I was once an avid user of Yelp. I had yelp on my iPhone, iPad and was always logged in on my PC. Heck, I was religiously checking in at nearly every business I visited. My goal was simple like all Yelp users. I wanted to be king, and join the rankings of the Elite 10. How cool would it be? Food, reviews, popularity and awesome credibility among fellow yelpers.
Then one day when I was writing a review, something hit me. Yelp is mathematically at risk of losing both users, reviewers, add revenue and credibility. Negative reviews are tainting Yelps service offering. Hiding under the cloak of anonymity is quite appealing to people and more than often leads to negative business feedback. Yelp needs a slight overhaul in their tracking/review algorithm in order to quickly get back on the right course.
Here is how Yelp can eliminate a large percentage of “unnecessary” reviews and users who violate the Terms of Service.
- Consider taking a closer look at how the Google AdSense program works. If you haven’t already mastered the logic of CTR (clickthrough rate) , you need to start right now!
- AdSense tracks how many times advertisement is loaded and devides that number by the number of times an advertisment is clicked and the resultant value is CTR. The smaller the value, the more likely no improper click was detected on an add. –> At its simplest form this same logic could be used by Yelp to develop a more robust and honest business review process.
- This would cut back on improper reviews and detect in appropriate intention. The higher a user or business URR/BRR, the more likely the content can be removed.
Take it or leave it. Yelps decision algorithm may have flaws. And of course my opinion does not reflect that of Yelp, or its affiliates.
I’d assume URR is User Review Ratio and BRR is Business Review Ratio right? I was also an avid Yelp and Urbanspon but stopped using both products because I found the onslaught of negative reviews completely annoying. A friend mentioned the best way to gage the systems and get the best reviews is to throw out the best and worst reviews and read the rest. I guess it makes sense as there will inevidably be reviews from the staff and friends of the business. The goal as a consumer of this service is to find the honest reviews (good and bad).
Yelp just filed for an IPO? Ugh. Financial instructions, private equity firms, and investors will inevitably inflate the companies worth, make a decent return on the investment and dump the stock once the company tanks. Yelp would be better off in my opinion as a private entity – that way there is no exposure to the company’s innards and the ability to control progress is not on a public stage. Yelp would be better off concentrating on the algorithms which are at the core of the business, and work to further automate faulty reviews and rogue users. Yelp’s IPO in conjunction with recent negative press will inevitably start its demise.