

Their algorithm rules all, sales has zero say in it.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#212

Post by ericd » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:47 PM UTC

wolco wrote: post #203

pgsbathhouse2 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a thing. No one at Yelp does this. There is literally zero evidence that Yelp does this.

Don't they create profiles of businesses, ask for reviews from the public and will only take them down after paying?

If that’s true, the only part that’s in any way wrong about that is allowing businesses to affect reviews at all.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#213

Post by controlweather » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:48 PM UTC

I hope the whole business shuts down, this is the greatest day of my life. Yelp is scum!

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#214

Post by askafriend » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:49 PM UTC

Skunkleton wrote: post #204

goatherders wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it differently: Yelp has built a platform that has a large audience. If you don't pay for certain things then you don't get visibility in their platform. Everyone from Google to Capterra does some version of the same thing. You can call it "shaking down" local businesses but no one is entitled to positive or even fair promotion on someone else's platform.

Ok, well then I suppose that you agree that I am free to spread false rumors about you, as long as I do it on a platform that is privately owned?

You can already spread false rumors about anyone or anything with your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. There's very little stopping you (within reason, of course).

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#215

Post by wgerard » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

throwaway55554 wrote: post #93

013a wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yelp's engineering isn't likely much more than ~150 people (I worked there ~2 years ago, maybe has grown since then but honestly, given their revenue situation even then, likely not by much). The mix there is just like most companies; you've got dedicated teams for each of their apps (which includes Android, iOS, web, business-facing, etc), you've got API teams, back office teams working on moving data around and bus…

Even 150 blows my mind. Years ago I worked for one of the top 10 EHR software makers (at the time - maybe even now, I haven't looked) and we had 1/3 the number of engineers on that system.

I don't mean to be flippant or unnecessarily mean, but my anecdotal experience is that many EHR systems are pretty widely derided by healthcare providers (i.e. end-users).

Maybe it's not a good thing that only 50 engineers were working on that system.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#216

Post by pgsbathhouse2 » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:51 PM UTC

james-skemp wrote: post #210

pgsbathhouse2 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence to support this claim?

Louis Rossmann has a Mac repair store in New York and, when I was subscribed to him, had posted numerous videos about his experiences with Yelp. One example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CIGKxLcoso

This is not evidence.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#217

Post by X6S1x6Okd1st » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:51 PM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #214

Skunkleton wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, well then I suppose that you agree that I am free to spread false rumors about you, as long as I do it on a platform that is privately owned?

You can already spread false rumors about anyone or anything with your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. There's very little stopping you (within reason, of course).

That sure sounds like potential defamation.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#218

Post by save_ferris » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:57 PM UTC

goatherders wrote: post #200

rchaud wrote: post #159

While job losses will pile further misery on the economy, I hope that means there are now fewer ad sales people trying to shake down local businesses so that they offer Yelp protection money to keep their ratings positive. Companies like this always start with a noble purpose, before the pressure to monetize causes them to ruin what was once a valuable service.

I see it differently: Yelp has built a platform that has a large audience. If you don't pay for certain things then you don't get visibility in their platform. Everyone from Google to Capterra does some version of the same thing. You can call it "shaking down" local businesses but no one is entitled to positive or even fair promotion on someone else's platform.

There are numerous accounts of businesses receiving calls from Yelp salespeople essentially telling them to buy an ad package or the negative reviews get prioritized.

I agree that no one is entitled to positive promotion, but to argue that a massive platform that's established itself as the go-to place for consumer business reviews absolutely should be held to fair promotion.

I can't believe that this an argument on HN. You're saying that if you had a small business with a Yelp profile and I found your identity and started posting false negative reviews on your business profile, you'd have no problem being called by a Yelp rep to pay money to make them go away?

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#219

Post by ibero » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:58 PM UTC

james-skemp wrote: post #210

pgsbathhouse2 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence to support this claim?

Louis Rossmann has a Mac repair store in New York and, when I was subscribed to him, had posted numerous videos about his experiences with Yelp. One example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CIGKxLcoso

i just watched the video and it seems more like the story of an ex-employee being upset at the narrator for being involved in their termination (due to arguably bad judgement).

i don't see what yelp had to do with it.

Re: Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100

#220

Post by oarabbus_ » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 7:58 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #159

While job losses will pile further misery on the economy, I hope that means there are now fewer ad sales people trying to shake down local businesses so that they offer Yelp protection money to keep their ratings positive. Companies like this always start with a noble purpose, before the pressure to monetize causes them to ruin what was once a valuable service.

>Companies like this always start with a noble purpose, before the pressure to monetize causes them to ruin what was once a valuable service.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.

Hell, maybe you can argue Netflix's algorithms have taken a turn for the worse, but to their credit Netflix is the only FAANG+ company (not that Yelp is in this bucket) which really hasn't "gotten evil" over time