Yelp Founder Says "No Extortion — Just a Misunderstood Algorithm"

Early last year, a story in the East Bay Express reported that review site Yelp's ad sales force was using hardball tactics that amount to extortion — essentially, suggesting that negative reviews would remain prominent on the Yelp page for a particular restaurant or other business, unless the business bought advertising through Yelp, in which case Yelp could "do something" about the negative reviews. In a recent interview with the New York Times (the questions seem rather softball, but they do address this issue), Yelp co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman says it just isn't so, and blames unhappiness by business owners with the review site on the site's "automated and algorithmic" review-filtering system, which he describes as "counterintuitive." Stoppelman also says that Yelp's advertising salesmen have no connection to that filtering system, which doesn't quite answer the question of whether the salesmen claimed to be able to influence the reviews displayed, as some business owners allege. Updated 22:09 GMT by timothy: As reader AKMask points out below (now corrected above), that's the East Bay Express, rather than the East Bay Examiner.

It's New York !!

[Anonymous Coward]

Only Chicao even comes close to the corruption there.

Hey, it's New York

[Jawn98685]

It's not "extortion". That's such an ugly word. Clearly, there has been a misunderstanding. Yelp is merely offering "protection". You know, 'cause if youse don' have protection, t'ings coul' happen. You know, "t'ings". Maybe somebody trips and falls. Maybe a bun warmer overheats and there's a fire. Maybe people decide the food sucks and write about it. Like a whole lot'a people. You know?

Re:Let's say it again, all together now

[WrongSizeGlass]

Blackmail is not extortion.

Maybe so, but they are both sides of the same coin ... and we'd appreciate it very much if you'd give that coin to us .

Re:New maximum

[Anonymous Coward]

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the algorithm

[sohp]

looks something like this:

if (business_has_paid_for_ad) {
    review_minimum_threshold = 5;
} else {
    review_minimum_threshold = -1;
}

Re:Sham

[Anachragnome]

"They're about as reliable as bathroom stall graffiti."

At least with the grafitti you might get a blow-job to go with that Chicken Marsala and Riesling.

Review the reviewer...

[Anonymous Coward]

So where on yelp.com can write a review on yelp.com?