Yelp.com

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** You expressed concern with *** *.'s reviewIt looks like you reported this review the day before you filed this Revdex.com complaint, and, as you may
recall from the message your received from the Yelp Support team today, March 30, 2017, we have removed the review by *** Mbecause it falls outside our Content Guidelines.You also expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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 reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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_ReviewsRegards,***Yelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** *** ***We’ve taken another look at *** *** review you reported, and have carefully considered your concerns that the reviewer may have a conflict of
interestWe are still unable to confirm the conflict using the information we have in our systemsSince the review 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 reviewersCongress acknowledged this predicament by passing legislation that provides statutory immunity to online service providers such as Yelp for the content of third-party postsSee ** *** ***The case law is clear on this point 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 contentsSee *** ** *** *** *** *** ** ** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** ** *** *** ** *** ***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 concernsWe 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,
***Yelp Inc

Hi Nora,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Best Dog Ltd. We've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties and it looks like a member of our Customer Success team, Allison, reached out to you by
voicemail on March 13, to offer to go over the cancellation terms with you. Please note that per the Yelp Ad Terms***) you agreed to, we require days written notice to Yelp's account management team if you wish to terminate your advertising programSince your advertising program includes a Cost Per Click (CPC) program, the relevant part of Section V, Term and Termination of the Terms for your advertising program is as follows: "For Ad Programs that do include a CPC program, Client may terminate the Purchase Order on any day of the month by providing by providing thirty (30) days’ written notice to Yelp’s Account Management team via email to *** "It appears our Account Management team received your cancellation request on February 13, 2018, so your advertising program is set to cancel as of March 15, 2018. As advertising services are being delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to offer you a refund or waive the outstanding balanceIf you have further questions or concerns, please call our Customer Success team at the number Allison provided and ask for herThanks for understanding.Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/13) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** ***- *** Real Estate
You asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't
remove business informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses
You also expressed concern with how our content is monitoredWe allow users to post reviews and rely on the Yelp community to report content that they believe is questionableIf a review violates our Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines), then our Support team will remove itYou can report a review that you think may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines by clicking the flag icon next to itYou'll need to be logged into 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 guidelinesEach case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was receivedTypically, you will receive a response to your report within a few business daysIf you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add ***@yelp.com to your contact list)
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/09) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** Massage and Facial Spa
You expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have
read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measuredYou wrote, "The few negative reviews don't meet Yelps' listing criteria and yet they are posted," but the recommendation software actually 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 reviewsYou asked that we "List all positive reviews of *** Massage and Facial Spa of Rolling Meadows immediately," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is the same line of lies that they tell everyone! They CAN control which one is listed, the software EXCUSE is only their way to get out of being bias! Its not just my business, many, many other businesses feel the same but they are afraid if they file a complaint Yelp will list only negative reviews!!!! Yelp is only an avenue for other business to bully competitors, its the playground for unethical business bullies! Take a look at how their stock has dropped so drastically! "The company reported a loss, a cofounder left, and the stock nose-divedThe online listings site has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad yearIts shares are down 56% in so far, and down 64% in the past months." SO THE Revdex.com WILL ALLOW A COMPANY THAT IS GOING DOWN IN FLAMES TAKE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WITH IT? HARSH...SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS ARE VITAL TO OUR ECONOMY!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/10/23) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for your response
We want to first address your comment that businesses "are afraid if they file a complaint Yelp will list only negative reviews." We want to assure you that Yelp does not retaliate against businesses for any reason, including asking questions, expressing concerns or filing complaints
It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 recommendedBut 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 appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, simply because I want to be done with the matterI do wish your company was much more accommodating towards us new small business owners, being understanding of the fact we are new to advertising and new to working with the business's that supply it*** *** *** *** *** have all been more then accommodating towards my small business and I wish I could say the same for your company
Sincerely.*** ***

Hi ***,Thank you for writing back.While of course it is our hope that the programs will result in an increase of business for our advertisers, ultimately, we cannot guarantee results of an advertising program.With regards to your comment, "Yelp has the audacity to require additional monthly fees, and other charges to cancel," please note that the early termination fee and our day cancellation policy are both outlined in the advertising agreement you signedHowever, it appears we were not able to collect the early termination fee.It looks like you have since spoken with our account management and finance departmentsAs you may recall, your advertising program was terminated on October 20, It looks like there is currently an outstanding balance of $for advertising services delivered from September - October 20, As advertising services were delivered in accordance with your contract, we will not be able to offer you a refundThanks for understanding.Regards,***
Yelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** ** ***.You expressed concern with some reviewsIf you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines (***),
please let our moderators know by reporting itYou can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (dots) on the appYou'll need to be logged into your account to report content.To learn more, please visit: ***While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelinesEach case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received.Typically, you will receive a response to your report of a review within a few business daysIf you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add *** to your contact list).If you have reported a review, received an email from us about our decision to leave it up, and would like us to take a second look, you can submit a new inquiry by providing the case number (this is provided in our previously emailed response to the content you reported) here: ***You also expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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 reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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: ***Regards,***Yelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for *** *** *** *** ***.Our records indicate that you signed a six-month advertising agreement on August 7, with a service start date of August
24, We want to clarify that while we do allow advertisers to end their program early, early termination is typically subject to a feePer the terms of your advertising agreement, early termination was subject to a $fee.While it appears you discussed with our account managers the possibility of terminating your advertising program early, it looks like you ultimately agreed to have your cancellation date set for the end of your initial six-month term on February 23, Because your advertising program was terminated at the end of your initial term, the early termination fee was not assessed.As advertising services were delivered in accordance with the contract you signed, we will not be able to offer you a refund.You also asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Hi Judi,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Critter Camp Pet Boarding & Grooming. You expressed concern with Julie W.'s review of your businessWe have taken another look at this review and want to clarify
our policies as they pertain to cases like this.The only people who can speak authoritatively to a situation are the people who were there when it happened, so our moderators aren't in a position to take sides when factual accounts differAs long as a review appears to reflect the reviewer's personal experiences and opinions, we'll generally allow them to stand behind their review.With that in mind, we’ve taken another look and we stand by our original decision to leave the review up, as we did not find it to be in violation of our guidelines.It looks like you’ve already taken advantage of the messaging feature on your business account to post a public comment in response to the reviewYou also have the ability to directly message the reviewer; you can learn more at ***And for additional guidance on using your business account, visit ***.Please note that the Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines is separate from actions taken by Yelp's automated recommendation softwareBecause our recommendation software is automated, the Yelp Support team cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewOur recommendation software is automated precisely so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every review without being overridden by someone's personal preferences. That said, our recommendation software runs on a daily basis, so reviews that aren't currently recommended may be recommended in the future, and vice versa. We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: it doesn't address the very fact they are purposely hiding reviewsIt is their platform and they can either make all reviews seen or they can remove my business. There is no law that states that my business information has to be on their site, none whatsoeverThey are not giving information about businesses to the public they are creating their own narrative about what they wish the public to see on their siteHence all the negative reviews about their business practices found all over the internetSincerely,*** Gilvin

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for *** *** * ***You expressed concern that your advertising program continued past your initial year termOur records indicate that you signed an
advertising agreement on June 25, with a service start date of July 1, The terms stated in your advertising agreement with Yelp were:"Commitment Period: months from Service Start Date""Automatic renewal: Month-to-Month"That is to say, once you completed your initial 12-month term, your advertising continued to renew automatically on a monthly basis until we received a cancellation request from youPer the terms of your advertising agreement, cancellation requests received by the 15th of the month mean a business will cancel at the end of the monthIt looks like we received a written cancellation request from you on July 6, 2016, so your advertising program was terminated on July 31, 2016.Our records also indicate that various Yelp representatives were in contact with you throughout your advertising campaignFor example, it looks like your sales representative, ***, left you a voicemail on June 25, because you were coming towards the end of your initial term and he wanted to discuss your ad performance and options moving forwardIt appears *** in our finance department emailed you on March 11, because we had not been able to process the credit card on file, and that she was able to speak with one of your colleagues on March 12, to get an updated expiration date for the cardAn account manager, ***, emailed you on August 20, with a recommendation to update your Call to Action featureAnother account manager, ***, emailed you on December 8, wanting to connect about your advertising campaignAnother representative, ***, reached out to you in March and April by voicemail and email, wanting to discuss recommendations she had for you. As advertising services were delivered in accor***ce with the advertising agreement you signed, we will not be able to offer you a refundIt looks like there is currently an outstanding balance of $for advertising service delivered in July For further assistance with this balance, please reach out to TrueAccord, a third party collection agency we are using, at *** *** ***Regards,***Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/23) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** Service
If a review is not appearing on the main Yelp listing of a business, it would be for one
of three reasons: the review is currently being suppressed by Yelp's automated recommendation software (which affects both positive and negative reviews); the review was found to be in violation of our Content Guidelines or Terms of Service and has been manually removed by the Yelp Support team; or the user elected to remove the review him/herself
With regards to your concerns with the recommendation software, as you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measuredEven 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 reviewsYou wrote, "We would like ALL reviews to be easily found and read by the general publicBoth positive and negative," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/06/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is Yelp's "canned response" to all complaints of this very natureThere are hundreds of themAll reviews should be made public with no interference by YelpNegative reviews can be addressed by company personnel for public viewingThis is the way all other sites such as Google and Yahoo functionMany of our customers are angry that Yelp chose to "Not Recommend" their positive review (Star) of our companySome have contacted Yelp with no results
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/06) */
Hi ***,
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 statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 consumersYou wrote, "All reviews should be made public with no interference by Yelp," but please keep in mind that reviews that are not currently recommended are accessible from a link at the bottom of each business's page and can still be seen on a user's profile page
We recognize that this approach is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive raveWe do our best to nurture a community of users who actively contribute reliable and useful content
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 recommendedBut 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 appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Hi William,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Tri-Valley Landscaping. You expressed concern with a reviewIt looks like you may be referring to the review by T.CCIt appears this user has since edited their
reviewWe’ve looked at T.CC.'s current review of Tri-Valley Landscaping, and have elected to leave it upIf a review appears to reflect a user's personal experience and opinions, it is our policy to let the user stand behind his or her review.Should the business owner wish to address the reviewer’s comments, he or she can do so via a direct message or publicly using Yelp's review response featuresWe provide guidance for business owners at ***With regards to your comment, "legitimate customer compliments are hidden from visibility to the public," one of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software with the goal of showcasing reliable reviewsThis means Yelp doesn’t recommend every review from every user and is automated so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every reviewThis is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive raveThe software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on YelpWhat is recommended can change over time, and a review that is currently not recommended may be recommended on another day.We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: *** and visit our Support Center for more resources: ***Finally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business informationWhile 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. Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** *** * *** ***We first 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 treatedBusinesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertiseWe understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit *** and *** to learn more.With regards to your concerns with the recommendation software, as you may have read, one of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software with the goal of showcasing reliable reviewsThe software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on YelpThis means that solicited reviews may not be recommended by our software, but sometimes a legitimate review may not be as well. It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviewsYou asked that we "Take the good reviews out of the "un-recommended" review section," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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: ***Regards,***Yelp Inc

Hi ***Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for *** ***.We've forwarded your message to a manager, ***As you may recall, *** reached out to you by email on April 13, to provide you with some
additional clarification about the advertising program you signed up for and how the promotional credit was applied.We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaignTo 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 guaranteedWhen advertising with a Cost Per Click program, you were electing to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression, and you set your monthly ad click budget at $You were also paying for enhanced profile features, which cost $per monthYour $promotional credit was applied towards the advertising services you received in November and part of December You can view information about the ad clicks you received and billing information in the Yelp Ads and Billing tabs of 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 AccountIf you only wanted to use your $promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was usedDuring 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.Your advertising program was terminated on January 21, due to nonpaymentAs advertising services were delivered in accordance with the Terms (***) you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the remaining balance of $for the advertising services you received in December and January Thanks for understanding.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/16) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for *** *** Transportation
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising
campaignTo be clear, while it is our hope that advertisers will find success via the Yelp advertising program, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteedWhen advertising with an impressions-based program, you are paying for the delivery of a certain number of targeted ad impressions (in your case, ad impressions per month) as well as additional features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow
You expressed concern with our cancellation policyAs noted in the advertising agreement you signed, we require written notification to your account manager on or before the 15th of the month in order to to terminate advertising at the end of that monthIf you provide written notice after the 15th of the month, then the advertising program will terminate at the end of the following monthAs you submitted your cancellation request on May 27, 2015, your ads were terminated on June 30,
You also expressed concern with the early termination feePer the terms of the advertising agreement you signed, early termination is subject to a fee of $
Finally, it looks like Kyle on our account management team reached out to you on July As you may recall, he left you a voicemail requesting that you call him back if you have further questions regarding your early termination fee or any other concerns
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/29) */
Hi Dr***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** ***, DDS
You expressed concern with a negative reviewWe assume you are referring to the
review by *** T, as it appears you've previously reported this reviewAs you may recall from the message you've 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 guidelinesIf 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
While we appreciate your reservations to post public comments or send private messages to reviewers, we encourage you to consider ways in which you might utilize these features without revealing confidential informationYou might, for example, ask a reviewer to contact you off the site to discuss these issues further or make general clarifications about your businessJust keep in mind that we have a number of other features available to help you make a positive impression on our users, and reach out to potential clients
You also expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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
With regards to your comment, "these positive ads were not being awarded the same respect as the negative review," we want to clarify that the recommendation software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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
Finally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp, but we actually don't remove business listing informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I never gave anyone the authorization to placed on Yelp! I want my name removed from their systemI do not feel that any health care provider should be placed on this web site due to patient/doctor confidentiality
If their software is automated then they need to fix the problem because it eliminates 96% of my positive reviewsI see to patients in one day and I have asked for their response of treatment to be placed on the siteCan you please have someone from Yelp to address these issues XXX-XXX-XXXX
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/16) */
Hi Dr***,
Thank you for your response
You have again asked that your business listing be removed, but as previously stated, we don't remove business listing informationYelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the well-established fair use doctrine, as well as First Amendment principlesGenerally speaking, this means that we can display business names and trademarks "for purposes of comparison, criticism, point of reference, or any other such purpose." See New Kids on the Block vNew America Pub., Inc., F.2d 302, (9th Cir1992)
It also sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 recommendedBut 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 appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/11/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
***,
I have read your response and again your system is not set up for fare replies
You will be hearing from my attorney because 90% of my positive responses are not posted for review!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/15) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** Coaching
You expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of
Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measuredThe 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 everyoneYou wrote, "I'd like businesses reviewed to be able to have some control over postings," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-makingWhile cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review, 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Activity on Yelp is a specious argumentExample: a client is very satisfied with a service or product and is asked if they can use the enthusiasm for a testimonialIn conversation, the client says they will write a Yelp reviewThey are not the "typical" reviewer who sends multiple reviews but their experience with the product or service has equal validity...may even more...as they are willing to do something out of their ordinary practice
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/03) */
Hi ***,
It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 recommendedBut 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 appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue
Regards,
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Yelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** ***You asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep
a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.Thanks for understanding.Regards,***Yelp Inc