Yelp.com

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]
We're sorry to hear that your refund was not processed in a timely manner. We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience, and have...

forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. A refund of $350.00 was processed on December 20, 2016. This refund should be on its way to your card if you haven't already seen it. 
Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi Ted,Thanks for the feedback.Our recommendation software recommends both positive and negative reviews in an effort to show the most helpful and reliable reviews to our users. That said, Yelpers write more positive reviews than negative reviews, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that Yelp’s recommendation software might impact more positive reviews.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 while we think we do a pretty good job at it, there’s always room for improvement.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi Chris,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Custom Construction Services. One of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software with the goal of showcasing reliable...

reviews. This 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 review. This is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive rave. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on Yelp. What is recommended can change over time, and a review that is currently not recommended may be recommended on another day.Our recommendation software recommends both positive and negative reviews in an effort to show the most helpful and reliable reviews to our users. That said, Yelpers write more positive reviews than negative reviews, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that Yelp’s recommendation software might impact more positive reviews. We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: [redacted]Additionally, please note that actions taken by Yelp’s automated recommendation software are separate from the Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines. With regards to your comment, "We have an older bad review that we do not believe is accurate," in general, if 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.That said, if you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines [redacted] please let our moderators know by reporting it. You can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (3 dots) on the app. You'll need to be logged into your account to report content.To learn more, please visit:[redacted]While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelines. Each case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received. Typically, you will receive a response to your report of a review within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders [redacted]You also 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.Regards,HelenYelp 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've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, a manager, [redacted], spoke with you on December 28, 2016 to discuss...

your concerns. We are refunding you the charges from November 1, 2016 and December 1, 2016 totaling $300. Additionally, we are waiving the upcoming January 1, 2017 charge for $82.58.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 [redacted]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing again.You wrote, "the majority of my reviewers who have "reflected their personal experiences and opinions" are NOT being published!!!" To clarify, the Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines is separate from actions taken by our automated recommendation software. If a review is not recommended, that does not necessarily mean it is in violation of our guidelines.We also 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] and [redacted] to learn more.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]We first want to 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 [redacted]lf to learn more.With regards to your 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]With regards to your comment, "I also did a search for my location on their map and found I suddenly didn't appear anywhere in my area in a search for photographers," Yelp's search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/19) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We appreciate your bringing your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] and [redacted] to our attention, and will forward your note along to the appropriate parties.
Our records indicate that you...

initially signed up for an advertising package which included video hosting. However, as you may recall, a new advertising agreement was signed at the end of April (with a service start date of May 1, 2015) to remove the video hosting feature. Additionally, you were refunded $250 in April for the $50 per month video hosting fee that had been previously charged.
You asked that we "Refund of all money," but please keep in mind that your advertising program includes other features and services. You are signed up for a Cost Per Click (CPC) program, which means you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression. Your advertising package also includes an enhanced profile, which includes features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow. As these services are being delivered in accordance with your contract, we will not be able to offer you an additional refund.
Finally, you wrote, "When our contract is up we will terminate all services and contact with Yelp." Our account management team has noted that you wish to end your advertising program at the end of your term on September 30, 2015.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

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]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/23) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] Urgent Care + Family Practice.
You expressed concern with [redacted] R's review. As you may recall...

from the message you received from the Yelp Support team, we've looked at [redacted] R'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 predicament 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 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 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 Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your feedback.We're sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising program, and would like to provide some clarification about how our self-serve advertising programs work.Our records indicate that 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 $150, 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 only be turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. You wrote, "Yelp didn't give me an opportunity to turn off the Yelp Ads before I was charged," but 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 the advertising services you received and how the promotion was applied:September 5 - 30, 2016- You received 32 ad clicks which cost a total of $125.27- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $62.64- $187.91 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $0October 2016- You received 34 ad clicks which cost a total of $150- Your Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $75- You had $112.09 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was partially used in September- You paid $112.91 for advertising services delivered in October 2016.November 1 - 3, 2016- You received 1 ad click which cost a total of $5.18- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $5.29- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used in September and October- The balance of $10.47 for advertising services delivered in November 2016 was waived.You 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. Information about how much of your promotional credit was applied each month is available in the Billing tab of your account.You ended your advertising program on November 3, 2016. As advertising services have been 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 Robert,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Extra Care Contractor. You expressed concern with Robert A.'s review. We have taken another look at this review and want to clarify our policies as they pertain to...

cases like this.We encourage reviewers to use their full names on Yelp, but this isn't an absolute requirement and many people don't. As a result, it may be difficult to match up a reviewer's name to the records maintained by many businesses, and our moderators aren't in a position to arbitrate these situations. Additionally, 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 differ. As long as a review appears to reflect the reviewer's personal experiences and opinions, we'll generally allow them to stand behind their review. Our moderators generally aren't able to consider outside information or arbitrate disputes, if there's a disagreement over the facts of a situation.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.You may want to consider reaching out to the reviewer or publicly commenting on the review, which you can do with your free business account. While it is ultimately up to the reviewer to decide if they wish to engage further, responding to your reviews can show both the reviewer and visitors to your Yelp page that you care about your business. You can learn more about directly messaging your reviewers or publicly commenting on your reviews at [redacted]For additional guidance on using your business account,[redacted].Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your response.We've taken another look at [redacted] 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 predicament by passing legislation 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 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 contents. S[redacted]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 Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/21) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] Grooming.
You expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of...

Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.
It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
You also expressed concern with a negative review of your business. It looks like you are referring to the review by [redacted] D, as you reported this review to Yelp on the same day you filed this Revdex.com complaint. As 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 guidelines. You claim that this review is from an ex-employee, but based on what we see in the review, we can't confirm that the user has a conflict of interest with the business. 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.
With regards to your request for your business to be removed from Yelp, 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.
Finally, while our Yelp Support team doesn't offer phone based support, they do provide email based support through our Support Center (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, 2015/09/25) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I [redacted] I am the owner of t and j pet grooming. I raise high concern about this matter.we have had some good review over the past few months that the same day they write them they are put in a none recommend file how is that good for my business it is not good for my business. Just to let you know we have had 18 people look us on yelp this month alone and not even one lead from that came in in to our store how aare you helping me with that u are not yelp is not doing there job right maybe yelps software needs to be update. To help out with small businesses owned company like mine yelp need to go thru my reviews and look at them closer and see that all of our good review are not fake and the 2015 review need to be update and all of the 2012 and 2013 review need to be put in a none recommend file since they are one to two years old there need to be a new refesh review on my page not old ones from two years ago that is hurting my business this matter needs to be fixed and the system update on my profile. If not fixed in a timely matter I will take further action on yelp company thanks for understanding hopefully yelp will fix my issue.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/10/05) */
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.
You asked that we recommend the newer reviews for your business, but 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.
Additionally, there is currently no expiration date for reviews on Yelp but users can sort the recommended reviews to show the most recent reviews first.
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.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].We've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, a manager, [redacted], reached out to you by voicemail and...

email on November 15 to let you know that we have waived the remaining balance of $10.47 for advertising services delivered November 1 - 3, 2016, so you will not incur further charges. [redacted] has also submitted a request for your credit card information to be removed.We also want to clarify that not all features on the Yelp for Business Owners website ([redacted]/) are currently available on the Yelp for Business Owners app. For example, in order to manage and end self-serve advertising campaigns, business owners must log in to the Yelp for Business Owners website rather than the mobile app. For more information about the Yelp for Business Owners app, please visit: [redacted]If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to [redacted] directly.  Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your feedback. We have written off the outstanding balance of $742.41, so you will not incur further charges. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing again. We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience. With regards to your concern about the category, we have systems in place to keep our data accurate and timely but from time to time, errors can occur. While we cannot create categories on request, we'll make sure to forward your note to our Product Team so that they can take your feedback into consideration. In the meantime, we recommend using the features in your Business Account to make the nature of your business c[redacted]r to people viewing your listing.Additionally, it looks like you applied a promotional code for a Yelp Ads Credit when you signed up for your advertising program. $37.46 of this credit has been applied towards the ad click you received, so will not incur any charges. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely,John [redacted]

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] review. We’ve taken another look at this review, and have carefully considered your concerns that the reviewer may...

have a conflict of interest. However, we are still unable to confirm the conflict using the information we have in our systems, so the review has been left up.We also 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.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 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 wrote, "put my reviews in date order." The default order for recommended reviews is Yelp Sort, which attempts to show reviews that help consumers make informed decisions. For example, the first review displayed for a business will be one that reflects the average star rating of a business. The order is determined by recency, user voting, and other review quality factors, which is why an older review may appear before a newer one. Keep in mind when viewing a business a user can sort the reviews in a few other ways, including by date.Regards,[redacted]
 Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/23) */
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] R'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. 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.
You also expressed concern with the photo [redacted] R posted to your business page. We have removed this photo because it falls outside our Content Guidelines.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/09/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Yelp is for customers or potential customers to review businesses. If you review her "updated review" she clearly stated no intention of being a customer and also clearly states her intentions of bartering, not a method of payment I offer. [redacted] has shown Yelp a clear view of her lack of ethics and morals by posting that trumped up photo and this review that is a tantrum she is having because I refuse to trade a $100 pair of shoes for her "art". This business is 50% veteran owned. Is this how Yelp feels veteran business owners should be treated?
No leaving those lies and that tantrum up on your website is Yelp providing a venue for libelous statements. If you are going to provide a venue for people to complain, you should make them aware of the legal ramifications of their actions (and you should be aware of the legal ramifications of your inaction).
What I also find interesting is how this trite review is recommended, but a 5 star review I received from a customer is not. You all are intentionally creating a bad vision of my business on your site because you are not giving a clear and completely factual calculation / review. Aren't you all being sued by several people for this already?
I want the review removed and I want this person banned from any further harassment towards myself and my company. Your guidelines allow a person to complain about a company that won't barter with them in 2015, a company that does not list that as a legitimate form of payment? This person has blatantly states no intentions of being a paying customer. [redacted] of [redacted], ** has stalked me /my company for a year since I declined her bartering offer last year and she made my life a living [redacted] for almost two months. She is allowed to update her review after having NO business dealings with me except rude and threatening emails and you're allowing this?
You all are just as immature and disgusting as she is if you allow this sort of behavior from a child throwing a tantrum to prevail.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2015/10/07) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
We wanted to let you know that after further evaluation, we have removed this review by [redacted] R because it falls outside our Content Guidelines.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 12, 2015/10/08) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Review was removed as stated by the Yelp representative.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Yelp has decided to not show the reviews our company has earned. The only review showing, out of 7 total, is the one negative review we have.The reply included nothing but a repeat of information I heard on the phone before. I guess they train all of their staff to explain why they're crooks in the same way...Yelp has not attempted to resolve the issue. They seem to be hiding behind their backwards policies instead.  It's unfortunate that I checked their Revdex.com rating after I signed up to advertise with them. They don't deserve a penny they got form us.
Sincerely,
[redacted]