Richmond restaurant encourages bad Yelp reviews (xpost from Lounge)

[KamaAina]

The East Bay's, not Virginia's.

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/09/17/richmond-restaurant-owner-encourages-bad-yelp-reviews/

Botto Bistro in Richmond is not very concerned about its Yelp rating. In fact, in an effort to undermine the reliability of its Yelp page, the five-year-old Italian restaurant is on a mission to be the worst-rated restaurant in the Bay Area.

To achieve this end, Botto Bistro is encouraging all of its customers to leave one-star Yelp reviews; it is even offering deals for anyone who pens a crummy review: 25% off any pizza and a chance to win a cooking class. (Hat-tip to Richmond Standard.)

Chefs and co-owners Davide Cerretini and Michele Massimo are veterans of the local dining scene, and say that their food is excellent and they run a busy restaurant. According to Cerretini, they simply grew tired of the constant advertising inquiries from Yelp and what he dubs “blackmailing” and review manipulation. (Sidenote: A judge recently ruled that Yelp has the power to manipulate reviews.)...

“I want to be the worst restaurant there is in the Bay Area,” he says. “I think this is the best business move I have made in years.”

[MADem]

1. I think the reviews on Trip Advisor are more real--at least they sound less forced/fake. nt

[KamaAina]

2. Of course they are

the guy is carrying out a vendetta against Yelp and its high-pressure sales tactics.

[TeamPooka]

3. Fuck Yelp. nt

[daredtowork]

4. That Judge's Ruling Makes Me Sad

It's not like I believed Yelp wasn't doing anything to shape reviews, but I did believe their business model required a significant amount of trust from the community. I didn't believe Yelp would push for the right to manipulate reviews or a judge would uphold it.

I was just talking to a friend who owns a neighborhood cafe: he was telling me about how an outstanding review was hidden within a day after it was written. He felt it was because he had refused the Yelp shakedown. I vaguely remembered reading in an article in one of the local papers about Yelps mafioso approach a few years ago, and I thought local businesses had taken a strong stand at that time. I was surprised Yelp was still getting away with it. My friend the cafe owner shrugged and said they were. Just a couple weeks later the court decision came out and confirmed my friend's suspicions.

What annoys me the most here is Yelp made its fortune on crowdsourcing: i.e., extracting free labor. I think some social responsibility, in the form of an honest hierarchy of reviews, comes with that. The judge should have recognized the rights of this labor source as well as Yelp's right to make money in the course of making his or her decision.

Businesses should unite to create a "remove your reviews from Yelp" day as a way of fighting the extortion.