>And both of these parties have skin in the game.
I think you need to avoid using conspiracy theories. It's a rating system, not a secret government project.
>There have been multiple accounts over the years from business owners detailing the nature of their phone calls with Yelp.
You and I have very very different standards on what constitutes evidence on any subject matter. It's simply not rational to take people are their word when they're so emotionally invested in this subject matter, or what's more likely is they're just being scammed. Small business owners tend to not be the brightest bunch of people. And there is a sizable population of current and former engineers all saying Yelp does not do these things. There has never been evidence of anything the actions people accuse Yelp of taking. It's either scammers or rather, as I've come to see, business owners just being salty they get negative reviews.
Based on how you're thinking about this, you'd think the IRS and the scammers who call people over the phone pretending to be the IRS are one in the same. That's how insane you're being.
>Until their algorithm for rating is open sourced
You seem to be under the impression this would mean anything, but it's an opinion born out of a dearth of knowledge on technical systems and security in general. The code being published isn't necessarily the code being run.
>It is indicative of poor research,
I think you need to really have a big think about what opinions and solutions you think are worth considering.
>victim blaming
What? There are victims here?
>vague goalpost
Now you're just throwing words around.