Among business owners, it is widely acknowledged that Yelp filters reviews through a mysterious algorithm that seems to allow more positive reviews when the small business pays for a subscription and seems to filter most of them out when the business does not pay.
For more information please click on the following links:
VentureBeat.com: Review sites like Yelp can now legally manipulate reviews for cash. But should they?
Forbes.com: Does Yelp have “The most trusted reviews”? A Court wants to know more
SocialMediaToday.com: 3 Reasons Yelp cannot be trusted
Lets take a look at A Formal Affair Limo reviews and see how Yelp’s policy applies to us.
Below is the PrintScreen of the reviews that Yelp does not recommend and does not include into the overall business star rating.
Here is a review that Yelp does recommend
Please note that the reviews left by Sande P and Art K, are identical in a sense that both have 0 friends, both left only 1 review on Yelp, and both lack the profile photo meaning they have set up account on Yelp just to leave this one feedback. The only difference is the star rating of the business.
Why do you think Yelp’s algorithms deemed three positive reviews as not trustworthy and marked negative review as trustworthy. Please also note that there is not a single negative review that is not recommended.
Let us give you a hint: A Formal Affair does not advertise on Yelp.