I've been running a business review website for about 4/5 years and I absolutely hate it.
If I had $1 for every time a business owner writes a review for themselves (signing up for an account with their business email address no less), our system removes it and then they email me within minutes complaining that a genuine customer had written them a review, where has it gone...
There are lots of variables our algorithms track to try and make a decision on whether to filter a review or not and of course it will get things wrong but if there wasn't any filtering in place, the amount of spammy reviews would be overwhelming.
I feel somewhat for Yelp, even with all their millions of dollars to throw at the problem as there is no easy solution, ignoring any potential pay for stars type nonsense. That is something I would never do and am very proactive when it comes to protecting small businesses.
Like I said though, after years of seeing people try to pull a fast one, the warmth in my heart fades.
If I had $1 for every time a business owner writes a review for themselves (signing up for an account with their business email address no less), our system removes it and then they email me within minutes complaining that a genuine customer had written them a review, where has it gone...
There are lots of variables our algorithms track to try and make a decision on whether to filter a review or not and of course it will get things wrong but if there wasn't any filtering in place, the amount of spammy reviews would be overwhelming.
I feel somewhat for Yelp, even with all their millions of dollars to throw at the problem as there is no easy solution, ignoring any potential pay for stars type nonsense. That is something I would never do and am very proactive when it comes to protecting small businesses.
Like I said though, after years of seeing people try to pull a fast one, the warmth in my heart fades.