Speaking of food, Yelp, the site millions go
to for reviews of local eating establishments may be changing, and
not for the better. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco, said that review site Yelp could manipulate its ratings
for money.
So, if a small diner makes a big ad buy on the site, those extra
dollars could possibly boost the diner's rating, thus potentially
gaining it more customers.
Yelp says that it does not manipulate ratings, despite longtime
accusations from business owners. It says it uses an automated
process for star ratings on the site. There is no reason to believe
that the company is or will be 100 percent fair about business
ratings and placement just because it seems like the right thing to
do. Take your Yelp reviews with a grain of salt from now on, as
you should have been doing all along.
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