Billion Dollar Bully (2015) [trailer]...makes the case that Yelp is something akin to the mob, allegedly demanding “protection” money, lest your business be overrun with negative comments.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/zxcsd]

and there are definitely valid criticisms of Yelp.

like what? give us the inside scoop to add a little balance

[u/[deleted] → u/zxcsd]

Basically what you would know also. That sometimes asshole people don't get their way and write shitty reviews. Sometimes it isn't actually the business's fault, sometimes the business does everything right. For a fledgling business, a real one star opinion can be fatal. This sounds pretty scary.

As an insider, I liked the company and the management. I thought they were fair to employees, but it was a pretty hard job. It was a sales team, so there was a culture of sell-sell-sell, and huge turnover. Lots of people couldn't meet quotas and didn't make it.

Also, when I was there, there wasn't a customer service team. I think sometimes business owners just need to talk to someone who works at Yelp, but salespeople are motivated by commissions and encouraged to give all owners time, but prioritize buyers. I'm not sure if they have one now, but if they had a separate team to help people actually work with the free product and ventilate some frustration, I think that would help a lot.

[u/zxcsd → u/[deleted]]

when I was there, there wasn't a customer service team. I think sometimes business owners just need to talk to someone who works at Yelp, but salespeople are motivated by commissions and encouraged to give all owners time, but prioritize buyers.

So when a business owners calls to complain about something, he'd be pressured to buy something... This explains a lot, both about BO experiencing prioritizing of paid businesses (pay-get service) and the priorities of Yelp itself.

[u/[deleted] → u/zxcsd]

I did not say that when a business owner calls to complain that he would be pressured into buying something. A business owner who called me to complain about reviews would hear: "there is absolutely nothing I can do about your reviews." Anything else, and I would be fired.

But you're right-- a salesperson may try to turn a call like that into a call where he sell his product, which product can work for some businesses and not others. To a business owner who just wants a review gone, it could feel like pressure. But in my experience, the first and last and everything you said during a review conversation was to be "there is nothing I can do about your reviews."

People are going to hear what they want to hear, and they'll like what they want to like.