# Do you use yelp? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342 "2012-05-28T12:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/41 "2012-05-29T19:09:21Z")
It is possible to read the filtered reviews and if I am considering going to a place I’ve never been, I do read the filtered ones. I like to get the whole picture. If I read the reviews of the OP’s place and noticed that all the positive ones were filtered and the negative ones not, I would probably go there just to see who’s kidding whom! IOW, I’d be suspicious of Yelp. Also, I am curious to know how much the fee is. If it’s a little then maybe it’s not extortion; if it’s a lot, then it is. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/42 "2012-05-29T19:10:10Z")
I’ve no idea at this point what kind of feedback they’ve gotten. I wrote them to help out people who might go to a bad place or to reward the owners/staff at good places, not to play games with having enough Yelp “friends” or pass some secret test to be worthy of having an opinion. Seeing them torpedoed with a “Gee, sometimes our filter edits out legitimate reviews… oh well, sorry!” means I’m just wasting my time on the site. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t keep me up at night. But why would I bother contributing to a place with a shitty filter (and yes, when it kills reviews I know are legitimate, I consider it a shitty filter) and wasting my time throwing words into a void? Or reading other reviews knowing that any number of good reviews are getting dumped? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/43 "2012-05-29T19:20:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s easier to judge what people are complaining about and whether they know what they’re talking about than it is to judge the positive reviews, at least IMHO. I do the same thing with any vendor. I don’t care about the high rating. I want to see what the low ratings are, whether they have a common denominator, when they are dated, and whether it is something I feel is a legitimate complaint or just somebody being bitchy. I do this, too. There are a few buffet places in my area that are \*spectacularly \*good buffets, but they have low Yelp ratings simply because they’re buffets. People who judge a buffet against the higher food and service standards of non-buffet restaurants are ridiculous, yet running roughshod over those businesses’ Yelp pages. That’s just one example I can think of, I’m sure there are others. If it makes you feel any better, I believe Yelp’s filter is total bullshit and will always go out of my way to read the filtered reviews. I don’t get filtered on there anymore, but I used to. It’s aggravating and unjustified. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/44 "2012-05-29T19:47:02Z")
I do use Yelp. Oddly, though, I tend to use it more when I want to sound off about a business or restaurant where I’ve already been, either good or bad. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/45 "2012-06-02T17:51:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > …(Then again, there’s one fantastic goat place by my house that has 106 reviews without a single one-star or two-star review. That’s a pretty incredible spread for Yelp! and the rating is fully justified, in my opinion. If I saw any other place with a rating spread like that, I would visit it post-haste.)… goat place? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/46 "2012-06-02T18:01:08Z")
Never used Yelp. About all I know is it keeps bugging me on Facebook about all the very most mundane and uninteresting things people I haven’t spoken to in 20 years are doing all day. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/47 "2012-06-02T18:50:24Z")
> [@carlotta](#): > > goat place? Heh, I assumed he meant [Girl and the Goat](http://www.girlandthegoat.com/) but they have 1470 reviews on Yelp. :smack: Probably some other Chicago restaurant that serves goat - maybe that place that offers goat curry every year at the Taste of Chicago. (Or a clever autocorrect error.) ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/48 "2012-06-03T05:57:48Z")
I never check the average. I read the individual reviews and pay attention to how the reviews are written. You can tell when people are just being jerks (didn’t get the freebies they were “owed” or whatever), as opposed to legitimate complaints (or praise). ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/49 "2012-06-04T01:15:04Z")
The sort of shady tactics described by the OP make me feel for the business owners - having said that I do rely on Yelp all the time when looking for new places to eat, travelling, etc. and find the ratings (of places with a large enough number of reviews) to be generally reliable. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/50 "2012-06-04T19:16:09Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Heh, I assumed he meant [Girl and the Goat](http://www.girlandthegoat.com/) but they have 1470 reviews on Yelp. :smack: Probably some other Chicago restaurant that serves goat - maybe that place that offers goat curry every year at the Taste of Chicago. (Or a clever autocorrect error.) [Birrieria Zaragoza.](http://www.yelp.com/biz/birrieria-zaragoza-chicago) There’s a good number of Mexican goat places in Chicago. ETA: Not to mention the other ethnicities that also serve goat (Jamaican goat curry, for instance.) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/51 "2012-06-05T19:02:17Z")
I’m going to say yes, but I use Google just as often if there are a fair number of recent reviews. I look at the average review score, but I also look at recent reviews. If it’s a bad review but the person is complaining about things that aren’t reasonable or they seem like a high maintenance person I effectively ignore the review. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/52 "2012-06-07T02:38:53Z")
“Unlocking” your business’ Yelp page so that you can reply to review does not cost anything, I just did it, and now I can respond to reviews, esp. as you say, ones that pointed out problems which we rectified. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342/53 "2012-06-07T02:45:57Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > People who judge a buffet against the higher food and service standards of non-buffet restaurants are ridiculous, yet running roughshod over those businesses’ Yelp pages. That’s just one example I can think of, I’m sure there are others. Yeah, I find that tons of people judge a place by the way wrong standard. If I like a place I’ll give it a 5-star review to try and offset the idiots who were expecting a Michelin-star experience at the corner dive bar or the neighborhood Chinese takeout joint. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-yelp/623342.md?page=2)