{"id":460,"date":"2024-04-23T16:20:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T16:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raymondfong.net\/?p=460"},"modified":"2024-04-23T16:20:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T16:20:12","slug":"a-candid-yelp-advertising-review-is-yelp-ripping-people-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raymondfong.net\/a-candid-yelp-advertising-review-is-yelp-ripping-people-off\/","title":{"rendered":"A Candid Yelp Advertising Review – Is Yelp Ripping People Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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*** UPDATE 3 ***<\/h2>\n

A documentary on Yelp called “Billion Dollar Bully” by Kaylie Milliken of Prost Films was just released (currently on Amazon Video, iTunes, and DVD). I was honored to be interviewed to provide my analysis and assessment of Yelp’s paid advertising program for business owners. I am sure you can guess my recommendation…<\/p>\n

Read more about the film and my involvement here<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

*** UPDATE 2 ***<\/h2>\n

It’s hilarious (and by hilarious I mean sad), to see that 7 of our legitimate reviews are hidden. Some of them were from the get-go but others just magically disappeared into the “not currently recommended” section despite having been allowed to show up on our profile for over a year… Since the last update when we had 3 hidden, we are up by four to now seven that are hidden. *tsk tsk*[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”15052″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]And yet, the one bogus scathing review from a “Mindy” whom we never spoke with remains…<\/p>\n

P.S. We did not sign up for their Yelp paid advertising non-sense (see previous update below). Hmm, interesting eh?[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

*** UPDATE ***<\/h2>\n

So my Growth Hacking agency currently have an unpaid Yelp listing<\/a> so we can help control the online information about us – we’ve had it for some time and recently, an Yelp representative reached out to us\u00a0via email.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6527″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]As you can see… it reeked of carrot-dangling vague generalities salesmanship. For example, “$1200 of Extra Free Yelp Ads<\/em>” which is meaningless because we have no idea what that $1200 actually does and what those Ads are (reading the Main Post below you can see how misleading this is).<\/p>\n

And before that he weakly\u00a0attempted to build rapport by saying that he “previously gone to school and lived in Los Angeles<\/em>” and as such… knows the “business climate like the back of [his] hand.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

I personally have no idea how going to school and LIVING in Los Angeles would have any bearing on how well you know the business climate. I mean, by that logic, any elementary schooler in the L.A. area would also know the business climate!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And he ended his email with the “assume the sale” tactic by giving me an option between tomorrow or Wednesday (taking away the option to say “NO”<\/em>).<\/p>\n

My response was terse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Hi, What is this about? We already have a Yelp listing.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

And you can see below in his response… he just intensified his salesmanship.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6528″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]He again blew a lot of smoke about a bunch of nothing… “lot of opportunity,<\/em>” “promotion of $1200 of Extra Free Yelp Ads<\/em>” (which still explains nothing<\/strong>), “gain exposure,<\/em>” etc.<\/p>\n

Blah blah blah.<\/p>\n

And he tried the same “assume the sale” close at the end to get me locked down for a call.<\/p>\n

I think he was hoping I’d get swayed by the $1200… little did he know that I knew exactly how absolutely meaningless that $1200 meant in this context<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So I told him straight up,<\/p>\n

“Go ahead and send me some info so I can decide if it’s something worth us hopping on a call, I’d hate to waste your time or mine.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

And several days later, he came back like a dog on a bone…[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6529″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]So the dance continued.<\/p>\n

I mirrored his email style and\u00a0shot back the following response (see if you can\u00a0pick up the similarities between our two emails)…[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6530″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]And this is about the time he called quits because a few days later, he responds with “I will no longer be your point of contact over here at Yelp. You will receive a new rep soon. In the meantime, you can call 877-767-9357 if you have questions. Have a great night.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

In the same email, he sends over some nonsense generic Yelp Ads Video<\/a> and Yelp Advertising information<\/a>\u00a0which are nonsense fluff not geared lacking transparency – I want to know the CPC, where my ads will show, how much (quality) impression I can expect, who will be viewing my ads, demographics, etc. But nope… none of that. And unfortunately, this sales rep wasn’t able to help.<\/p>\n

With that said… it’s been almost a month and no one else at Yelp has contacted us so maybe they gave up? *shrugs*<\/p>\n

All I wanted was to get something in writing so I can hold them accountable but they shied away from accountability.<\/p>\n

On a separate note… we had three 5-star reviews removed from our listing.<\/strong><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6531″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Now… I can understand Yelp removing the top two reviews – they are from no-face reviewers whose sole review are the ones left for us. But removing Bree G. (3rd review) when there’s a legitimate image, location, 114 friends, AND 6 reviews?? That made no sense.<\/p>\n

And of course trust Yelp to leave a 1-star review on our listing by a angry resentful person who was NEVER a customer and even resorted to name calling in his review.<\/p>\n

*sigh*<\/p>\n

Way to go Yelp.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

*** MAIN POST\u00a0***<\/h2>\n

Maybe you know and maybe you don’t… but Yelp <\/a>(a local search and reviews online service<\/em>) offers paid advertising for businesses called the “Yelp Sponsorship Program<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

\"Yelp\"<\/p>\n

To sum it up, according to the page advertising this opportunity, this Yelp Sponsorship program allows you to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Put up a slideshow of the images of your business.<\/li>\n
  2. Highlight a user’s review that you like the most (as the business owner)<\/li>\n
  3. Promote your business as a sponsored search result and on your competitors’ business pages. Target potential clients while they are making decisions about where to spend their money on a business like yours<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It sounds all fancy spansy right?\u00a0 Sounds like you get even MORE control over your business listing which will help “put your best foot forward<\/em>” and sneak attack your competitors, stealing all their would be clients.<\/p>\n

    But Stop the Music, Do These Yelp Advertising Features Actually Accomplish Anything?\u00a0 Or are They Just Fluff Designed to Lure You in so They can Zap You?<\/p>\n

    Suck Them in & Then ZAP Them!<\/h2>\n

    Before we proceed, I’d like to first state that my experience and knowledge of this Yelp Sponsorship program comes from dealing with them on behalf of one of my clients.\u00a0 This client signed up with Yelp (despite my warnings – apparently Yelp’s salesman are SMOOOTH) and I got to learn all about this program.<\/p>\n

    Having said that, that’s only ONE experience which doesn’t make me an expert but it certainly makes me more knowledgeable of this Yelp marketing program than those who’s never experienced it.<\/p>\n

    Furthermore, in case you are not familiar with how Yelp works, anybody can post a business on Yelp, as long as it falls under one of their categories and is a “fit” per their policies.\u00a0 And the rightful owner can claim that Yelp page by jumping through some hoops and voila, you have a FREE listing about your business.<\/p>\n

    \"FREE<\/a>

    FREE Yelp Reviews Page<\/p><\/div>\n

    And for comparison’s sake, here’s an example of a PAID Yelp review page:<\/p>\n

    \"PAID<\/a>

    PAID Yelp Review Page<\/p><\/div>\n

    With that said… let’s examine feature #1.<\/p>\n

    The “Slide-Show”<\/h2>\n

    Now, granted the larger images and the “slideshow” adds a bit more snazziness to the page but honestly, how big of a difference does it really make?\u00a0 If you wanted to see pictures, wouldn’t you be inclined to go visit the business’ actual website?<\/p>\n

    I’d love to see some split test on this…<\/p>\n

    Favorite Review<\/h2>\n

    As far as feature #2, I suppose this is a good thing, like Yelp for Business Owners says, “put your best foot forward”.\u00a0 But then they go and shoot themselves in the foot by posting the “Rating Distribution” graph next to it.\u00a0 This graph, as you can see, shows all the reviews, INCLUDING the negative ones.<\/p>\n

    As humans, we are so inclined to ask “what’s wrong” that I reckon most wouldn’t take the “favorite reviews” at face value; they’d go and seek the worst reviews to find out why those folks gave bad reviews.<\/p>\n

    Yelp’s Business Owner’s Sponsorship Program feature #3 is my favorite.<\/p>\n

    Yelp Advertising… on Others’ Pages<\/h2>\n

    So the idea here is similar to Google AdWords, when someone searches for a term related to your business, your listing shows up (as, “Sponsored Result”) with the hopes that your business gets clicked on.<\/p>\n

    Here’s the caveat though, Yelp is charging you per impression basis instead of per click basis.\u00a0 What this means is that whenever your listing shows up in this manner, it counts against your total allotted amount that you paid of (so you are paying “cost per impression”).\u00a0 If it were click based (cost per click) you would get charged ONLY if your ad gets clicked.<\/p>\n

    This brings into a few questions, the least of which are:<\/p>\n