31 replies to this topic

[Steve Heard]

Here is an update: http://eater.com/arc...-allie-pape.php This is link provides a perfect example of what Yelp is doing!!!

I've heard of shakedowns like that before.

I think another thing to remember is that people seem to be much more willing to go online and write a review when they are angry and want revenge than when they are happy and want to spread the love.

[SacKen]

I've heard of shakedowns like that before.

I think another thing to remember is that people seem to be much more willing to go online and write a review when they are angry and want revenge than when they are happy and want to spread the love.

True, so they should be filtering bad reviews to keep things balanced, not valid good reviews.

I've never liked the Yelp model and have never used it other than to see what is in the area, not for reviews. It's always a bad model when your claim is to be unbiased towards the same entities that pay your bills.

Has anyone ever used Angie's List? That seems to be a better model for getting relevant reviews and info. Reviewers/consumers are paid members (vested interest in more accurate reviewing) and businesses provide no source of income to Angie's List (no vested interest in biasing the reviews since accuracy and relevance are actually better for business since it increases member trust in the reviews).