As a small business, you know how powerful reviews can be. Consumers place a lot of value on what people like them are saying, and almost half of shoppers go on Yelp to
check out local businesses.
So when our clients started asking us why some of their reviews weren't appearing, we knew how much the answer mattered. We also knew other people were probably asking the same question. So we put together this primer on
Yelp's recommendation system to help.
Why Does Yelp Recommend Reviews?
Yelp receives hundreds of millions of customer reviews on its platform. Many are genuinely valuable and come from users who want to help others find the right business. Others are thin on content or deceptive in one way or another.
Yelp wants its users to see the helpful and unbiased reviews, so its software team has developed an algorithm to pick them out. The algorithm searches through billions of data points related to the review, its writer, and the business they're writing about. It uses that data to find the most useful reviews available for your business.
The goal is to identify reviews from active Yelp users who genuinely want to share their experiences.
What Does the Software Look For?
Yelp has trained its software to identify genuine and unbiased reviews. Part of that process is filtering out unhelpful options.
Conflicts of Interest
Yelp's software looks for reviews that signal a personal tie to the business. This may include disgruntled employees or unethical competitors with an ax to grind. On the other hand, you have friends and family members looking to help a business owner. Neither bias helps the customer, so Yelp leaves these reviews out of the "recommended" section.
Solicited Reviews
Requests for reviews are widespread nowadays, but those solicited reviews tend to be biased. After all, businesses are unlikely to ask an unhappy customer for a review. To keep a balanced picture of a company, Yelp avoids recommending reviews that it suspects the business requested.
Reliability
Recommended Yelp reviews usually come from regular platform users. The reason is simple: The system has more information about these reviewers and whether they share honest opinions. The algorithm might not flag someone as reliable if they're new or inactive on Yelp.
Usefulness
Useful Yelp reviews are honest, detailed, and relevant. Yelp's software filters out unhelpful submissions to give positive reviews a better chance at a recommendation. That includes rants and raves with overly general language, from "This business is the worst!" to "This is the most amazing place I've ever been to!"
Why Do Some Reviews Not Appear on Yelp?
A review might not appear on Yelp if it gets one or more red flags. It may look fake or biased, or the information may seem irrelevant. Thanks to Yelp's developers, such signs have eliminated many unhelpful reviews.
Some legitimate reviews do end up on the cutting-room floor, though. In most cases, that happens because Yelp didn't have enough information about the review or reviewer.
FAQs About Yelp Reviews
Can a not-recommended review turn into a recommended review?
Yelp's software is constantly learning from the information it collects. New information can turn non-recommended reviews into recommended reviews, and vice versa.
Do not-recommended reviews still impact your star rating?
A review in the "not currently recommended" category doesn't affect the business's overall star rating. The star system collects ratings only from recommended reviews.
Can you request that Yelp recommend or not recommend a specific review?
Yelp uses fully automated software to make its
recommendation decisions. Per company policy, no employee has the authority to change a recommendation's classification. This policy follows Yelp's commitment to avoiding bias and treating all businesses similarly.
Does Yelp favor positive or negative reviews to recommend?
Yelp receives more positive than negative reviews, so you may see more positive reviews in both the "recommended" and "not currently recommended" categories. See Yelp's
"Fast Facts" page for current data on star distribution and recommendation numbers.
The best way to get reviews in the recommended section is to provide great service and a stellar experience. You want customers to feel so good about your business that they go out of their way to tell others. Based on 20 years in the customer review business, Yelp has learned that intrinsically motivated customers give the most helpful reviews.
Yelp has trained its software to recommend spontaneous reviews and filter out solicited submissions.
Get More From Yelp With Optimize
At Optimize Digital Marketing, we know how influential Yelp can be. We can help you develop a Yelp marketing strategy that complements your earned reviews so you have the best chance of attracting great leads.
To learn more about how Optimize can help you get more out of Yelp,
schedule a free consultation today.
