What are your customers saying about your business? Thanks to the customer-friendly website, Yelp.com, customers can say just about anything about almost any business. Reviews may be positive or negative; Yelp posts them all.
However, for a fee, Yelp can help your business improve its image on their website. But the method and process of Yelp’s “advertising” has raised a lot of questions about whether it is geared to legitimately help businesses, or whether it is ethical or even illegal.
Advertising Opportunities
Yelp has admitted that they use posted reviews as potential sales leads. Yelp salespeople will look for negative reviews and spend their time cold-calling those businesses with an advertising proposal.
Advertising subscriptions for a Yelp page range from $299 to $499 a month, and by purchasing Yelp advertising, the salespeople promise to improve a business’ image on their website. In fact, the company even allows the advertiser to pick a favorite review to be seen at the top of their Yelp page. Advertising on Yelp also gives the advertiser the option to have ads show up on local searches or even on competitors’ Yelp pages.
The Potential Scandal
But what if you choose not to advertise with Yelp? By declining the sales pitch, a business could face even more negative response on Yelp. Businesses have reported that after declining a Yelp advertising offer, they witnessed their Yelp ratings fall.
An article published in the East Bay Express out of Oakland, CA reported that at least six business owners received a barrage of phone calls from Yelp salespeople, even after declining to advertise.
The business owners said that Yelp salespeople promised they would remove negative reviews if they advertised, but after declining the Yelp offer, the owners saw even more negative comments. That raises the questions about whether real people are writing real reviews on Yelp, or whether Yelp employees ‘anonymously’ post additional reviews to punish a business for not advertising with them.
Is Yelp engaged in scandalous behavior? The company denies “extortion” tactics used by their salespeople. The fact that Yelp posts consumer comments can be a big help to small local businesses looking for testimonials. However, many businesses are treading carefully when it comes to (not) advertising on Yelp.
