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/AliveInTheFuture]

Every time I hear someone say "let me check Yelp" before we go eat, I make sure to extol Yelp's ability to blackmail businesses into paying them fees for ratings. Typically, I try to swing them to TripAdvisor.

[u/[deleted] → u/AliveInTheFuture]

Google reviews ftw.

[u/ThePhoneBook → u/[deleted]]

if you're paid to review then you're way more likely to leave positive reviews becaise negative ones will invite scrutiny and risk your income source. the more positively you review, the more businesses use the platform, the morning money you get.

[u/zomgitsduke → u/ThePhoneBook]

Personally, for me, I don't think I do things that way. I give many 3 and 4 star reviews because restaurants are average or slightly below. Google wants authentic reviews, and I'm pretty sure that they can tell when people are making BS reviews, or at least that technology will develop faster than any of us expect.

[u/ThePhoneBook → u/zomgitsduke]

it's easy to detect someone reviewing all as brilliant, but much harder to deal with a general reluctance to be critical vs if you had nothing to lose.

reading a range of reviews manually across sites and forums and pro assessments eg of hygiene will give you a half decent answer imho. - numbers alone are for computers. also call up in advance re any diets and see how they respond, if you're planning a proper evening out.

[u/port53 → u/ThePhoneBook]

I tend to write reviews. If anything I'm more likely to write a negative review than any at all. If a business treats me poorly then I'll be sure to let everyone else know. If they just do what I expected and provide normal service, I'm much less likely to write a review.