Full Of Yourself

Be careful if you ‘re thinking about reviewing yourself on Yelp. Or even if you’re thinking about having a friend write a flowery review for you. Check out the link to this New York Times article.  It details what happened when Yelp got evidence that a MedRite Urgent Care facility was offering to pay for favorable reviews.   

MedRite got one of these courtesy of Yelp: 

Ouch. Not exactly a merit badge. But I can see Yelp’s point. While consumers may feel harmed by a bogus review, ultimately Yelp is the most affected. Its service depends on readers trusting that the posted reviews are genuine and reliable. If consumers decide that the reviews aren’t on the up and up, they’ll stop using the service. So if the “Consumer Alert” seems a little heavy handed, you can understand why.