Yelp Needs to Be Fixed - It Cannot Be Trusted

6/30/2010: UPDATE - Less than 24 hours after posting this blog, the fake review from Helen (referenced below) mysteriously disappeared from my Yelp page...funny how Yelp seems to have responded to my social media blast rather quickly about Helen but is still "unable" to reactivate Christy and Lauer's reviews until they "become more active on Yelp".

Two of my very loyal clients posted 5-star reviews on Yelp, and their reviews were "filtered" off the site because they are apparently not active enough in the Yelp community. To show my appreciation to both Lauer and Christy, I have included their reviews below for you to enjoy.  Additionally, at the bottom of this blog you will find the e-mail discussion I had with Yelp's client services team...

To summarize what was discussed in the emails:
There is actually a review on my Yelp page from someone who I do not know at all.  I do not have a dog client named Boris and I do not have a client named Helen, but somehow I have a review on my page from a woman named Helen with a dog named Boris who very clearly references my name and Get Pet.  If you read the review (pasted below Lauer and Christy's reviews here), you will see that Helen's review almost seems to be a compilation of all the other reviews I have received from actual clients.

Of course, Ms. Helen has 110 reviews on Yelp and Christy and Lauer only have one each - their glowing review of Get Pet :-).  From what Yelp is telling me, the only way that Lauer and Christy's reviews will start showing on my Yelp page again is if they each become more active on Yelp by reviewing more businesses and providing more reviews.  Hmmmm...what if they don't have any other businesses they think are exciting enough to warrant a review?  Should they lie and make up reviews so that their legitimate review can be viewed by the Yelp community?  I certainly hope that's not what Yelp is encouraging....

Of course if that is what Yelp recommends, then that might explain why Helen created a fake review of Get Pet.  Or maybe Helen doesn't exist at all and it's just a robot at Yelp creating content to entice me to start paying $300/month to be a premium business listing...I do keep getting calls from the advertising department after all....

Whatever the case, THANK YOU so much Lauer and Christy for taking the time to share your love for Get Pet online.  I'm so sorry that Yelp thinks it's best for a computer to decide that you are not real people with valued opinions that other consumers might want to read because I definitely value the time you took.

2 Filtered Reviews for Get Pet
Note: The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

Lauer B.
***** 6/1/2010 We were extremely nervous parents when we brought our puppy home from the breeder. How would we find a good dog walker? One that we could trust in our home and to care for our new, precious family member. Also, how would we find someone in the Streeterville area since parking can be an issue? I found Kyle and Get Pet on Yelp and took a leap of faith. Within minutes of meeting him, I knew we had hit the jackpot. He showed up on time, was VERY professional and spent an hour and a half answering questions and making training recommendations. He provides so much more than just walking your pet. He provides such great tips, is so trustworthy and is extremely thorough! You can tell right from the start that he adores animals and knows a ton about them! I honestly don't know what we would have done without him. I am certain that we will look back on this time and thank Kyle and Get Pet for what a fabulous, well-trained dog we have. Kyle is the BEST! Thank you for making our puppy experience filled with lots of already cherished memories! ;)  

I wish they had more stars to give!

Christy H.
***** 5/13/2010 My husband and I were having a difficult time figuring out what to do with our dog, Burnham. We had just finished obedience school and we were in the process of learning to manange our impulses and behave like a gentleman on walks.

We had a dog walker, but when I asked our obedience trainer about it, he indicated that if the dog walker is not reinforcing, on the walks, everything that we are learning, then "Burnie" would lose all we had worked so hard to learn.

It took months of calls and research to find Kyle, Gatsby and Dr. Seuss, but WOW what a blessing when we did. Kyle completely understood the "wait, watch, leave-it" commands as well as the inter "personal" communication that needed to take place between him and the pup (he understood, the "letter" and the "spirit" of what we needed).

We decided to give Kyle a try, and instantly we could see improvement in Burnie's behavior on walks. As the weeks have passed, we have continued to be impressed. We love Kyle almostas much as our puppy does.

Apart from being a wonderful teacher/walker/trainer for our dog, Kyle truly and sincerely loves his clients. He takes the time to discover who your pet is and caters to the personality nuances and needs of your dog. Our dog doesn't like to have his harness put on. So, Kyle will sit with him and give him a belly rub and really take his time and ease Burnie into the harness. He has also offered insights into our dog's personality that we didn't know and offered pointers and advice when we have sought it.

I cannot say enough about Kyle. 5 stars is definitiely not enough!

helen d.
***** 6/1/2010 For some people who are aversive to the prospect of having children, or need a trial run with Chia-Pets to see if they can keep the plants alive, pets are wonderful substitutes for human babies.  

I rescued Boris from an area shelter and found out to my surprise that, yes indeed, I have a nurturing side.  As my work schedule and overnight business travel became more frequent, I needed a reliable dog-walker  to come into my condo and exercise my little boy.  I also wanted a company that would also be able to pet-sit on occasions when none of my friends were available to help me out and I'd be gone for more than a day (i.e. out-of-town weddings, weekend getaways where I could not take Boris with me.)

I am always leery about letting strangers into my home, let alone the prospect of entrusting my little furry pal to someone else.  Because of the reviews on Yelp, I reached out to Get Pet for a trial dog walk and to see if Boris would take to the walker.

Enter Kyle.  From the moment that I met him, I felt completely at ease.  Boris loves Kyle and it is embarrassing almost to see how much PDA Boris gives.  I knew I found the right person who would take care of my dog and love him as much as I do.  Plus, as an added bonus, the price structure is highly competitive, so I have used GetPet liberally for a multitude of services.  

Boris has become a better walker on the leash, and is less "talkative" in the evenings, now that he is getting walked regularly during the day when I'm at the office.  It is great that I no longer have to rush home to let him out, if something unexpected pops up and keeps me at work longer or I want to meet up with colleagues for a quick happy hour.  

Kyle is the consummate professional and respects animals - he is patient, reliable, and he always picks up after his 4-legged clients.  Hands down - hire him.  He just may have inspired me to give up the Chia-Pets.


Click "Read More" to see the email chain between Yelp's client services team and me:

Received 6/23 from Yelp:

Kyle,

We do not send emails about our review filter, but have this information posted in numerous places within our FAQ, Business Owner's account, blog, and on the landing page for all filtered reviews.

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Best,

Alice

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kyle M. Rothfus [[email protected]]
Sent: 6/23/2010 2:25 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref]

The point I'm trying to make is that your filter is flawed. Also, does Yelp automatically send an email explaining filters and what happened to a reviewer when the system removes her review?  If you're trying to build community, then maybe the filter should be a live human from the community not a robot that is clearly wrongly identifying invalid content. 

Kyle M. Rothfus - Top Dog

-----Original Message-----

From: Client Services <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:05:27
To: [email protected]<[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Re: Re: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref]

Kyle,

Perhaps it would help if we clarified the three reasons a review may be removed from a business listing.

1. The user may have removed the review.

2. The user may have violated Yelp's Review Guidelines or Terms of Service.  In this instance, the review has been flagged by the community and been sent to Yelp's User Support team for evaluation.  Any reviews removed due to violations are not viewable on the user's profile and will never appear again.

3. Yelp has an automated filter, which has been referenced in previous communication.  In this instance, an automated software system may suppress and restore reviews as user activity changes.  It is important to note there is no manual override for this system.

Hope that provides some clarification as to why we are unable to put back a review that has been filtered and why there is a separate process for reviews individuals flag and request an evaluation of the content written.

Best,

Alice

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kyle M. Rothfus [[email protected]]
Sent: 6/23/2010 12:03 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Why would I volunteer to have a review removed when it's at least making up for a missing review because the Yelp system is flawed?

If Yelp is able to review questionable content to remove a review, then you are also able to unblock reviews. You can't have the capacity to only delete....

Kyle M. Rothfus - Top Dog

-----Original Message-----

From: Client Services <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:49:40
To: [email protected]<[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Re: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Kyle,

Thank you for your email.  If there is a review you'd like to be evaluated by our User Support team, there are a couple of easy steps to get that process started.

Go to http://www.yelp.com/contact

Select "Questionable Content" from the drop-down menu Identify your business Identify the user and provide commentary as to why you'd like it evaluated

To your question about why some reviews appear and some are filtered, it all comes down to how the user engages with the site.  Ultimately, our system is attempting to evaluate human behavior and there's no perfect way to do that.  So what we have to rely upon is evaluating how users interact with our site.  If a user's interactions are low, it is awfully hard for our system to put a lot of faith in that user and that type of behavior throws red flags up for our system.

Hope that helps.  

Best,

Katie

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kyle M. Rothfus [[email protected]]
Sent: 6/22/2010 8:58 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

This is very interesting AND bizarre to me because there is an active review on my page from a person who I do not know at all. The person is definitely not a client of mine and certainly no one that I know. 

I'm very perplexed by how a bogus review can make it onto my page but a legitimate client review is blocked.  Please explain. 
 
Kyle M. Rothfus - Top Dog

-----Original Message-----

From: Client Services <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:01:58
To: [email protected]<[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Kyle,
 
Great question.  To be honest, we are deliberately kept in the dark when it comes to how the filter functions.  I can tell you that our system is looking at a set of data points for every user.  If a user falls below a certain threshold and doesn't have sufficient data points for our system to be able to trust that it is a legitimate user, then the user and his/her reviews are suppressed.

You can imagine lack of any type of system would lead to rampant misuse of Yelp (businesses writing about themselves, people having friends write all positive reviews, businesses writing critical reviews about competition, etc...).  Ultimately, Yelp works because consumers know they can trust the content they read on the site, even if some of the reviews are not appearing all the time.

The best course of action is to let Christy evolve as a user on her own rather than try and "game" the system to make her review appear.  As her activity changes, her review(s) may reappear over time.

Best,

Steve
Yelp - Client Services
[email protected]

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kyle M. Rothfus [[email protected]]
Sent: 6/21/2010 10:37 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Thanks for adding "pet training". 

What must Christy do to let the filter know she's legit so her review starts appearing again?

Kyle M. Rothfus - Top Dog

-----Original Message-----

From: Client Services &lt;[email protected]&gt;
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:21:54
To:[email protected]&lt;[email protected]&gt;
Subject: RE: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Hey Kyle,

We've added "pet training" as a category to your Yelp page (at this time, we don't have a specific "dog training" category).

Our review filter functions by monitoring user (reviewer) activity.  Unfortunately, there is no manual process for restoring reviews.  If you haven't had a look, I'd recommend checking out the FAQs and video related to the review filter (https://biz.yelp.com/r2r/UcnnX_qms8i1TEXz2jDEFA/filtered_reviews).
 
You can relay to Chrissy the same info -- let her know that you (of course) had no hand in her review not appearing since businesses have no way of adding or removing reviews.

Best,

Steve
Yelp - Client Services
[email protected]

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kyle, Gatsby and Dr. Seuss[[email protected]]
Sent: 6/19/2010 3:52 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Change Neighborhood    [ ref:00D3vCN.5004AWT73:ref ]

Hello Katie,

I don't think I ever did reply to let you know which category I'm trying to add, but the category is "Dog Training".

I have a new concern.  One of the reviews from one of my most loyal clients has been filtered, and it needs to be re-listed.  I have a review from Christy Howell that was filtered.  Christy and her husband Trae have been one of my longest clients, and she advised me her review was no longer there because she wanted to know if I removed it.  This is very upsetting because it makes it look like I don't value the feedback of ALL of my clients.

Please advise when the new category has been added and when Christy's review is live on the site again.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

All the best,

Kyle M. Rothfus
Kyle, Gatsby and Dr. Seuss
GetPetChicago.com
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