Yelp, we’ve all used it to gain some into trying a new restaurant, looking for good dry
cleaners, gardeners, handymen, and more. Who would have thought so much information can
be at the tip of your fingers? Yelp is an online organization that enables the user to get an idea of what other people think of a person, place, or thing. What you might not know is that Yelp is extremely biased.
Contents
Yelp Overview – Yelp Reviews
Yelp is a website where users review and make recommendations of best restaurants, hotels,
dentists, doctors, gyms, shopping, nightlife, food, entertainment, things to do, and more.
You can check Yelp to read customer reviews and get a feel for what most people think about a person, place, or thing before going there or buying an item. For a lot of people, this allows them to make better decisions about the doctor they might visit, the gym they are thinking about getting a membership to, and even a new restaurant they are planning on trying out.
Yelp got started because, in 2004, a PayPal employee named Jeremy Stoppelman became sick and searched the internet to find the best doctor in town. To his surprise, he couldn’t find much information on whether one doctor or the other was better. To fix this issue he and his PayPal colleague Russel Simmons raised money to form an email circle where their friends could write and share reviews with each other.
This kick-started the now all famous Yelp website where people from all around the world can write reviews and others can view those reviews and recommendations to make more informed decisions.
A Review Of Yelp – Yelp Reviews
Yelp has grown to be so popular that it has 73 million unique monthly users on its mobile app
and over 100 million unique monthly users on their desktop site. It continues to be a tool for Gen X and millennials as these two groups make up 69 percent of users. The people who post reviews on Yelp are also highly educated.
80 percent of users have at least some college and 19 percent have completed graduate school. Even though Yelp reviews are generally positive with just under 50 percent of reviews being five-stars there are some one-star reviews. 22 percent of people who review on Yelp would not recommend their establishment or item they are reviewing.
This gives users confidence that they are getting everyone’s opinions and not just one super fan or disgruntled customer.
Additionally, 85 percent of people trust online reviews and use them to make decisions. Only
Google gets more views before Yelp because 64 percent of people use Google to make a
decision before they purchase an item and 45 percent of consumers visit Yelp first. These
statistics show just how popular Yelp is and how its popularity is continuing to grow.
However, not everyone is as satisfied with Yelp as those previous statistics deem. Let’s start
with an article that was published in Forbes magazine. The article discusses how many people rely on Yelp for accurate advice on organizations they are thinking about visiting and products they might want to purchase.
Unfortunately, according to this article, Yelp is very biased. Yelp filters results according to certain arcane rules that are not disclosed to the reviewers who post
their thoughts for the company benefit.
Depending on the site rules, when a person submits their review it can be denied and never make it on the website. The article goes on to mention that Yelp is wary of first-time reviewers. If you post a negative review first, then you are able to post others. However, if your first post is positive they remove it and the same is said if all your posts are positive. This makes it difficult to get a real accurate depiction of the organization you are thinking about visiting or product you are thinking about buying.
Additionally, when looking at Sitejabber, Yelp has a customer rating of only 1.91 stars from over 1,054 reviews which indicates that most people are generally dissatisfied with their purchases.
The most commonly reported problems with Yelp are center around customer service, which is not good. A few of the reviews of Yelp posted on the website indicated that the reviews being
published for their company are extremely biased. One company stated that even though they have more than half of their reviews being good ones, the company is still placed in the not recommended category. Another company posted that every single good review of their
organization has disappeared, leaving only the negative reviews up for everyone to see.
When trying to contact Yelp, they are not helpful at all. Based on these reviews it appears that it is business owners that are having problems getting an accurate review of their establishment.
This, in turn, makes it difficult for potential customers to have an accurate representation of what they are searching for.
Vital Information
The things happening in the world today (Covid-19, Protest, Riot) are just trailer for what will happen if you are not raptured. If the trumpet sounds today, where will you spend eternity? In Heaven or in Hell?
Repent because the Kingdom of God is at Hand. No one can say they have not sinned, for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Repent today and be save from eternal damnation. Jesus Christ is knocking at the door of your heart today.
Are you a Christian already? Keep the fire burning in you, ask for fresh anointing daily.
Final Thoughts on Yelp Reviews
Yelp is a great starter tool in seeing what other people think of an organization or product before spending money on it. Before you believe everything you read on Yelp, pause, and think for a moment about whether or not the reviews are biased. There is really no real way to know whether or not you are receiving biased information so it is also best to seek advice from multiple avenues.
Even though customers review Yelp favorably, business owners are not seeing an accurate representation of their organization.
One place where people want a really accurate depiction of the place they are going to be
staying in is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic. Knowing the best place to go or even send your loved one can be very challenging.
Finding high-quality treatment centers for alcoholism is do all on your own. Treatment centers will provide you or your loved one with all the support you need to overcome your addiction and get back to a healthy, happy life.
Written by Stephanie Moloney.
References
11 Yelp Statistics For 2020 You Need To Know As A Business Owner. Boost Medical.
15 Things You May Not Know About Yelp. Search Engine Journal
Inpatient Alcohol Rehab Centers. Sunshine Behavioral Health.
Think Yelp is Unbiased? Think Again!!! Forbes Magazine.
