Adding to the confusion was that Yelp used to offer advertisers the ability to promote positive reviews on their profile pages - a feature that Yelp finally killed in April 2010, just a couple months after this class action lawsuit was originally filed. (And may not be the last.) From reading numerous articles over the years, anecdotal evidence suggests that Yelp’s sales staff can be overly aggressive in courting small business owners, while also unable to explain to small business owners why certain reviews remain on their Yelp business listing and others are filtered out - not a good combination for communicating with many SMBs. In a press release distributed earlier this morning, class action lawyers Beck & Lee from Miami and The Weston Firm in San Diego declared victory over Yelp, calling the modifications a 'first step. This isn’t the first time Yelp has been hit with accusations of wrongdoing. While we were confident that Yelp would ultimately prevail because we knew the allegations were false, it is helpful to have the matter resolved early so we can put these allegations behind us. In a blog post today, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman called the lawsuits “misguided” and said he’s “pleased” that the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice today, meaning it can’t be refiled. As CNET points out, that original suit was dismissed earlier this year and the plaintiffs were given a month to refile, which they did. A judge has thrown out a class action lawsuit filed against Yelp that alleged the company tried to extort small businesses by promising to remove negative reviews in exchange for money.Īs we reported when the suit was first filed in February 2010, the plaintiffs - which included a veterinary hospital in Long Beach, California - claimed that Yelp’s sales team said it would remove a “false and defamatory review” only if the vet bought advertising at about $300 per month.

Though some businesses may wonder why reviews disappear or move around a page, he said the algorithm that drives the rankings is set up to be dynamic and devoid of human bias.Yelp is off the hook, again. 'In order to protect consumers and businesses alike from being victimized by fake or malicious reviews, we employ an automated algorithm that we can't disclose entirely or else people will game the system.' 'We see daily attempts to write fake reviews promoting one business or negative reviews attacking a competitor,' he said. Though he said that the recency of a review, the credibility of a reviewer and the Yelp community's response to a review can affect its ranking on a business's page, he said he couldn't elaborate on the algorithm the company uses to rank reviews. 'This credibility of review content is critical to Yelp's value and is precisely why 29 million people used the site last month to find a great local business.'

And advertisers pay for advertising, not control over reviews on their page,' he said. 'Yelp treats review content equally for advertisers and non advertisers alike. Vince Sollitto, vice president of corporate communications for Yelp, last week told that the allegations 'are demonstrably false. We are working hard to make our business even clearer.' 'We understand some businesses can find us confusing or a source of anxiety. Especially the fact that misunderstandings about Yelp have arisen in the first place,' he wrote. 'I do want to ensure you that we don't take any of these allegations or events lightly. He emphasized that the company would fight both suits aggressively. 'These copy cat suits get filed in what is known as a race to the courthouse, where lawyers jockey to be named the lead lawyer of the case and take the biggest share of legal fees being among the first to file a suit increases the chance of being put in charge of the case,' he wrote.

Referring to a recent round of financing in which Yelp raised $25 million, Stoppelman wrote, 'These misconceptions are also fueled by lawyers, who may have heard about Yelp's recent financing round and may be seeking a share.' He also said that he wasn't surprised by the second 'frivolous' suit. 'They are borne from a lack of understanding of how Yelp works to provide consumers with useful information about local businesses and protect users from fake, or shill, reviews.' 'The allegations are false and easily refuted,' he wrote.

Class actio lawsuits against yelp