Most companies that are looking to be found online or that are using SEO services will at some point create a Yelp page. Yelp is a very popular search engine where users can read & write reviews about particular industries and companies that they have had experiences with or ones that they are interested in using. One problem that Yelp has certainly had over the years is to filter out reviews in which they feel are fraudulent.
The most recent update that Yelp has rolled out is showing evidence of review fraud right on a company’s business page. Once yelp has detected that a review is fraudulent, they will place a consumer alert box along with a button that reads “show me the evidence”. From this box on the yelp review, you can see the specific place where the business owner has been suspected of trying to pay someone in order to leave a review. A popular platform that business’s use to post ads on is Craig’s list. If yelp finds this ad, they will take a screenshot as evidence. Below is a screenshot showing a consumer alter box along with a screenshot of where the “show me the evidence” button may take you.
The “show me the evidence” box may link to a screenshot of a Craig’s List ad, from a business looking for a review. Below are potential screenshots, you would see when looking at the evidence. As a search engine, Yelp wants to offer its users the best results possible. Moving forward, we will surely be monitoring Yelps updates and new filtering techniques.