Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), a popular user generated review website, recently discovered that some of their reviews may be a sham.
The company just posted a warning for it’s users, saying that some of the user generated reviews on their website might be from paid writers, and they have taken the liberty to track down the suspicious reviews. Starting on Thursday, they’ll post a warning on certain business pages they think have been tampered with. They will leave the warning up for at least 90 days, unless they find more signs of suspicious activity. Yelp will also alert their users if a business has many reviews coming from the same IP address. The blog post indicates, “While the review filter already takes this type of information into account, we believe that consumers also have a right to know if this activity is going on.”
As of today, Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) will post these warnings on nine business pages, but they could post more warnings in the near future.
Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) is a social-driven review website that’s become popular with the mobile phone generation. They’ve got reviews for all the major cities, including New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago, as well as cities around the world.
It’s a good thing that Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) has caught on to this issue before it got bigger. The website has proven to be a valuable and trusted resource for folks in many local areas, as well as travelers. While it is understandable that some businesses just want a few good reviews, it’s a shame when some resort to hiring individuals to post false reviews. Fortunately, most of the reviews you’ll find on the website are honest, though you should proceed with caution if you suspect a dishonest review. Yelp also promises to continually watch out for shady reviews.
