Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0
Yelp launches business accounts
Yelp lets customers write reviews of restaurants, shops, and all sorts of other businesses in communities throughout the country. And that's the sort of service that makes the site both incredibly useful and incredibly dangerous for business owners. Now Yelp is giving business owners tools that let them keep a closer eye on the reviews their establishment is receiving. If you sign up for a Business Owner Account, you can track how many people view your business page, update your business profile, and send messages to people who have reviewed your business. In order to get a business owner account, you'll obviously need to verify that you actually run the business in question.
Of course, there's no guaranty that you'll be able to prevent people from writing that your food tastes stale or that your bathrooms are smelly unless you actual improve your food and clean your bathrooms. You know, unless those folks on the internet are lying. But that never happens.
[via TechCrunch]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jonson roth said 7:38AM on 5-01-2008
Brilliant strategy. Pose a threat to business owners all over North America, then give them a "solution" to monitor the threat. Great way to give the world something we don't really need and still make money from it.
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marlene cliff said 12:18PM on 5-20-2008
how do i register with yelp.
i own my own business (electrology and esteticion)in danville ca.
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yelpsucks said 7:52PM on 6-05-2008
I am a small business owner in San Jose , ' Razzberry Lips' at Westgate Mall. ( www.razzberrylips.com .....makeover parties for girls).
Here is my recent experience with Yelp :
1) Yelp allows an unfounded criminal accusation against my business in the formof a review to remain on the yelp.com pages.
This accusation of criminal action ( racial discrimination)is damaging our business.
2) I posted a negative commentary on Yelp.com about Yelp.com and it was removed by Yelp management within a matter of hours.
3) As retribution , Yelp removed several positive reviews on my business from yelp.com
4) I had a conversation with a Yelp sales person who suggested that all this can be 'rectified' if I purchased a Business Owner Account.
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b_kellinger said 6:12PM on 7-12-2008
Here is some more information regarding the Yelp / Razzberry Lips story: * Yelp's sales reps use negative postings as a "lead source" to call the owner and attempt to sell Business Owner Accounts. * I received a phone call from a sales rep named Summer who stated that negative reviews could be moved to the bottom of the page and possibly removed in the future if I purchased a Business Owner Account. * The hypocrisy of the Yelp founders Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons is legendary , and is further amplified by their removal of my negative "review" of Yelp on their own website. So much for , "The voice of the people" or "Real People. Real Reviews" * Yelp hires paid "Yelpers" $15 / dollars an hour to write reviews because their business model is not succeeding. The ads for paid Yelpers can be found on Craigslist in every metro area in the U.S. You could call this, " Paid People . Fake Reviews". * On Friday July 4th , 2008 , the SF Chronicle ran an article about how Yelp removes establishments from Yelp if they complain or expose the Yelp hypocrisy publicly. * It is a known fact that Yelp is losing money at a burn rate that could put them out of business by next year. There is another popular website which has a "dead pool" in which the overwhelming number of readers select Yelp to go out of business within a year. They are desperate and are not performing a level public service as they represent. * They allow any unfounded accusation to remain on their site , no matter how inaccurate , without any regard for validation. * I attempted several times to contact the founders Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons regarding the situation described in the Mike Cassidy article. As cowards will do , they hid behind their desks. * My wife's business will continue to thrive for many more successful years and will outlast Yelp as they circle the drain throwing money at paid Yelpers and salespeople.
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