However, there are a few things of which we’re pretty certain, but which we can’t analyze in a meaningful way: First, do not ask customers to write a Yelp review while they’re at your business. This significantly hampers the ability of an outsider to penetrate the machinations of Yelp’s algorithm. If we knew exactly how it worked, then we could game it. There’s a reason for that: Yelp doesn’t want people to know how their algorithm works. So any comparison of the two classes of reviews can’t incorporate in-depth profile data-time spent on Yelp, their “Things I Love” list, whether a person has chosen a custom URL for their Yelp profile, etc. There is a key limiting factor in any analysis of visible versus filtered reviews-you cannot look at the user profile of someone whose review is not recommended. What Yelp doesn’t want you to know, and for good reason. The core of that question is, what does Yelp consider to be the critical components of a review’s trustworthiness? I decided to try and find out. In contemplating the many frustrating issues with Yelp, I’ve long wondered if it would be possible to determine whether a given review would be more or less likely to be filtered out by Yelp’s algorithm. I’ve had to deal with Yelp issues when working with clients, and have written about Yelp in the past (see my article on “ Dealing With Fake Reviews on Yelp”). Why is the review above written by a user with 52 friends and 5 reviews filtered out, while the one below makes the cut? If you take some time to scroll through a few Yelp pages, you’ll see reviews left by people who have written 1 review and don’t even have a profile image, while reviews from more established Yelp users end up in the dustbin. What actually determines whether a review is flagged by Yelp’s filtering algorithm? That’s a problem, because the vagueness of this process could provide sufficient cover to conceal bias or unethical behavior on Yelp’s part. While Yelp at least admits that reviews may be filtered out simply because the reviewer isn’t a frequent Yelp user, there’s still a lot that’s unclear. Yelp says that roughly 25% of all user reviews are not recommended by the algorithm. However, some reviews are filtered simply because the reviewer is inexperienced, not attuned to the tastes of most of Yelp’s users, or other concerns that have nothing to do with whether the Yelp users’ recounting of their experience is accurate. But these reviews are hard to find, and they don’t contribute to the business’s Yelp rating or review count.Īccording to Yelp, their algorithm chooses to not recommend certain reviews because it’s believed that the flagged review is fake, unhelpful, or biased. ![]() If a Yelp visitor chooses to dig deep and read them, they can. “Not recommended reviews” are reviews that have been filtered out by Yelp and not counted. Let’s find out if that’s true or not.įor those who aren’t aware, if you scroll down to the bottom of a business’s Yelp page, you’ll see light gray text that says “X other reviews that are not currently recommended.” And you’re probably assuming that this is because you’re not paying for Yelp’s PPC services. (If you’re not paying attention to your reviews, you should be-digital PR is a pretty significant facet of Internet marketing.) And if that’s the case, then you’ve probably fumed over every positive review that’s been condemned to the purgatory known as Yelp’s “not currently recommended” section. ![]() If you’re a business owner or manager, there’s a decent chance that you’ve spent some time obsessing over your Yelp reviews. Why does this happen, and what can be done about it? Business owners are often frustrated to find positive reviews from their customers filtered out by Yelp.
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