Botto Bistro, a Richmond CA restaurant, is no fan of Yelp;

In fact, they have actively set out to be the worst reviewed restaurant on the site, encouraging patrons to leave one-star Yelp ratings and to write negative reviews and in exchange, the Italian restaurant is offering 25% off any pizza and a chance to win a cooking class.

Why would an business do such a thing? According to the owners of Botto Bistro, Yelp will remove bad reviews if you pay to advertise with them. This is an opinion that has been going around for years, and there are many similar stories.

Further, chefs and co-owners Davide Cerretini and Michele Massimo say that they are tired of incessant sales calls by Yelp employees trying to get them to advertise; even going so far as to call it blackmail.

Yelp spokesman Vince Sollitto told CBS 5, "Businesses cannot pay to remove or alter their reviews and Yelp’s recommendation software treats all businesses the same, regardless of advertiser status. Since our whole business is based on consumer trust, we take this issue very seriously and have not and would never engage in such a practice."

Botto Bistro says that business has actually increased since they started their Yelp campaign, a campaign that Yelp apparently isn't too pleased with. Not only has Yelp asked them to stop, but also sent a no too friendly letter saying it is against their protocol for businesses to pay customers for reviews. Cerretini admits that he is trying to manipulate the system. "We got a threatening letter saying that we buy Yelp reviews â€" and we do," he said. "We buy bad reviews."

Cerretini says he isn't aware of other restaurants using similar anti Yelp tactics, and further states that he has received many supportive emails as word spreads though the restaurant community.
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I don't think I'll jump on that bandwagon myself, but I can certainly get why a restauranteur could feel frustrated with Yelp. I am a fan of anyone who tries to step outside the box and change the status quo. Yelp is something that we don't have a choice to particate in or not, and I think people don't like that feeling.

As for us, Yelp has been good for our business. We offer a Yelp deal (not paid advertising) and it gets used quite frequently. I think one thing that Yelp should really look hard at is that reviews are anonymous. It's easy to cast stones when you get to hide behind some moniker. Social media is based on transparency and authenticity, and so should reviews be. Put your name and face on it if you want it published, seems only fair.

Have an opinion? Let me know! margie@otlconsulting.com

-Margie
www.OTLConsulting.com