Sometimes I think Yelp might have matured, mellowed out a little, and eased up on longstanding policies that make no sense and don’t help anyone. But then Yelp just doubles down.
Case in point: Yelp has started asking reviewers whether you asked them for a review. As you probably know, Yelp doesn’t want business owners, employees, or anyone else to ask anyone else for a review. (As you may also know if you’re a longtime reader, I think that’s a horrible policy.)
The question is as follows:
Did this business ask you to write a review? For example, did a staff member request it, or did you get a text or email asking for a review? Your response is confidential.
That prompt comes immediately before the “Post Review” button, and reviewers can choose from two answers: “Yes” or “No.” It IS an optional question, in that reviewers don’t have to answer it, but Yelp doesn’t tell them it’s optional. Even if they go back in later to edit the review, they can’t change your answer. In other words, Yelp wants reviewers’ off-the-cuff answers.
Exactly how new is this? I don’t know. I don’t post Yelp reviews constantly, but I do it from time to time and have done so for many years – mostly to keep my ear to the ground, as someone who deals with this stuff for a living. So it’s possible Yelp made this change a couple of months ago. On the other hand, I haven’t seen anything online about it. (If someone’s covered this already, please email me or let me know in the comments so I can give eagle-eye credit where it’s due.)
Anyway, if you ever ask customers for reviews – specifically on Yelp or on customers’ review site of choice – the hazard is clear. If enough people answer “Yes,” it’s likely someone at Yelp will become your shower buddy. The usual public shaming may follow, or the review might just be filtered or removed manually.
Even if you don’t ask for reviews on Yelp (or anywhere else), and instead rely on spontaneously written reviews, what’s to stop someone from answering “Yes”? A misunderstanding or a sausage finger and an errant click easily could give Yelp the wrong idea about you.
This little change affects you even if you don’t ask anyone for reviews. For one thing, Yelp’s search results are as visible as ever in Google’s search results and in the AI results. Also, as usual, Yelp doesn’t do much to prevent or deter competitors or disgruntled customers or non-customers from hurting your reputation. Presumably all Yelp needs to pillory you is for the writers of a few 5-star reviews – either happy customers or people pretending to be happy customers – to say that you asked them for a review. Time will tell whether that actually becomes a widespread problem and whether and how Yelp deals with it. But in the meantime it seems competitors have yet another way to stick gum in your hair.
Of course, it’s always possible this change is all bark and no bite. Maybe Yelp won’t do anything with reviewers’ responses, just as Yelp (like Google Maps) very often doesn’t remove business owners’ reviews of themselves.
If you do anything to encourage Yelp reviews, my advice is simple: either don’t ask customers whose moods are hard for you to read, or mention that this question is optional. If you don’t give a hoot about Yelp, at least know what Yelp asks of the people who do.
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Any observations, gripes, first-hand experiences, or questions? Leave a comment!
