Comments on: Yelp Reviews Disappearing? Here’s Why, and How to Solve It

By: Mayra

Mayra — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 00:52:09 +0000

I have a small business and made the huge mistake in creating a yelp business account. All of the reviews (not many since it’s a new account) are from customers who we’ve provided services to. Yelp has taken it upon themselves to hide these reviews because these customers are not avid yelp users or have any friends following them on yelp. It clear that what Yelp is doing is illegal and is biased in using this algorithm to increase its own business footprint. Unfortunately, they do not allow you to remove your business from their site, which I believe is also illegal. I will never recommend this site to anyone. People should have the ability to leave a recommendation for a business they interacted with, without Yelps trying to force users to have a minimum amount of interaction which is completely a means to grow their platform.

By: Don

Don — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 21:59:28 +0000

I have 70 reviews for my business, and only 14 show up.
When I complain I’m told it’s an automated algorithm.
I’ve seen dozens of class action lawsuits threatened, and the ones that make it to court have failed.
Seems hopeless.

By: Caffeine Tech

Caffeine Tech — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 19:46:33 +0000

They do the same thing to me . As soon as I receive a review on google they take one out on yelp . I used to have 15 positive reviews now I only have 7 . I will never advertise with them and sad that I actually did when I first open my business . I m truly thinking about filing a complaint with the business bureau .

By: Randy Barnes

Randy Barnes — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 18:34:42 +0000

I would love to join a class action lawsuit against yelp. They try to blackmail you into advertising with them by deleting your 5 star reviews. FYI they reappear if you advertise with them.

By: Steven Chagnon

Steven Chagnon — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 14:03:08 +0000

If someone is aware of a class action lawsuit against Yelp and their deleting real reviews as retribution for not being strong armed into their advertising program than please let me know. Tennis League Network has 30+ entries across 30 yelp entries. We have logged all the deleted reviews by honest people, the current rate is that barely 25% of the new reviews are being kept. This is targeted by Yelp. We have all the data. We will gladly join a class action lawsuit. They are betting a smaller organization like ours won’t go on our own to sue Yelp. We’re starting to get closer to have the means to do it.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 13:41:14 +0000

Please. Yelp deletes reviews on small businesses if they are unable to sign you up for premium services. It’s very easy to test this. Just ask anyone who has reviewed places on Yelp especially someone with many reviews.

Then wait. You will get a call from Yelp within 48 hours attempting to sell you premium services. Say no (trust me you will waste that money).

Then wait. Within one or two days the review will mysteriously vanish with no reason why. The reviewer does not know nor does the business. And this happens every single time. One customer of ours noticed this and alerted us about it so we asked four others to do the same thing. In every single instance the very same exact thing happened.

Do not trust Yelp, Do not use Yelp. Stop reviewing. Stop using. The BBB has over 1000 reviews similar to this and a HUGE warning across the top of the business page warning possible clients that they have been ripping people off who did pay. Yelp is done. Use Four Square.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 23:03:10 +0000

I’m just a user, but I feel for business owners who have to deal with Yelp’s BS. I write thoughtful, honest, substantive reviews. I put a lot of time and thought into my reviews and they’re intended to help customers find places they’ll enjoy patronizing and also let businesses know where they need work. My reviews regularly get get swept into the “not recommended’ bin for reasons that Yelp chooses not to share. I gave up and deleted my Yelp account today. I’m not going to waste my time writing reviews that Yelp chooses to hide. I hate that I can’t help shine a light on businesses that deserve it but I’m done wasting my time.

By: Danielle Stryker

Danielle Stryker — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 18:50:55 +0000

Yelp has removed every review I made. Yelp has removed all legitimate reviews from some businesses and leave only negative reviews from people with no history on yelp and who have never been to the business they are reviewing. Even after reporting it, yelp dis nothing. Some businesses have no stars and 0 reviews because yelp removed ALL the reviews. ALL of them. How does that work? How does the yelp algorithm do that? One review I reported was an anti-semitic, anti-woman, homophobic comment and yelp says it’s fine. So a person with no friends, no other reviews, who even claims to have never been to this business, and has anti-semitic influences, counts more then someone who is reviewing something they have actually used? That’s a problem. So wether it’s yelp or the yelp algorithm, I suggest they do something about it.

And if you’re a small business owner who’s business has been negatively effected by Yelp and their broken review system, and you’re interested in a possible class action lawsuit, contact me.

By: Lewis

Lewis — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:18:09 +0000

Yelp is a nuisance service.
They have had reps call our company repeatedly begging to get business profile.
When we refused suddenly the good reviews on yelp were removed and the negative ones stayed.
Do not trust this company.
Others have told is there reviews for us were never posted.
Yelp is not a reputable company.

By: Jacqueline Rusher

Jacqueline Rusher — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:47:20 +0000

Yelp is a dinosaur, the only reason I even entertain the idea of keeping it up to date is that it is attached to apple maps! Would like it to be removed. It is not accurate~ very unfortunate that the company can’t listen to its customers (ie businesses that purchase add content and the customers relying on accurate information that keep having their reviews taken down) they really missed the mark.

By: Glenn Stewart

Glenn Stewart — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 03:16:39 +0000

I’m in the same boat as everyone who posted above… If all business owners on Yelp stop paying for ads, would Yelp go under?

By: John Selva

John Selva — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 07:20:21 +0000

Yelp is con actor company, they are a thief company, a crook company. If you pay, if you advertise with them, they will keep and maybe even reinstate your reviews.

Bellow is the excuse that they use:

“We use automated software to recommend the reviews we think will be the most helpful to the Yelp community based primarily on quality, reliability and the reviewer’s activity on Yelp. Advertisers get no special treatment. The reviews below didn’t make the cut and are therefore not factored into this business’s overall star rating. Watch the video above or check out our FAQ for more details.”

By: Chanda Mcfarland

Chanda Mcfarland — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 23:29:55 +0000

All of my good Yelp reviews always disappear after they call and ask me to pay to advertise and I turn them down. It has now happened on 3 separate occasions. The last time they called me was last Friday and by Monday, the last of my good reviews were moved down again to not recommended. All of my reviews were legitimate customers. If you don’t help line Yelp’s pockets, then your reviews go away. Sorry excuse for a business. I wish someone would start a class action suit against them. I would definitely join!

By: monte

monte — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 17:42:20 +0000

A review I posted about a cremation service has disappeared after they provided such good care after my father had passed. When I tried to recommend their services to a friend they could not find my review or that of 25 out of 27 reviews. I do not trust yep anymore and will delete their app most certainly.

By: Steve McKee

Steve McKee — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 13:54:14 +0000

Reading these comments is really a long summary of my feelings toward Yelp. My first review was a one star from a person who is desperately trying to seek attention and basically accused myself and his former girlfriend of theft not just petty theft but a felony chargeable action. I brought it to Yelps attention and they did nothing. I have other favorable reviews but they remain hidden. Yelp is a joke gone bad in my opinion.

By: Sarah Belles

Sarah Belles — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 02:00:09 +0000

I completely agree with Cheryl Arnold & Ricardo Giacoman. I just started my business in December, so every review I get is CRUCIAL. So far, I’ve gotten all positive reviews-I go above and beyond for my clients to make sure their experience is great and they are satisfied. Also, every review I’ve been given is from a LEGITIMATE client, that left an honest review of their experience. I have ELEVEN…ELEVEN…total reviews. And guess what? ELEVEN OF THEM ARE “NOT RECOMMENDED”, or-hidden. It’s complete bulls***. I really wish I hadn’t opened an account with yelp, I will never leave another review for anybody via yelp again, and certainly will NEVER EVER pay for advertising through them again. I literally have NO reviews to show on yelp unless a potential client knows to look at the “not recommended” ones. Otherwise, they will scroll right past me and go to the next business. As a new business owner, I need every review I can get-good or bad. F*** YOU yelp. I’m also not the only one (obviously) who’s had this issue. A few of my friends have said the same thing, and that they will not use yelp for said reason.

By: Keith Lathrop

Keith Lathrop — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:53:35 +0000

Its happening to me also, they are removing all my best reviews, They have removed more than half of my reviews all 5 star, maybe we should all look in to legal action and either get this fixed or close it down.

By: Fabrizio

Fabrizio — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 05:29:23 +0000

I have 30 5 stars reviews on Yelp, and I had originally signed up for an enhanced site on Yelp that was then grandfathered into their pay per click program.
After some time Yelp approached me to increase my level of advertisement on their site and I refused. It is then that I started to notice that my new reviews were never recommended by Yelp. I didn’t think much of it because I did not have a program to generates reviews in my business and I assumed that I could not understand the algorithm.
After several more solicitations from Yelp and more unpublished reviews, I decided to cancel my paid contract with Yelp altogether despite their offer to upgrade for free.
Here what happened from that day: my published reviews went from 17 to 10 in 4 days!!!
At this time I have 10 published reviews and 20 not recommended 5 star reviews, of which, 7 were previously published. I wonder what happened for them to be no longer recommended.
Yelp is a fraud!!!! It is an advertisement agency that portraits itself as a user controlled review site.
Help me boycott Yelp. Power to the users!!!!!

By: eli

eli — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 05:04:59 +0000

After reading almost all the reviews here, I think that the yelp algorithm doesn’t work as it should. There is something that triggers the algorithm for some businesses to act more radically. My business had a total of 65 reviews and yelp filtered 62 of them, and only show 3 reviews, 2 negative and 1 positive. I fell from 5 stars to 2.5 stars.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/extra-locksmith-fort-worth-4?osq=locksmith