Yelp.com

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/30) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing.
We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business pages for [redacted] Boutique and [redacted] Dog Grooming.
We first want to make sure you 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 http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq and http://officialblog.yelp.com/2013/05/no-yelp-doesnt-extort-small-businesses-see-...⇄ to learn more.
You also 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. Even though it inevitably affects legitimate reviews from time to time and misses some fake ones, too, it helps protect the integrity of the site both for consumers (who will be less likely to be led astray by bogus reviews) and business owners (who will spend less time worrying about whether their competitors are writing negative reviews about them).
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: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
You have again stated that a review on your business should be removed. We assumed you are referring to the review by [redacted] F as you have previously flagged it. You stated that "Yelp felt they were true," 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.
Finally, you 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, 2015/08/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is the same thoughtless sarcastic reply over and over. A "mysterious" computer recommendation software or system is the blame. WHO (and let me be clear... who meaning what Yelp human being with a first and last name) has control over that system? Give me that Yelp employee's name and contact information. I would like to know why they cannot seem to gain control of the rogue computer system as you have mentioned; all the while, Yelp is wasting my time and money and preventing me from maintaining and growing my business.
[redacted], let me make myself very clear again; I have NO misconceptions of how Yelp is causing damage to my business. I have ZERO misconceptions of how Yelp is causing damage to my business. I hope that yields clarity to the haze you believe that I am in. I have kept track of my hours worked over the years after asking Yelp never to call me again to sell ad space, remove me and my businesses from the mailing lists, and to remove my business from the Yelp sites. What Yelp address do I send my invoice for reimbursement? Yelp has obstructed my ability to conduct business, get more customers. Despite my requests, Yelp continues to harass, continues to extort for ad space. I would not need what Yelp is offering in the form of "assistance" if I did not have misused my time managing the Yelp sites. I would have more time grow my business if it were not for Yelp. Still I am stalked by the constant phone calls from Yelp that pulls me away from gainfully running business and to constantly check the false review postings. Please remove ALL of the postings, positive and negative, and prevent my businesses from being posted. I do not want nor need Yelp's assistance in any way. Yelp is using its deep pockets of resources to impede progress of my small businesses.
[redacted], again, on Yelp's behalf you refer me to another "wonderful Yelp support resources that I didn't know I needed". NO THANK YOU. I do not wish to learn about the reviews because I do not want the Yelp reviews, positive or negative. I will go get my customers myself thank you.
Again, I have stated to remove my businesses from the Yelp sites. [redacted] your assumptions are incorrect. I am not referring to the review by [redacted] F. I want all postings pulled down and all visibility of my businesses removed from Yelp. It is you that is experiencing a misconception, not I. There is nothing Yelp has to offer that I want.
AND FINALLY [redacted], If you could be so kind as to send me a copy of law you are referring to. You may send it to me at [redacted]@lvgroomer.com.
And now... another 2 hours of my time wasted by Yelp! 2 hours I could have used getting customers.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2015/10/06) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing again.
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.
There are a number of reasons why a review might not be recommended. For example, the review may have been posted by a less established user, or it may seem like an unhelpful rant or rave. Others may appear to be fakes (like the ones we see originating from the same computer) and some may suggest a bias (like the ones written by a friend of the business owner). Other reviews may be real reviews from real customers who we just don't know much about and therefore can't recommend.
You also indicated you are still getting emails from Yelp. It sounds like you may be referring to our automated email notifications. To update your email notification preferences, log in to your business account at https://biz.yelp.com/, click "Account Settings" at the top of the page, and then click "Manage your email preferences." From there, check or uncheck the appropriate boxes, and then click "Save Settings." That said, if you are receiving emails directly from a Yelp salesperson, could you please copy and paste the entire email (including headers) and send it to us, so that we can look into this further?
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 22, 2015/10/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
[redacted],
The customer made statements that were absolutely untrue. How can you tell me that YOU think the statement is fair. You nor Yelp were here. I was. How can you justify supporting these types of false statements? How can you seriously expect me to accept that some computer in some room at Yelp has that much control? TAKE IT DOWN!

Hi Hector,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Rios Overhead Door. Our records indicate you redeemed a $300 promotional ad credit on January 4, 2018. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you were...

required to sign up for our Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put payment information on file. You signed up for a $750 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $25 per day average) plus enhanced profile features which cost an additional $75 per month (or a $2.50 per day average), for total charges of up to $825 per month. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account. Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can be turned off by the business at any time through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. During your ad setup there were Q&A's on the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site.Additionally, after you signed up for your advertising program, we sent you an automated email that recapped your purchase and the details of your campaign, including that the payment method on file in your account will be charged monthly, up to a maximum of $825, and your programs will continue unless cancelled. Advertisers also have the option to opt in to receiving billing confirmation emails in the Account Settings section of their account. Below is a more detailed description of how the promotion was applied: January 4, 2018 – January 31, 2018- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $24.19- Your prorated enhanced profile features cost $66.97- $91.16 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $0February 2018- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $339.37- Your enhanced profile features cost $75.00- You had $208.84 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used towards your January ads- $208.84 of your remaining $208.84 credit was used and you paid $205.53 for advertising services delivered in February.March 1, 2018- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $19.72- Your prorated enhanced profile features cost $1.96- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used towards your January and February ads- You are responsible for $21.68 for advertising services delivered in MarchYou can view ad click and billing information in the Yelp Ads and Billing tabs of your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted]You ended your advertising program on March 1, 2018. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms [redacted] you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the outstanding balance of $21.68 for advertising services delivered in March. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.Regards,HelenYelp 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 understand that a negative review about an experience you don’t recognize is very frustrating. We have taken a second look at [redacted] 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. You can access these features using our free accounts for business owners ([redacted]), and you 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.You also 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]Finally, you 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.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.You wrote, "This review is fake, fraudulent and was written by an individual under the age of 18." Please be assured that we've evaluated the content and are allowing the user to stand behind their review. Additionally, we were unable to verify your claims that this account violates our Terms of Service.With regards to your comment, "They habitually remove negative reviews from businesses that advertise with them and remove "positive" reviews from those who do not advertise through them," we want to reiterate that with respect to reviews, paying businesses have absolutely no advantage. The automated 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.It also 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 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 software picks up new information.We recognize that there have been news stories alleging that Yelp manipulates reviews and ratings to reward advertisers, yet these allegations are not based in fact. Please consider:1. Third party research (such as [redacted] has debunked this conspiracy.2. Courts have rejected the conspiracy due to the lack of any fact-based evidence.3. A simple search across the site proves that non-advertisers often have excellent 4 and 5-star ratings while many advertisers have low ratings.For more information about this issue, please visit [redacted]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.We also appreciate your feedback regarding business owner and user photos. It's important to note here that there is a difference between a user account on Yelp, and a business account. A user account is meant for personal, non-commercial purposes, and is used to participate in the Yelp community (write reviews, post in Talk forums, etc). A business account is used to manage a listing on Yelp. In order to take full advantage of the features of a business account (ie, the ability to message reviewers), we do require that a business owner upload a photo to their profile. And just as there is a difference in the accounts, the guidelines for acceptable photos differ as well.We require business owners to use a photo showing their face for two main reasons. The first reason is for your benefit as a business owner. We believe your messages will be received more warmly if there is not an attempt to disguise your appearance, because we have found that users tend to respond more favorably when they can attach a face to name.  In our experience, most reviewers appreciate feedback from business owners and sometimes re-write their reviews if they feel the business owner went out of their way to respond to their concerns (legitimate or not). The second reason is for the benefit of the reviewer. From a consumer perspective, a message from a business owner whose face can not clearly be seen may be perceived incorrectly. We believe customers respond more favorably when they can see who is contacting them.That said, we do realize that uploading a photo may not be for everyone, and we can respect that. But again, in order to take full advantage of your business account, we require a photo in which your whole face can be seen. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
The response spouts off a lot of facts that were already acknowledged by us in our complaint but fails to address the fact that clearly there was something wrong with the system and it was never our intent to complete participation in the PCP.  It also fails to acknowledge our attempt in August to cancel the PCP.
Further it disregards the advantage YELP takes by taking over 60 days before business owners will even see the charges appear on their credit card statement, an additional 3 weeks in our case, plenty of time to rack up more charges.
The last email we received in regard to the PCP was the cancellation email, so obviously it is advantageous for YELP to not send any other emails regarding the PCP, especially when their account was being charged.
There comes a point when using practices to your advantage becomes deceptive and this response does not allay any feeling of being deceived. 
Sincerely,
Mark [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/04/27) */
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] L's review of your business. 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. 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/her review. You claim that "demonstrably false"; however, as frustrating as it may sound, we don't take the place of a court of law and make evidentiary determinations. As a result, most business owners try to resolve misunderstandings amicably. If the matter rises to the level of a legal dispute, then the courts are better equipped to resolve your complaint.
You also wrote, "I have made multiple attempts to contact them and have had no response, either from my letter or voice mail messages." Please note that our Support team does not provide phone based support. However, our records indicate our Support team did respond to your letter via email. On March 2, my colleague [redacted] sent the following email with the subject line "Message from Yelp HQ XXXXXXX " to the email address provided in your letter:
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for contacting us about your business listing on Yelp.
We've looked at [redacted] L's review, and since it appears to reflect the personal experience and opinions of the reviewer, we are leaving it intact.
While we share your concern about the possibility of a defamatory review on our site, we don't adjudicate disputes between businesses and their reviewers. Congress acknowledged this quandary by passing [redacted] that provides statutory immunity to online service providers such as Yelp for the content of third-party posts. See 47 U.S.C. §230. The case law is legion and unanimous in support of online service providers because of concerns that they would otherwise be forced to remove third party posts every time someone raised issue with their contents. See Carafano v. Metrosplash. com. Inc., 339 F. 3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2003); Zeran v. America Online, Inc., 129 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997); Barrett v. Rosenthal, 40 Cal. 4th 33 (Cal. 2006).
That said, we will revisit your request if you provide to us a final judicial determination that the contents of a review are defamatory and will, at our discretion, take appropriate action with respect to the review and the user responsible for the review.
We encourage you to contact the reviewer directly using the private messaging function on our site in order to constructively address your concerns. We do not recommend that you engage in anything other than a well-meaning dialog with the reviewer in order to sort out any misunderstandings.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Support
San Francisco, California
Finally, if you have questions or concerns in the future, we encourage you to visit our Support Center at http://www.yelp-support.com. We've tried to include detailed answers to the questions we most frequently receive in our Support Center, but there may be situations you encounter where you'll need to contact our Support team for assistance. For these specific situations, there are articles in the Support Center that include submission forms to inquire about the issue.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/04/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
(1) I did not received any email response from Yelp, on March 2 or at any other time, regarding this case.
(2) Yelp states the review "appears to reflect the personal experience and opinion of the reviewer." This is not true. The reviewer is not stating an opinion, she is relating "facts" that are untrue, and for which I supplied Yelp the true "facts" via documentation.
(3) This response is in contradiction to their stated Terms of Service/Content Guidelines Policy, which include: "Accuracy: Make sure your review is factually correct." I provided to Yelp documentation WITH THE CUSTOMER'S SIGNATURES in multiple places on their contract - and specifically on the subject she addresses in the review in stating "she had never been informed" at the time of her purchase. She is not stating "It is my opinion that I was never informed", she is stating that she was not informed. That is not an opinion, it is an false accusation.
My objection to this review is not in her opinion, but in her false portrayal of false "facts" in the form of an accusation.
So, I agree with Yelp that to the extent she is voicing her opinion of the service, that is acceptable content. My issue is with her false accusation, which I have shown to Yelp through documentation to be indisputable.
While Yelp disavows responsibility for the content of posts, they are responsible for their choice to continue to publish these posts. Yelp's refusal to remove this posting is a violation of their Terms of Service.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/05/07) */
Hi [redacted],
Than you for your response.
You wrote, "I did not received any email response from Yelp, on March 2 or at any other time, regarding this case." On our end, it looks like [redacted] did send an email on March 2 to the email address provided with your letter, but it's possible the message ended up in your spam folder.
You have again stated that the review by [redacted] L is contains a "false accusation" and should be removed. 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.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi Bradley,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Cyber Pros Consulting. We appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, Kassandra called you on March...

21, 2018 to let you know that we are writing off the outstanding balance on the account.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted]Thank you for your response. We appreciate your feedback. Please be assured that we have forwarded your concerns along to the appropriate parties. We also want to reiterate that per the advertising agreement you signed, you agreed to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression, and to pay for an enhanced profile, a featured video, and call tracking. These services were delivered in accordance with your contract. Additionally, as noted in Section VI (Yelp's Disclaimer of Warranties) of the advertising agreement you signed, "Yelp specifically disclaims all warranties and guarantees regarding (I) the performance, quality and results of the ad programs."Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi Robert,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 a photo that was posted to your business page. It looks like you are referring to a photo posted by **, and it appears this...

user has already removed this photo from your business page. 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 or photo violates our Content Guidelines ([redacted] then our Support team will remove it.For future reference, if you believe a review or photo violates Yelp's Content Guidelines ([redacted] you can report the content by clicking the flag icon next to it. You'll need to be logged in to your account in order to view the flag icon.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.For instructions on how to report a photo, please visit: [redacted]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]As you noted, you redeemed a $300 promotional ad credit. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click...

(CPC) advertising campaign and put a credit card on file. You set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $300, and also signed up for our enhanced profile features, which cost $75 per month. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account.Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can be turned off at any time by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. If you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. During your ad setup there were Q&A's on the right side of the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site.Below is a more detailed description of how the promotion was applied:January 19 - 31, 2017- You received 21 ad clicks which cost a total of $119.82- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $29.96- $149.78 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $0February 2017- You received 37 ad clicks which cost a total of $300- Your Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $75- You had $150.22 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was partially used in January- You paid $39.00 and are responsible for a remaining balance of $185.78 for advertising services delivered in FebruaryMarch 1, 2017- You received 1 ad click which cost a total of $7.39- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $1.85- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used in January and February- You are responsible for $9.24 for advertising services delivered in March 2017You can view a breakdown of how many ad clicks you received by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted] and then clicking on the Yelp Ads tab.You ended your advertising program on March 1, 2017. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the remaining balance of $195.02 for advertising services delivered in February and March. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.We also want to address your comment, "I received weekly status reports of my advertising, but they stopped after 3 weeks. I thought it was because the 30 days ran out." As noted above, ads can be turned off at any time by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. Additionally, you can manage your email notification preferences, by logging in to your business account at [redacted], clicking "Account Settings" at the top of the page, and then clicking "Manage your email preferences." From there, check or uncheck the appropriate boxes, and then click "Save Settings."You also expressed concern that out of state users may have been clicking your ad. It sounds like you may be referring to the information in the Activity Feed section of your business account, and we want to clarify the difference between ad clicks and the information provided in the Activity Feed.An ad click is when a person clicks on a business's Yelp ad. 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. Please keep in mind that in order to do a search on Yelp, a user must enter a location to search near, and ads for your business would have been delivered when a user was searching for businesses near your location, regardless of what location the user has elected to use in their profile information. Yelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on your 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. Clicking on an ad impression will take the user to the business page on Yelp, and you were charged when someone clicked on your ad.Once a user is on your business page (regardless of whether they found it through an ad impression or through another means, such as our natural search results), additional actions they take while on the page may appear in the Activity Feed section of your Business Account. The Activity Feed shows recent activity by Yelp users on your Yelp business listing, such as phone calls and website clicks.We want to be clear that you were being charged when someone clicked on your ad, and not based on the number of users who viewed your Yelp page. It's possible that users in your activity feed who appeared to be from out of state may have found your business page through other means, such as our natural search results, rather than clicking on your ad, and that the location they chose to use in their profile might not be where the user is actually located.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, 2016/01/25) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Embarque Yoga Therapy + Wellness.
As you may recall from the correspondence you've had with our account...

management team, in order to redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click advertising campaign and put a credit card on file. Our records indicate that you set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $300. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account.
Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can only be turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. If you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. In Step 3 of your ad setup there were Q&A's on the right side of the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site: "Can I stop any time? Yes. There's no commitment or obligation. Just come back to the Yelp for Business Owners site and stop your ads. You will be billed at the beginning of the next month for any clicks you bought before you cancelled."
Below is a more detailed description of how the promotion was applied:
November 2-30, 2015
- You received 56 ad clicks which cost a total of $286.13
- $286.13 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $0
December 2015
- You received 42 ad clicks which cost a total of $300
- You had $13.87 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was partially used in November
- The costs did not exceed your selected $300 monthly budget
- You are responsible for $286.13 for advertising services delivered in December.
January 1-5, 2016
- You received 9 ad clicks which cost a total of $63.34
- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used in November and December
- You are responsible for $63.34 for advertising services delivered in January
You can view a breakdown of how many ad clicks you received by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at https://biz.yelp.com/ and then clicking on the Yelp Ads tab.
You ended your advertising program on January 5, 2016. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the outstanding balance of $349.47 for advertising services delivered in December and January. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.You have again alleged that [redacted] manipulates reviews to favor advertisers. However, with respect to reviews, paying businesses have absolutely no advantage. The automated 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.It also 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 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 software picks up new information.We recognize that there have been stories alleging that [redacted] manipulates reviews and ratings to reward advertisers, yet these allegations are not based in fact. Please consider:1. Third party research (such as Harvard Business School) has debunked this conspiracy.2. Courts have rejected the conspiracy due to the lack of any fact-based evidence.3. A simple search across the site proves that non-advertisers often have excellent 4 and 5-star ratings while many advertisers have low ratings.For more information about this issue, please visit [redacted]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.Regards,[redacted] Inc.

[redacted],I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely, [redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]It sounds like you have some concerns about our recommendation software. As you may have read, we use automated software to recommend reviews, with the...

goal of showcasing the ones that best reflect the opinions of the Yelp community. The rest are posted below and don’t factor into the business’s overall star rating. The software does what it can with the information at hand, and regularly revisits each review as it learns more. As a result, different reviews might be recommended on different days. However, because our recommendation software is automated, the Yelp Support team cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. You can see reviews that aren't currently recommended by clicking on the link at the bottom of each business page.Additionally, while we understand your concerns, we want to make sure you are clear that federal law bars lawsuits against websites like Yelp for the decisions they make about which reviews to post or remove. See Carafano v. Metrosplash. com. Inc., 339 F. 3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2003); Zeran v. America Online, Inc., 129 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997); Barrett v. Rosenthal, 40 Cal. 4th 33 (Cal. 2006).For more information about recommended reviews, please visit our Support Center: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_ReviewsRegards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:the fee was caused by Yelp taking money that wasn't authorized. This only happens because Yelp withdrew the money and Yelp should repay me to make this situation right. I will be reaching out to the [redacted] attorney general as well. Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/17) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].
We forwarded your message to our Account Management team, and they have informed...

us that they will be writing off the $300 you were charged for May. [redacted] has reached out to you and left you a voicemail to discuss this further.
With regards to your comment, "Our print company paid $300 for services we didn't receive," we are 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. As stated in Section VI (Yelp's Disclaimer of Warranties) in your advertising agreement: "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."
When advertising with an impressions-based program, you are paying for the delivery of a certain number of targeted ad impressions. You signed up for a $300 per month advertising program which included 500 ad impressions per month, and these ads were delivered in accordance with your contract. 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 yellow border, and has the notation "Ad" in next to the business name. Your program also included features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow, and these services were also delivered in accordance with your contract.
Your advertising program has been terminated as of May 31, 2015. We hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp community. For guidance, please visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/06/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I spoke with [redacted], the crew Supervisor for Yelp. He provided me with several reasons why our service was lacking and what he believed caused it.
1) They lost/didn't see an email I sent canceling our service and letting them know our advertising campaign would need to be postponed even after we pre-paid for it. His reason was that it was sent to them by another email address they didn't have on file. **'s the same one I believe we've always used. My own.
2) [redacted] also claimed the reason for Yelp having 5-7 different account manager's phone me, none of which knew anything about our account was that they were in their first month of attempting a new management style platform with the entire staff of account manager's. I thought this was reasonable. I gave him that benefit of the doubt.
3) Yelp claim's that due to the email not reaching them, they still get to keep the initial $300.00 we paid. Funny though, they admit that no measurable results could be obtained except they 'claim' 1-2 guests on their site went to our website via their link. Passed [redacted] from months prior show those same results when we were paying nothing to Yelp from late 2014.
4) Yelp offered to refund $300.00. At first glance, it appears to be a nice gesture. Our attorney and our family think it's really more about legal ground for Yelp. They knew our plan on placing signs around our sign company's exterior sharing our experience with Yelp's less than shining example of how NOT to treat a customer. Add into that, we made mention that we were contacting the Revdex.com. This is someone you don't want on your back as a business big or small. We respect the Revdex.com. Most businesses do and know their power. Need we say more?
5) Our attorney suggests A) take the money but get all $600.00 back. Yelp did not provide a reasonable expectation of services and it wouldn't be difficult to prove that in a court. 1-3 customers for $600 over the course of 2 months of advertising is:: $200 per lead. None of which would be deemed 'reasonable' or even on a national average for search engines. B) Request a do-over from Yelp to prove that Yelp in fact can and will deliver what they say for 2 months time, allow Yelp to keep the $600 and earn your trust back.
We would choose this method. ** NEVER has been about the money though, admittedly it makes a company angry to spend $600 for worse than terrible odds. No company or person should be 'okay' with that.
In the end, Yelp would have to redeem itself with our company. This would all go away if Yelp would have delivered a reasonable amount of customer leads to our email, retail store or website. Even 15-20 a month would have been reasonable. As of 6/18/2015 - not a single sale has been generated for the 2 month campaign we paid $600.00 for.
Would you be okay with that as a business owner?
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/09) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns.
We first want to clarify 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 http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq and http://officialblog.yelp.com/2013/05/no-yelp-doesnt-extort-small-businesses-see-...⇄ to learn more.
With regards to your comment, "he said there was a way that I could respond to all these false allegations if I signed up with him and paid some, still unknown, fee," we want to clarify that the ability to send private messages to reviewers or publicly comment on reviews are free features that we offer to business owners through a free Yelp for Business Owners Account. These features are available to business owners once they have claimed their business page on Yelp. For more information, please click here: https://biz.yelp.com/signup_business
Additionally, you expressed concern with some reviews and photos. Creating a free Yelp for Business Owners Account will also give you the ability to report content that you believe violates Yelp's Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines). If you believe a review or photo violates Yelp's Content Guidelines, you can report the content by clicking the flag icon next to it. You'll need to be logged in to your account in order to view the flag icon. For instructions on how to report content, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-report-a-review?l=en_US and http://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-report-a-photo-or-video?l=en_US.
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]@yelp.com to your contact list).
With regards to your request for your business to be removed from Yelp, 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.
Finally, we've gone ahead and informed our Sales team that you no longer wish to receive any communication from them. If for any reason you continue to hear from them, please let us know at http://www.yelp.com/support/contact/questions
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] [redacted].It looks like you signed up for a self-serve advertising program on April 5, 2016. Your advertising program was a self-serve...

program, which means that ads can only be turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. It looks like you were able to log in and successfully end your advertising program on June 6, 2016.We also want to address your comment, "2 months after disputing previous charges they billed me again on a account that was closed 3 months ago." Please note that 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 looks like you were responsible for $150.94 for advertising services delivered in May, plus $21.58 for advertising services delivered from June 1 to June 6, 2016. While these amounts would have typically been collected on June 1, 2016 and July 1, 2016 respectively, it appears we were not able to successfully charge your card until August 22, 2016, when you were charged $172.52. As this amount was for advertising services delivered in May and June, and as advertising services were delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, 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.Our records indicate you signed an...

advertising agreement on January 18, 2017. The details of your program, including the 12 month commitment period and the early termination fee of $650, were provided in the Purchase Order section on the first page of the advertising agreement you signed. Early termination being subject to a fee and the 12-month commitment period were also explained in the " Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent you on January 26, 2017.Please note that per the terms of your advertising agreement, we require 30 days written notice to your account management contact if you wish to terminate your advertising program. As you provided your cancellation request on March 6, 2017, and your advertising program was terminated on April 6, 2017.Additionally, 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 $325 you were charged on April 3, 2017 was for advertising services delivered in March 2017. The $650 you were charged on April 7, 2017 was for the early termination fee. It also looks like there is a balance of $66.43 that will be billed on May 1, 2017 for advertising services delivered from April 1 - 6, 2017.As advertising services were delivered in accordance with the advertising agreement you signed, we will not be able to offer you a refund at this time. That said, we have forwarded you concerns to the appropriate parties for their consideration.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.We appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, a manager, [redacted], reached out to you by email on April 26, 2017 to provide you with some additional information regarding your advertising program.We want to reiterate that your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that business owners select their monthly budget and can turn off their ads at any time through their Yelp for Business Owners Account. Our records indicate you set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $450, and also signed up for our enhanced profile features, which cost $75 per month. You terminated your advertising program on February 4, 2017.With regards to the click price, the price you pay per click varies based on competition and relevance. However, you'll always pay the least amount needed to win the click. For more information about how Yelp's Cost Per Click ads work, please visit: [redacted]While we appreciate your concerns, advertising services were delivered in accordance with the Terms [redacted] you agreed to, and you could have terminated your advertising program at any time through your account, so we will not be able to offer you a refund.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.