Yelp may not be illegal, but the combination of the Yelp review filter, Yelp’s policy against asking for reviews, and the fact that most satisfied consumers don’t voluntarily write reviews, stacks the deck against small businesses and professionals…
Review site, Yelp, carefully positions itself as the purveyor and arbiter of “recommended reviews”. Do Yelp business practices and the review recommendation algorithm (aka the “review filter”) introduce inaccuracy and bias to the overall ratings for a business?
Spoiler alert: Yes, it does.
Many of the arguments about Yelp bias are legal ones (i.e. business owners seek access to anonymous reviewer identities, and accusations of review manipulation by Yelp sales). However, we believe that there is a fundamental mathematical bias to Yelp reviews that is often overlooked.
Continue reading Are Yelp business reviews biased?