Yelp.com

Hi [redacted],Please be assured that we have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties. However, we are unable to verify your claims that "the salesperson told me I would be placed on the 1st or 2nd page." As we've previously noted, Yelp Ads appear in places such as above the natural search results, and on competitors' business pages, but a business's advertising status will not affect the their ranking in our natural search results. While we are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign, results are not guaranteed. We also want to address your comment, "I don't know the people who wrote my only review. How does that happen? Do you write bogus reviews?" Reviews are posted by, and are the opinions of, Yelp users.If you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines ([redacted]), please let our moderators know by reporting it. You can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (3 dots) on the app. You'll need to be logged into your account to report content.For reporting reviews, please visit: [redacted]While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelines. Each case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received. Typically, you will receive a response to your report within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add [redacted] to your contact list).Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.We wanted to let you know we've removed the review by[redacted] review of [redacted] because it falls outside our Content Guidelines.To address your question about how our content is monitored, we allow users to post reviews and photos, and rely on the Yelp community to report content that they believe is questionable. If a review violates our Content Guidelines [redacted]), then our Support team will remove it.Reviews on Yelp are ultimately the responsibility of each reviewer. To the extent that a review appears to reflect the personal opinion and experiences of the reviewer, we allow the reviewer to stand behind his or her review. That said, if you feel that something may violate our Content Guidelines or Terms of Service, we encourage you to let us know by reporting the content. We're happy to look at these on a per case basis.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.You wrote, "[redacted] made up stories just to hurt my business even when she was not even a client of mine." However, we don't take sides on factual disputes, so we can only therefore reiterate what we previously communicated to you: if a review appears to reflect the user's personal experience and opinions, we allow the user to stand behind their review.We encourage reviewers to use their full names on Yelp, but this isn't an absolute requirement and many people don't. As a result, it may be difficult to match up a reviewer's name to the records maintained by many businesses, and our moderators aren't in a position to arbitrate these situations. As long as a review appears to reflect the reviewer's personal experiences and opinions, we'll generally allow them to stand behind their review.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because the content of [redacted] review who was never a client of this firm violates Yelp's Content Guidelines and/or Terms of Service.
The content of the review is NOT from a "Personal experience"  as [redacted] was never a client of this firm and resorts to broad generalizations and conclusory allegations.
The content of the review is NOT "Accurate" as it is NOT factually correct as [redacted] was never a client of this firm and exaggerates and misrepresents a false experience.
Because yelp "doesn't take sides when it comes to factual disputes",  Yelp is forcing our firm to file a lawsuit against [redacted] whose identity is unknown. In the spirit of judicial economy, our firm is DEMANDING Yelp provide any and all information it has to help our firm identify and locate [redacted]. As Yelp is aware, Yelp's Content Guidelines and/or Terms of Service requires reviewers to "stand behind their review.
Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.You wrote, "since you know I am the owner, how can you leave a review that complains about an owner but not with my name." Please be assured that we've evaluated the content of [redacted]., ItsMe S., and [redacted].'s reviews and are allowing the users to stand behind their reviews. We don't take sides on factual disputes, so we can only therefore reiterate what we previously communicated to you: if a review appears to reflect the user's personal experience and opinions, we allow the user to stand behind their review.It also sounds as though you still believe that Yelp manipulates reviews to favor advertisers. However, with respect to reviews, paying businesses have absolutely no advantage. The recommendation software does not distinguish between advertisers and free listings, and the revenue side of our business operates independently of the content side of our business, just as a newspaper might put a firewall between their advertising and reporting functions.Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the recommendation software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software’s decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore a review that isn’t currently recommended. This also means (and I can say this with 100% certainty) that we cannot manually manipulate the recommendation software to favor an advertiser or punish a non-advertiser. But once again, the system is not static -- reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify the most reliable and useful content amongst the millions of submitted reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.Finally, you have again asked that your business listing be removed, but as previously stated, we don't remove business listing information. Yelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the well-established fair use doctrine, as well as First Amendment principles. Generally speaking, this means that we can display business names and trademarks "for purposes of comparison, criticism, point of reference, or any other such purpose." [redacted]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi Rick,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Lawn Works Madison. You asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a...

lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.You wrote, "my business info is incorrect." While we enable users to submit changes to business pages on Yelp, our moderators evaluate those changes to ensure they meet our standards. In this situation, it looks as though your suggestions have been rejected because it appears you were trying to remove your business information rather than submitting corrections to incorrect information. With regards to your comment, "This company is posting only negative reviews," our recommendation software recommends both positive and negative reviews in an effort to show the most helpful and reliable reviews to our users. That said, Yelpers write more positive reviews than negative reviews, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that Yelp’s recommendation software might impact more positive reviews. We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: [redacted]If you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines), please let our moderators know by reporting it. You can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (3 dots) on the app. You'll need to be logged into your account to report content.To learn more, please visit: [redacted]While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelines. Each case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received. Additionally, please note that the Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines is separate from actions taken by Yelp’s automated recommendation software. Typically, you will receive a response to your report of a review within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add [redacted] to your contact list).Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statements. Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software’s decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore one that isn’t recommended. But once again, the system is not static -- reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I am sorry but you were on recording of when you sold me on bussineess plan and did not deliver product. I was promised one thing and received another. I asked to be reimbursed for for false advertising. Talked to manager and did nothing about my concerns nor fix the issue. You [redacted] flat out scared me along with thousands others. You should not make promises you can't keep and I will not pay for your mistakes. You clearly have training issues on front end sales. You can't just say what you want over phone to sign someone up and then deliver a different service. Also threw out the campaign you were supposed to communicate with me to help make changes if needed. No one ever did. You just took my money and run. I want my full money back or we will see each other in court.

Hi Mr. [redacted]Thank you for your response.We appreciate your feedback regarding your sales representative and advertising program, and have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties. That being said, we want to reiterate that results not guaranteed. As noted in Section VI (Yelp's Disclaimer of Warranties) of the contract you signed, "Yelp specifically disclaims all warranties and guarantees regarding (I) the performance, quality and results of the ad programs, including ad click rates, conversions, and any user-generated content that appears in your ad programs."As advertising services were delivered in accordance with your advertising agreement, we will not be able to offer you a refund. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].We appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. It looks like you spoke with a manager, [redacted] on May 2, 2017, the day...

after you filed this Revdex.com complaint. As you may recall, we have refunded you $236.00 and are offering you a $300 promotional credit to your account for future advertising on Yelp.Please feel free to reach out to our Account Management team if you would like to use this new promotional credit and set up another advertising program. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] an affiliate of [redacted].As you noted, you signed up for an advertising program beginning in December 2016, and your program included a...

featured video and video production. It looks like you had indicated to our account management team on March 30, 2017 that your location had experienced water damage and that you needed to pause your ads. While early termination is typically subject to a fee and a 30 day notice requirement, it appears in this case an exception was made and your ads were terminated effective March 30, 2017. Please note that we don't have an option for advertisers to put their program temporarily on hold, but we do allow advertisers to end their program early, which is what happened here.Because your advertising program has been terminated, we are no longer able to offer you video production. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/21) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]
You expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's...

recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.
It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. You wrote, "We want the opportunity to prove that reviews are being made by our legitimate clients, and we want those reviews to show up on our page," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
You also asked for your business to be removed from Yelp, but we actually don't remove business listing information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I appreciate you taking the time to respond, however, we need some sort of action to be taken.
Your software is not applying the same removal criteria to each review. The rationale being, we have negative reviews currently showing up on our Yelp business page with no profile picture, only a few negative reviews and zero friends. While neutral and positive reviews from clients with professional business pictures and multiple reviews, are not showing up. Any positive or neutral reviews we have received have been removed by Yelp. This is a false representation of our business. It is especially frustrating that several of our clients' reviews that have been removed contain detailed information, including the name of our employees with whom our clients worked with; Yet, these reviews are still not being recommended. Furthermore, in one negative review, a client claims she is in the process of suing us, which is absolutely not true.
You claim the software is not static, and that reviews can shift as the software makes its decisions, however, the same four reviews have been shown on our page for weeks, while our positive reviews remain in the "not recommended" section. Apparently this is out of your control, which is bizarre since it is your software and your business.
It is disconcerting that we signed up for your services, but are now unable to terminate them in a way that removes our page from your website. If we cannot be fairly treated, then we want our business account removed from your website entirely, this includes any reviews posted in association with our business on our business page. Our business is being unfairly represented, whether or not recommended reviews are in your control, is unrelated to your ability to delete our account and all associated content displayed on our page. We understand that users have a right to their opinions, and that Yelp claims no direct responsibility for these reviews, but we also have a right to pursue the removal of defamatory representations of our business from your website.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/01/11) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
You wrote, "Your software is not applying the same removal criteria to each review." Please note that while it may be tough to decipher how the recommendation software works, the rules are actually the same for every business and every review. We don't go into detail as to why a review is or is not recommended, and we intentionally make the recommendation software difficult to reverse engineer otherwise, we would be overrun by reviews written by people hoping to game the system.
Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.
As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software's decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore one that isn't recommended. But once again, the system is not static reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.
We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.
You also expressed concern with a negative review of your business. We assume you are referring to the review by Trudy Y. The review has been evaluated by the Yelp Support team and left up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelines. You wrote, "a client claims she is in the process of suing us, which is absolutely not true"; however, Yelp does not take sides in factual disputes. Rather, if a review appears to reflect the personal experience and opinions of the reviewer, it is our policy to allow the user to stand by his or her review.
Finally, you have again asked that your business listing be removed, but as previously stated, we don't remove business listing information. Yelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the well-established fair use doctrine, as well as First Amendment principles. Generally speaking, this means that we can display business names and trademarks "for purposes of comparison, criticism, point of reference, or any other such purpose." See New Kids on the Block v. New America Pub., Inc., 971 F.2d 302, 306 (9th Cir. 1992).
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/19) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Pizza On Main.
We first want to clarify the difference between Yelp Ads and our natural search results. When...

a user is searching on Yelp for a business in a certain area, we do our best to provide that user with a Yelp Ad applicable to their search. Yelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on competitors' business pages. The Yelp Ad is differentiated from the natural search results by an yellow border, and has the notation "Ad" in next to the business name.
Separate from Yelp Ads are Yelp's numbered search results, which have absolutely nothing to do with who is paying us. Yelp's natural search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.
You also expressed concern with the photos associated with your menu. We appreciate you making us aware of this issue with your menu. Unfortunately this matching is determined automatically, although the results may update over time. We've also reported the issue to our Product team as we're constantly looking to improve the user experience.
With regards to your concern with the hours, it looks like the hours on your page have recently been updated to the following:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 8:30 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 9:30 pm
Sat 12:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Sun 12:00 pm - 8:30 pm
If these hours are incorrect, you can log into your account at biz.yelp.com and select Business Information from the left-hand sidebar to update your operating hours. Please note that any changes you make will still need to be approved by our moderators. You can also reply to this message with your current business hours.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response. We appreciate your feedback.We want to reiterate that advertising services were delivered in accordance with the advertising agreement you signed.Your advertising program had a monthly maximum cost of $850 ($125 monthly fixed costs for your enhanced profile and featured video, plus up to $725 monthly variable costs for your cost per click ads). According to our records, you signed up for a cost-per-click auction-based auto-bidding program, which means that Yelp delivered a variable and unguaranteed number of ad impressions, and that you elected to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression. With regards to the cost per click, as noted in your contract, you agreed to allow Yelp to set the bid price per click price to keep you competitive in the market. While your sales representative may have given you an estimated price per click, it's important to keep in mind that the price will fluctuate up or down depending on competition, relevance, and other factors. However, it will always be the lowest price possible to win the click.You also wrote, "no video was produced and no enhancements were made to the ads." The opportunity to create and display a video on your Yelp page was part of your advertising program, but this feature required some additional action from you. Yelp has partnered with the company [redacted], who films and edits the video. Our records indicate that we sent you an email with the subject line "Your Ads Are Live" on February 17, 2016. In this email, it stated that you would need to respond to an email from [redacted] in order to take advantage of the video feature: "Confirm Your Video: If you’ve signed on to receive a video, be sure to respond to the email from [redacted] — it’s the first step towards getting your video created and posted onto Yelp!" With regards to your comment, "no enhancements were made," if you are referring to your enhanced profile, this service was delivered. Your enhanced profile included features such as competitor ad removal, a Call To Action button, and a photo slideshow, but similar to the video, making the most of some of these features may have required additional action from you. If you had any questions about using these features, you were welcome to reach out to our account management team for further assistance.We also want to address your comment, "I also paid Yelp $525, the amount I was billed the first time." Your advertising program was billed in arrears, which means that we typically bill on the first of the month for advertising services that were delivered in the previous month. Thus, the $527.59 March 1, 2016 was for advertising services delivered from February 12 - 29, 2016. The remaining outstanding balance of $878.34 is for advertising services delivered in March 2016 and on April 1, 2016. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]You expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable...

content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]You also expressed concern with [redacted] review. We understand that a negative review about an experience you don’t recognize is very frustrating.We have taken a second look at this review but, after careful consideration, we reached the same conclusion as before and are unable to remove the review. If a review appears to reflect the reviewer’s personal experiences and opinions, it is our policy to let the user stand behind his or her review.In some situations, business owners may want to message the reviewer privately, or post a public response to clarify any misunderstandings. It looks like this page has already been claimed by one of your colleagues. This person can access these features using our free accounts for business owners ([redacted]), and can find more information about how to respond to reviews here: [redacted]These decisions aren’t always easy, but please know we looked at this review closely before reaching our decision.Finally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/14) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for HRT.
We appreciate your feedback regarding your interactions with our Sales team, and have forwarded your...

message to the appropriate parties.
We're sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. To be clear, while the goal of advertising on Yelp is to drive more traffic to the business page, which may ultimately result in more customers, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising with a Cost Per Click program, you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression.
You wrote, "She also informed me that my bill was to be $ 570 and some dollars, but $300 in free advertisement that brought my bill down to 370 something. I was Then informed that it would be $275 plus a $60 then $6 per A click." To clarify, our records indicate that you signed up for a packaged Cost Per Click advertising program with $60 monthly fixed costs plus up to $275 monthly variable costs, for a monthly maximum of $335. The monthly fixed costs are for your enhanced profile, which includes features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow. Your monthly cost per click budget cap is set at $275, which means you are only charged when someone clicked on your ad and you agreed to pay up to $275 a month for those ad clicks. If you do not reach your monthly budget cap, you will only be charged for the ad clicks you received. However, if you reach your monthly budget cap, we no longer deliver ads for your business for the remainder of the month so that you won't have to pay more than you agreed to.
We also want to clarify that the program you signed up for is a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) auction-based auto-bidding program, which means that you agreed to allow Yelp to set the bid price per click price to keep you competitive in the market. While you may have been given an estimated price per click, it's important to keep in mind that the price will fluctuate up or down depending on competition, relevance, and other factors.
Your advertising program also included a promotional offer which made you eligible to receive up to $300 in free Yelp ad clicks in the first full month of your advertising program (i.e. November). This $300 in free Yelp ad clicks was in addition to your $275 monthly cost per click budget cap for November.
Please note that your advertising program is billed in arrears. According to our records, you were charged $43.24 on November 1, 2015 for advertising services delivered from October 28 - 31, 2015. The $335 you were charged on December 1, 2015 was for advertising services delivered in November.
As advertising services are being delivered in accordance with your contract, we will not be able to offer you a refund. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
All you did was say what customer service told me when I called in to find out what was going on. This does not cover the fact that your sales representative lied to me. I was tricked into believing something completely different. [redacted] told me $6 a click a minimum of $60 a maximum of 275. she also said it was $40 to start up it started in November. Why would I spend $40 for 3 days.. I have nothing other than to believe that this is a scam. Why would Anybody sign a contract not knowing an end amount or a cap.. I'm too small to do things wide open like that.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/23) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your additional feedback.
We want to reiterate that per the terms of the advertising agreement you signed, your advertising program included a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) auction-based auto-bidding program, which means the cost per click varied depending on factors such as competition and relevance, but it was always the lowest price possible to win the click. Additionally, per the terms of your contract, the monthly costs for your advertising program never exceeded $335 ($60 fixed costs for the enhanced profile plus up to $275 variable costs for your ad clicks).
We also want to clarify that the $43.24 you were charged on November 1, 2015 was for the 7 ad clicks you received from October 28 - 31, 2015 ($35.49) plus a prorated amount for your enhanced profile ($7.75). You can view a breakdown the number of ad clicks you received by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at https://biz.yelp.com/ and clicking on the "Yelp Ads" tab.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/12/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
That still isn't what [redacted] Told me and now my clicks are up to $9.22.. I'm not looking for money back. I Honestly cannot afford this especially in the winter time being a Very small cleaning service. I even stressed that to [redacted] at the time she signed me up. I can't even afford the the payment to stop this. I feel used and now Financially scared. I trusted you being a big company. there is no limit... I wish I could post pictures on here bc even the emails she sent to me shows everything to have a limit and screenshot of how my click price keeps going up. It's a trick and you shouldn't be allow to do that. I had to even let my office help go bc it now not in the budget. I just want the payment waved so I can cancel. I'm not the one that lied.. I would have never done this if I knew the truth bc I know what my advertising budget is.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising programs for [redacted].You expressed the belief that you were overcharged. To clarify, our records indicate that you signed two advertising agreements -- one for...

your [redacted] location, and one for your [redacted] location. It appears you signed an advertising agreement for your [redacted] location on April 26, 2016. This advertising program included $100 monthly fixed costs plus up to $475 monthly variable costs, for a monthly maximum of $575. The monthly fixed costs were for your enhanced profile, featured video, call tracking features. Your monthly cost per click budget cap was set at $475, which means you were charged when someone clicked on your ad and you agreed to pay up to $475 a month for those ad clicks. This program was terminated on July 31, 2016.It also looks like you signed an advertising agreement for your [redacted] location on April 29, 2016. This advertising program included $125 monthly fixed costs plus up to $275 monthly variable costs, for a monthly maximum of $400. The monthly fixed costs were for your enhanced profile, featured video, and call tracking features, and your monthly cost per click budget cap was set at $275. This advertising program was terminated on July 30, 2016.With regards to your comment, "YELLP INC fraudulently charged my credit card for $3,000 instead of $700," it appears you are referring to the $2,912.10 you were charged on August 22, 2016. This payment was for advertising services delivered from May 1, 2016 through July 31, 2016 for both of your locations. Your advertising program was billed in arrears, which means that we typically bill on the first of the month for advertising services that were delivered in the previous month. It appears we were unable to successfully charge your card in June, July, and part of August, so the amount collect on August 22, 2016 was for the balance due for advertising services delivered in May, June, and July. The breakdown per month and location is as follows:$575 was due on June 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered in May 2016.$400 was due on June 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered in May 2016.$575 was due on July 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered in June 2016.$400 was due on July 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered in June 2016.$575 was due on August 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered in July 2016.$387.10 was due on August 1, 2016 for advertising services for your [redacted] location delivered from July 1 - 30, 2016.We also want to address your comment, "they falsely promised to feature my business at the very first page versus the seventh page where it was actually placed." To clarify, when a user is searching on Yelp for a business in a certain area, we do our best to provide that user with a Yelp Ad applicable to their search. Yelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on your competitors' business pages. The Yelp Ad is differentiated from the natural search results by an orange border, and has the notation "Ad" in next to the business name. Please note that your ad is not guaranteed to show up every time you do a search. You bought a portion of the advertising space for your industry, so there are other advertisers that we must show as well. Sometimes you may see an ad for a different company, sometimes when conducting a search you may not see an ad at all.Separate from Yelp Ads are Yelp's numbered search results, which have absolutely nothing to do with who is paying us. Yelp's natural search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.While we are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaigns, advertising services were delivered in accordance with your contracts. That being said, we have forwarded your feedback to the appropriate parties for their consideration.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted]Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]We first want to be clear know that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect how the reviews on its listing are...

treated. Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit [redacted]As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.[redacted]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].You expressed concern with [redacted]'s review of your business. I understand you find the language used in the review by [redacted] offensive and are frustrated...

that we have left the review up.Evaluating reviews for inappropriate content isn’t easy and we recognize that each person has a different tolerance for strong language. Generally, what we don’t tolerate on our site are serious threats and hate speech. We do have a fairly high bar for colorful language and try to allow users to tell their story in their own words, whether or not they had a positive experience with a business, and regardless of our own personal tastes. We hope you can understand why we ultimately didn’t conclude that the review you reported violates our terms.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/16) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for [redacted] - Mazda.
You expressed concern with [redacted] B's review. We've taken another look at this review,...

but have reached the same conclusion as before and are leaving the review up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelines. You asked that we remove your name from this review, but please note that we do not have the ability to edit the content of reviews. Additionally, as you may recall from previous correspondence you've had with the Yelp Support team, we allow individuals such as business owners and service providers to be named in reviews describing a consumer interaction.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this response because the review does violate their own terms. The review is offensive, mean spirited, isn't about the business, and is attacking me personally. All I do is work for [redacted] and am told what to do. I think it's ridiculous that it's even allowed up. Every person that I know that has read it thinks it should be taken down as well, meaning they've all flagged it. That's beside the point though because yelp is supposed to be used to review a business, not a person, and that's all this post is doing. He called me an "SOB", "an it", and that people shouldn't want to see me at work. I've had customers come in and tell me that they want to work with someone else based off that review. When the everything he said about me is directly related to my boss, who actually dealt with him, not me at all. I can't quit my job, but it's directly affecting how people interact with me and I think that's wrong. I want something to be done about this because I've been nothing but professional toward [redacted] and Yelp, but this is getting out of hand.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/22) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
Removing reviews is not something we take lightly, and we typically allow Yelpers to tell their own story in their own words as long as it relates to a firsthand consumer experience. We understand that you may be frustrated with our decision to keep [redacted] B's review up, but our position remains the same.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.