Yelp.com

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing back.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 a business 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.We also wanted to let you know that we've taken another look at [redacted] review of [redacted]. Upon further evaluation, the review was found to be in violation of our Content Guidelines and it has been removed.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/03) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].
You expressed concern with the average price per click. As noted in your contract, you...

signed up for 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. The price per click will fluctuate up or down depending on competition, relevance, and other factors, but it will always be the lowest price possible to win the click.
You also asked for "specific information as to the time and date for these per clicks so we can verify that this is a legitimate process." You can see how many ad clicks you received each day by logging in to your Business Account, clicking "Yelp Ads" in the left-hand sidebar, and then selecting "Daily" above the graph. We currently do not provide information about the time of each click, but we appreciate your feedback. It also sounds as though you may be concerned about possible click fraud. We employ a variety of industry-standard measures to detect and prevent invalid traffic and click fraud. For example, we monitor our clicks and impressions for fraudulent activity, and frequently update our filters to exclude activity from known offenders. We also subscribe to the Internet Advertising Bureau's bot list, which gives us an industry-standard filter in addition to our own more rigorous ones.
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.

Complaint[redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
I feel I was made promises that did not materialize. It is important to me - even though I feel I was completely cheated by Yelp - to stay in integrity. I would like to achieve a settlement for $800 as balance owed and payable in two payments of $400, one in December and last in January. I have lost a lot of money due to this and no means to pay the amount they are asking for. I am desperate and I need help. Sincerely,Anke [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/20) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].
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. When advertising with a cost-per-click program you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression. You are also paying for additional features including competitor ad removal, a photo slideshow, a featured video, and call tracking.
It looks like you spoke with an account manager, Stephanie, on October 8. As you may recall, your advertising program is set to cancel on October 31, 2015 and the early termination fee has been waived. Because your advertising program is billed in arrears, please note that you will see a final charge on November 1 for advertising services delivered in October. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] and [redacted]We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. We appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, a manager, [redacted] reached out to you by email on April 14, 2017 to provide you with some clarification as to how the price for a click is determined. Yelp's Cost-Per-Click ads are delivered based on the categories your business is in, and the average price for an ad click in some categories may cost more than ad clicks in other categories. The price per click will also fluctuate up or down depending on competition, relevance, and other factors, but the price you pay will always be the lowest price possible to win the click.We also want to clarify that 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. Please note, however, that you are not being charged based on the number of calls or the number of clicks to your business website that you receive.If you wish to terminate your advertising program for [redacted] and [redacted], you can log in to your Yelp for Business Owners account at [redacted]/, click on the Yelp Ads tab, and click End Campaign.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/27) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns.
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.
If you believe, however, that an individual has provided you with different information, we would like to investigate further. To that end, please provide us with the name of the individual whom you spoke with, their phone number, and the date and time of your conversation with them, if known.
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 also stated "Yelp created a review page for our business, unauthorized by us." 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, 2015/07/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is a general response that gives no resolution to our complaints. "Recommendation Software" was created by Yelp, and therefore should be under their control. A company that uses such software to filter reviews is not giving the public the opportunity to make their own decisions about which to believe and which to ignore. Yelp is making this decision for them. Again, our page has 4 reviews total, and the two that were positive were filtered out. This is blatant discrimination and a very unethical business practice.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/08/17) */
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.
With regards to your comment, "A company that uses such software to filter reviews is not giving the public the opportunity to make their own decisions about which to believe and which to ignore," please keep in mind that users can see reviews that aren't currently recommended by clicking on the link at the bottom of your business page.
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.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/08) */
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] A's review of your business. As you may recall from the...

message you received from the Yelp Support team, the review has been evaluated and left up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelines. You claim that this review is "false"; 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/her review.
We encourage you to send a private message to the reviewer or post a public comment through your free business account. Many reviewers respond favorably to business owners willing to engage in constructive conversation, and at the very least, other Yelp users appreciate seeing business owners take a proactive approach to dealing with customer concerns. Our hope is that by utilizing these means you will be able to rectify any misunderstandings and come to an amicable resolution.
You also expressed concern that some of your other reviews are not currently recommended. 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. The software 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 asked that we recommend your positive reviews, 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
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:My wish to be removed from a Yelp because it is illegally put all my business's positive reviews to "non-recommended list" was rejected.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/14) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] Plumbing LLC.
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, 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 would like our completely valid positive reviews to be accepted," 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
With regards to your comment, "There are also users who are using Yelp in a threatening way to get what they want," it's important to distinguish between customers who have a negative experience and let the business know that they intend to talk about it on Yelp versus those who might go from business to business threatening to fabricate negative reviews for special treatment. Yelp's Terms of Service prohibit compensating someone or being compensated to write or remove a review. You can read our Terms of Service here: http://www.yelp.com/static?p=tos&country=US. Obviously, we don't condone such conduct and would want you to share any other information you have about this kind of behavior so that we can take action if we deem it appropriate. For example, if you have correspondence you can forward related to your claims, please send it to [redacted]@yelp.com and be sure to indicate that it is in regards to Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXXX.
You also expressed concern with [redacted] T's review. 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 claim that this review is fake; 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/her review.
You might consider sending a private message to the reviewer or posting a public comment through your free business account. Many reviewers respond favorably to business owners willing to engage in constructive conversation, and at the very least, other Yelp users appreciate seeing business owners take a proactive approach to dealing with customer concerns. Our hope is that by utilizing these means you will be able to rectify any misunderstandings and come to an amicable resolution.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Yelp states that their recommendation software evaluates reviews base on quality, reliability and user activity. We have 9 reviews that are currently "not recommended". Of those 9 reviews, 8 of them are positive and 1 is negative. (The negative one was only placed in "not recommended" after we flagged it as a fake as we have no record of performing service for that customer by name, description of services or the $ amount listed). Of those positive "not recommended" reviews, one customer has 3 reviews on Yelp, another has 2, another has 5, another has 14, and another has 4. There are only 2 reviews where the customer has not posted any other reviews on Yelp. If Yelp's software considers user activity, why were the above listed positive reviews "not recommended" all by users with 2 or more reviews, however the two negative reviews that were recommended come from one user who has only posted 2 reviews (of which ours is one) and a user who has only posted 1 review (ours). Yelp also states that approximately 75% of reviews are recommended by the software, however ours is only about 55%. 100% of negative reviews have been recommended and only 42% of the positive reviews have been recommended. It does not seem as if the software is doing what you insist it does.
The other issues under complaint were not resolved either (reviews by fake customers, customers threatening bad reviews if you don't "give them what they want", etc.) We flagged these items and submitted our issues previously to Yelp and even offered invoices to prove our side, however we got the same automated response listed above.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/24) */
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.
Please note we don't go into detail as to why a review is or is not recommended. 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. So while it may be tough to decipher how the recommendation software works, the rules are actually the same for every business and every review.
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.
With regards to your comment, "The negative one was only placed in 'not recommended' after we flagged it as a fake," we want to clarify that the action that the Yelp Support team takes is separate from actions taken by Yelp's automated recommendation software. If a review is brought to the attention of the Yelp Support team and is found to fall outside our Content Guidelines, the Yelp Support team will take appropriate action, such as removing the review. However, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: the Yelp Support team 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 wrote, "The other issues under complaint were not resolved either (reviews by fake customers, customers threatening bad reviews if you don't 'give them what they want', etc.) We flagged these items and submitted our issues previously to Yelp and even offered invoices to prove our side, however we got the same automated response listed above." As frustrating as it may sound, we don't take the place of a court of law and make evidentiary determinations. Additionally, 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. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
No resolution was offered.

Hi [redacted]Thank you for your response.Please be assured that your advertising program was a cost-per-click auction-based auto-bidding program. We want to reiterate that the price you paid per click was based on competition and relevance, and was always the least amount needed to win the click. We aimed to maximize the number of clicks you got for your budget over the course of the month. Advertisers should plan to have 100% of their budget fulfilled, and you were never charged more than the $300 per month you agreed to. Additionally, while we understand your concerns about the amount of fluctuation you saw in the price per click, please note that neither the sign up flow nor the Ads and Upgrades Terms indicated a minimum or maximum cost per click.Advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, so we will not be able to waive the outstanding balance of $142.76 for advertising services delivered in November. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your feedback.We have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties so they can take your feedback regarding billing notifications and credit card information into consideration. Additionally, while businesses do not currently have the ability to remove their credit card information themselves, we have removed your credit card information for you.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/19) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]
You expressed concern the the average cost of each click has gone up. As...

you may recall from the conversation you had with your account manager, [redacted], the packaged cost per click advertising program you initially signed up for had been a trial program that was offered to a limited number of customers. We opened up packaged cost per click programs to all customers in September, which has resulted in an increase in demand and price.
With regards to your comment, "I believe this click rate increase in fee is directly related to my decision to cancel their service," we want to assure you that Yelp does not retaliate against businesses for any reason, including deciding to cancel an advertising program.
You also wrote, "Yelp sends a weekly report of ad sales. Weekly report breaksdown clicks and calls you receive which yelp is charging you for. I noticed the weekly emails totals did not match/correlate with Monthly totals I was being charged by yelp, in yelps favor." It sounds as though the email you are referring to contains information about Customer Leads, and that you are comparing that information with the ad clicks information in the Yelp Ads tab of your Business Account. However, Customer Leads and ad clicks are separate entities of information.
Customer Leads are intended to show you how our users are adding and accessing information located in your Yelp business page after they've landing on the page. For example, Customer Leads activity includes mobile calls, directions, user uploaded photos, clicks to your website, Call to Action clicks, and bookmarks. Customer Leads can be found in your Business Account, under "Activity."
An ad click is when a person clicks on your business's Yelp ad. With an advertising program, ad impressions will appear in places such as above search results and on your competitors' business pages. These ad impressions have an orange border and an "Ad" notation to the left of the business name. Clicking on your ad impression will take the user to your business page on Yelp.
Your advertising program is set to cancel as of May 31, 2015. As advertising services have been 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, 2015/05/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Im going to agree to disagree. I understand you opened up your click Advertising in September of 2014 and rates increased I see that and completely understand it but it was a steady consistent increase. What changed happened in April of 2015 ? The month I cancelled.. The cost per click jumped from March $5 to $10 in April after I cancelled. Not in September, when as you stated, you opened up ads to all customers. For me to accept your explanation I would have to believe that Yelp managed in a 1 month period to double their demand for advertising.. I would have to ignore common sense to accept that explanation. Please let us fellow business owners how one doubles the demand for their product and their prices in 30 days, because its a true miracle.
Im not interested in a refund anymore. Spending money on advertising that doesnt work out is part of business. I am however interested in Revdex.com posting both of our explanations for general public to view and make their own determination and view my experience.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/06/04) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response. We appreciate your feedback regarding the price increase and have forwarded your messages to the appropriate parties for their consideration.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
I submitted the proper type of photo. A yelp person contacted me and I emailed it directly to him. They still did not publish it and have not responded to my continued attempts to contact them. Yelp is not being honest in their response. In fact, that is a lie.
Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi Shane,Thank you for your feedback.We want to reiterate that in order to redeem the $300 promotional ad credit, you had to sign up for an advertising program and put payment information on file. If you did not wish to be charged, you would have needed to log in and terminate the program before or once the promotional credit was used. You could have logged in at any time to monitor your campaign or terminate the program. With regards to your comment, "I approved, under the promotion, of $15 per day as you can see from the cancellation email attached," it appears the cancellation email you are referring to did not get attached to your message. You are welcome to send us the attachment so that we may take this information into consideration. That said, during the signup process, you selected a $15 per day average, or a $450 per month maximum. This monthly maximum of $450 was also stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" we sent you after you signed up for this program. Additionally, the signup process did not state that you were selecting a maximum price per click. We also want to reiterate that you were paying when someone clicked on your ad. Clicking on your ad would take the user to your business page on Yelp. You can view the number of ads that have been delivered and the number of times your ad was clicked on by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners account at [redacted]/ and clicking on the Yelp Ads tab. However, we don't disclose additional information about the ad clicks due to privacy concerns.Please note that you were not paying based on the number of customer leads you received or for clicks to your business's website. It is important to keep in mind that the information you see in the Activity page of your account may be from users who found your page through your Yelp ad as well as from users who found your page through other means, such as Yelp's natural search results.We also want to clarify that when a user conducts a search on Yelp there are two fields they must complete – Find and Near. In other words, the user must input what they are looking for and where they would like to look for it. When a user conducts such a search, we do our best to provide that user with a Yelp Ad relevant to their search. Please note that the Near field in the search bar is separate information from the location a user inputs in their user profile. 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]While we enable business owners 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 had previously been rejected because at that time we could not verify that your business had closed.We've gone ahead and marked your business as closed. While we don't remove business pages in cases like this, closed businesses eventually stop appearing in search results over time.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
I do not accept the business's (Yelp.com) response because they are refusing to post positive reviews from patients in the “recommended” section of their website. They say this is because their “software” decides on which reviews are trustworthy?! Computers and software are operated by human beings, who can do whatever they want with them. Computers cannot decide which reviews are reliable, it is not possible. I can certainly prove which reviews are reliable and authentic. I see that some of my patients have gone on Yelp to write positive reviews about me. Just because my patients are not regular “Yelpers” doesn't mean they are not real patients and they have a right to free speech just as much as the negative reviewers- who mostly incidentally don't seem to be regular Yelpers either. My patients also have the right not to be told by a computer( or actually by the people who control the computer) that their opinion is not worth anything if they give a positive review or that they are not trustworthy!
You claim that people can see all the reviews in the “not recommended” section at the bottom of the page, however not many people would come across these as it is not at all obvious- you have to scroll down past ads for other dentists etc first and even if they do come across it by accident they are wondering why they are not recommended and would most likely think they are fake or simply wouldn't know what to think or believe, plus the note above them states they “don't make the cut”. Thus giving a bad impression and wrong impression. A regular person who is not a business owner would not be aware of this or aware that Yelp manipulates reviews. Furthermore when someone searches my business or my name on for instance their iPhone the first result that comes up is Yelp showing a one star rating, not my true rating. I currently no longer advertise on the internet and have gone back to the dark ages of solely word of mouth referrals from the times doctors were not allowed to advertise, this of course is still the best way to advertise, but other options should be open to me in this day and age of the internet. There is simply no point in me advertising on the internet with this negative(and incorrect) representation. Not only that but several people who decided to write something vicious( and factually untrue) about my business get to tell not only their friends they talk to but the whole entire world. Although these reviews are libelous, defamatory and untrue and many intelligent prospective patients are likely to disregard them, it is also the case that many people are put off by them because they are already scared to go to the dentist, so not going to take a chance if they only see bad things a few people wrote about me, instead of the true picture about my business which obviously includes positive reviews as well, as I said before I would not be still in business after so many years if nobody ever had a good word to say about me. You are denying the public the right to receive reliable information about me and my business, this should certainly be illegal.
I have had incidences of new patients making an appointment, then going to look me up on the internet, seeing Yelp reviews and then calling to cancel their appointment after reading them. You are damaging my reputation and the ability to grow my business, you are damaging my business.
If I claim my business on Yelp.com to reply to reviews I would have to agree to your Terms of Service in order to do so, which involves “giving up my legal rights”. I should not have to give up my rights in order to claim my own business on Yelp, a site I didn't want to be on in the first place. If I am forced to do this in an attempt to save my reputation and business by being able to respond to reviews I would be agreeing to those terms under duress as I do not agree to give up my legal rights described in your Terms and Conditions and I do not agree to Yelp being able to use and manipulate my reviews in any manner they wish.
I notice that the person replying to this complaint “[redacted]” does not give her full name.
Thank you for your attention,
[redacted]Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].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. When advertising with a Cost Per Click program, you were electing to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression. You were also paying for an enhanced profile and the call tracking feature.Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program with $75 monthly fixed costs plus up to $275 monthly variable costs, for a monthly maximum of $350. $50 of the monthly fixed costs were for your enhanced profile, which included features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow, and the other $25 of the fixed costs were for the call tracking feature. Your advertising package included a cost per click (CPC) program and your monthly cost per click budget cap was set at $275, which means you were charged when someone clicked on your ad and you agreed to pay up to $275 a month for those ad clicks. If you did not reach your monthly budget cap, you would be charged for the ad clicks you received. However, if you did reach your monthly budget cap, we no longer delivered ads for your business for the remainder of the month so that you wouldn't have to pay more than you agreed to.We have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties, and it looks like a manager, [redacted], sent you an email on December 8, 2016 to thank you for your feedback and to confirm that your advertising campaign was cancelled on July 24, 2016.As advertising services were delivered in accordance with the advertising agreement you signed, we will not be able to offer you a refund. It looks like there is currently an outstanding balance of $990.79 for advertising service delivered from May 1 - July 24, 2016. For further assistance with this balance, please reach out to TrueAccord, a third party collection agency we are using, at [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 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.You also expressed concern with three reviews. It looks like you are referring to the reviews by [redacted]., ItsMe S., and [redacted] as you've previously reported these reviews. We have taken a second look at these reviews but, after careful consideration, we reached the same conclusion as before and are unable to remove the reviews. 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.We also want to address your allegation that "they manipulate sites and reviews to give clients to companies that pay them." We want to be clear 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] to learn more.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]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/07) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing regarding the advertising program for Paris Cosmetics. We are still looking into this and will respond with additional information soon. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.