Yelp actually is very effective, one can easily decipher which reviews are genuine and which are juvenile simply because the juvenile reviews tend to say more about the person that is posting it then actually the place they writing about.
The rest of the reviews mostly reflect the experience that person had at a particular establishment.
Unlike other review sites or blogs there is no herd mentality and each review is independent of someones elses opinion.
Sure there is problems with such a massive site, however everybody hates the big guy who has more impact then anybody else.

A suit in San Francisco against Yelp that suggests that Yelp engaged in "implied extortion" has been thrown out of court by the federal trial judge. The plaintiffs can resubmit if they wish.

The story from the SF Business Times is here

And this is how Yelp advises restaurateurs to respond to critics.

GAF wrote:And this is how Yelp advises restaurateurs to respond to critics.

I went there, and it looks to me like they're dispensing very sound advice.

I also learned for the first time of The Streisand Effect.

For the record, this is Wikipedia's definition of the Streisand Effect:

The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely. It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, whose 2003 attempt to suppress photographs of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity.

(P.S., nice house, Barbra.)

Musings of the Yelp Elite:

http://theyelpelite.tumblr.com/

Fully aware my sentences would end up here if anyone did this to LTH, I chuckle still. Enjoy some true gems.

HI,

If there were a dubious banner quote opportunity, what I saw on the front page seemed to reflect. I did especially enjoys this quote:

"I was happy they accommodated my order of making the cod without encrusting it in chorizo and to cook it in very little oil. Overall the meal was a little bland but that could be my fault for ordering on the healthier side."

Yep, when it is cooked "your way," you have to take ownership for the result.

Regards,

the yelp elite tumblr has apparently been threatened into a name change.

Behold: the ____ elite

--Rich

RAB wrote:the yelp elite tumblr has apparently been threatened into a name change.

Behold: the ____ elite

--Rich

I found this statement:

Dear Friends

So it was inevitable. Due to various and sundry complaints and threats of digital kneecapping, we have been compelled to change our name and whatnot. We’ll now be at theblankelite.tumblr.com. Our e-mail will be theblankelite AT gmail.com. New twitter will be @the____elite.

“Minus one star for switching names midstream, but my biffledom still really likes the grey color scheme.”

PRINT THIS POST WORDS: 58Notes: 1 0 Comments and 0 Reactions 5/2/11 — 6:44pm Short URL: http://tumblr.com/xda2d5mw1s
Filed under: #sadness #URL change #end of an era #copyright law

RAB wrote:the yelp elite tumblr has apparently been threatened into a name change.

Behold: the ____ elite

--Rich

As per usual with this kind of site, along with the hilariously inept and the just plain stupid, there are one or two posts which are actually fairly cool. I enjoyed this one on a totally non-ironic and non-contemptuous basis:

"Service: in 3 words indifferent, spooky, confusing. We were seated and ignored for about 15 minutes, before the busser took our drink and dinner orders at our request. Our waitress then returned with an icy vengeance, creating awkwardness whenever she entered."

I was reading up on some new The ____ Elite posts and spotted this one about Canada, which made me chuckle. Apparently Yelp doesn't suck in Canada:

The ____ Elite wrote:So we went ahead and tried to find some wacky reviews from Canada [Vancouver specifically], and found something rather disappointing instead. All of the reviews we read were completely reasonable. Some were a bit irate, some slightly overdone, but nothing totally out there. If any of you out there are Canadian [or even if you’re not], please help us find zany reviews from your countrymen and women!

If LTH implodes, we should all just move to Canada and join Yelp.ca

-Dan

From The ____ Elite:

The good news is that I finally tried their mint hot chocolate.

The bad news is that not only do they not have a vegan alternative, the staff copped an attitude cause I asked if there was one. “We have WATER, would that serve your purpose?”

Actually a one star place but the extra star is because it did taste good. (No, I had the milk version, did I really had a choice?)

Ha. Reminds me of my all-time favorite negative review: one that slammed Kuma's Corner for not having anything vegan. Just think about that for a sec....

Wouldn't replacing the milk with water in a hot chocolate be the vegan alternative?

Darren72 wrote:Wouldn't replacing the milk with water in a hot chocolate be the vegan alternative?

Not if it's made with chocolate rather than cocoa, in which case extracting the milk might be a little difficult

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:From The ____ Elite:

The good news is that I finally tried their mint hot chocolate.

The bad news is that not only do they not have a vegan alternative, the staff copped an attitude cause I asked if there was one. “We have WATER, would that serve your purpose?”

Actually a one star place but the extra star is because it did taste good. (No, I had the milk version, did I really had a choice?)

Ha. Reminds me of my all-time favorite negative review: one that slammed Kuma's Corner for not having anything vegan. Just think about that for a sec....

The thing is, they have veggie burgers at Kuma's. I don't know if they are Vegan, but you could easily do vegetarian at Kuma's, what with the salads and mac and cheese, etc.

leek wrote:The thing is, they have veggie burgers at Kuma's. I don't know if they are Vegan, but you could easily do vegetarian at Kuma's, what with the salads and mac and cheese, etc.

Vegetarian is easy at Kuma's. But you have to be a special kind of smart to look at the burger menu - all of which have meat OR cheese OR both on top - and think it might be a good place for a vegan - and then complain about it. Reminds me of all the reviews of Pakistani places slamming them for having too many meat dishes and not enough things like saag paneer and whatnot

From a two-star review of Aviary:

"And despite the cocktail list, if you can't serve grey goose on the rocks, what's the freaking point of a bar?"

Darren72 wrote:From a two-star review of Aviary:

"And despite the cocktail list, if you can't serve grey goose on the rocks, what's the freaking point of a bar?"

Imbecilic, of course, but I actually found other posts in that thread to be somewhat helpful.

Everybody's a critic: Entrepreneurship in the age of Yelp

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... ge-of-yelp

In this thread
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41651
on the new GusGus restaurant in Skokie, the topic veered to discussion of one of the reviewers. His Yelp reviews... very interesting... such as this review of the Logan square ramen joint Wasabi:

I felt like I was in the Maldives. I was very happy. The food was great, customer service was great, and the atmosphere was great. A+++ Will go back again just like going back to my country. I like it the pork belly, very very good like my wife.

And would this make a good banner quote?

I like it the pork belly, very very good like my wife.

This guy had better not be my husband posting under a fake name!

Boston Restaurant Publicly Shames Horrible Yelp-Threatening Customers

"...a pair of horror show customers showed up at Michael Scelfo's restaurant Alden & Harlow recently with no reservation, sat themselves, "insulted and berated" the staff, and then refused to leave (one eyewitness also claims that before they sat themselves, they loudly told a bartender they weren't tipping because they couldn't get a table quickly enough), all while threatening to leave Alden & Harlow a bad Yelp review. So far, this sounds pretty normal — restaurants have to deal with self-aggrandizing jackasses like these all the time. Where it gets fun is Scelfo's response: he posted a picture of the customers on Instagram, along with a description of their terrible behavior that included the hashtag #wedontnegotiatewithyelpers."

skess wrote:Boston Restaurant Publicly Shames Horrible Yelp-Threatening Customers

"...a pair of horror show customers showed up at Michael Scelfo's restaurant Alden & Harlow recently with no reservation, sat themselves, "insulted and berated" the staff, and then refused to leave (one eyewitness also claims that before they sat themselves, they loudly told a bartender they weren't tipping because they couldn't get a table quickly enough), all while threatening to leave Alden & Harlow a bad Yelp review. So far, this sounds pretty normal — restaurants have to deal with self-aggrandizing jackasses like these all the time. Where it gets fun is Scelfo's response: he posted a picture of the customers on Instagram, along with a description of their terrible behavior that included the hashtag #wedontnegotiatewithyelpers."

Best reason ever to add a "Like" (or OMFG I love this) button to LTHforum.

I guess Urbanspoon is now Zomato, all hail our Zomato overlords.

Court Decides Yelp Can Change Ratings

...
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Tuesday that even if Yelp did manipulate reviews to penalize businesses, the practice would not constitute extortion. The court said businesses did not have a right to positive reviews on Yelp, and that the San Francisco-based company can seek payments for its advertising.
...

Cathy2 wrote:Court Decides Yelp Can Change Ratings

...
The court said businesses did not have a right to positive reviews on Yelp,
...

What a truly bizarre interpretation of the issue!

How is this news?? The NYT article via Associated Press was published September 4th, 2014.

hodnb wrote:How is this news?? The NYT article via Associated Press was published September 4th, 2014.

I didn't notice the date in tiny print when it came up on my newsfeed. Yet for someone, it may be news.

Regards,
Cathy2

Yelp launches new hygiene alerts to flag Chicago restaurants with the worst health inspection results

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

I really think those "hygiene" scores are going to be wielded in an irresponsible way because most people don't know how health inspections actually work. I see this all the time already when people talk about a failed health inspection and assume it's because the place was filthy and leaving raw meat out at room temp when, in reality, health inspections can be failed for any number of reasons. A lot of the time a failure is just a warning to get something fixed and the inspector will show back up to approve the fix.

I already think there is a problem with Yelpers accusing (mostly immigrant-owned or non-European cuisine) restaurants of being "dirty," and this will just weaponize that word even further.

From the article:

Only restaurants with the lowest 1% of health scores in the city over the past six months — about 30 Chicago restaurants — will be flagged with an alert, which includes details on the date of the inspection and the kinds of violations found. Common violations include not having adequate handwashing sinks and improper date marking, according to Yelp.

gnarchief wrote:I already think there is a problem with Yelpers

Iliana Regan vividly describes yelp as a 10-ton penis relentlessly “boinking you on the head.” linked article.

After Culinary and Literary Acclaim, She's Moving to the Woods