Yelp, Kudzu, and Google Places: Do You Have to Care?

This article is a reprint of Wise Bread's contribution to OPEN Forum from American Express -- where small business owners can get advice from experts and share tips with each other.

Advertiser Disclosure ▾

This page contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation. Like many publications Wise Bread is supported by affiliate commission from partner companies whose products appear on our site. This may influence which products we write about and the location and order in which products appear. We aren't able to cover every product in the marketplace.

Wise Bread Picks

• Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Cash Back Credit Cards
• 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards

Viral hate mail can spell disaster for your business. More than a dozen online review sites compete for customers’ attention (and purchasing power), each with slightly different content, filtering, and advertising practices. Yelp’s policies, for instance, came under fire last year when small business owners alleged that the social networking site manipulated user reviews in exchange for advertising. (A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Yelp last month.)

The Landscape

Now more than ever, savvy brand advocates need to learn the rules of engagement. Review sites use publicly-available data to generate business listings, so you can’t opt out if your ratings are less than stellar. For example Google Places collects its own reviews and collates them with others from around the web so that they appear like a blinking arrow on a business’ place page. You can't avoid them.

The solution? Be proactive. Business owners are allowed to submit objective information, such as whether an establishment accepts credit cards or is wheelchair accessible, along with updating basic profile information, usually at no cost. The technology is moving fast, and skills required to keep up seem to change weekly. To stay in the race, get familiar with the editorial guidelines of four of the major players: Yelp, Kudzu, CitySearch, and Google Places.

The Rules

Review sites prize rich narratives but they aren’t shy about disabling posts (even legitimate ones) that violate stated content guidelines. That means they try to promote factually correct, personal (and authentic) consumer experiences and seek to downplay profanity, plagiarism, privacy breaches, spam, and meandering rants in ALL CAPS.

Yelp, with more than 45 million monthly visitors, has one of the most stringent review filters, an automated system designed to weed out fake reviews (both positive and negative). Google Places offers a “flag” feature similar to that used by Craigslist, with which users can alert the site's moderators of inappropriate reviews. Unfortunately, many sites aren’t interested in arbitrating disputes. More often than not, the reviews are left alone.

And word travels fast. Consumers (and companies) posting information on review sites must cede worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free rights to their remarks. This means that reviewers' comments may reappear on other media platforms. CitySearch, for instance, is part of the larger CityGrid network, with more than 250 websites and mobile applications reaching an estimated 140 million consumers each month.

Effective Participation

Tired of snide customer comments left unchallenged? Many review sites offer business owners a chance to thank happy customers or placate the dissatisfied, either through a public mea culpa or by private messaging. Be forewarned that a nasty retort doesn’t win brownie points among customers and could land you in the censorship bin. Instead, encourage repeat customers to sing/tweet your praises online to counterbalance gloomy feedback.

Review sites usually provide a free basic service that includes a no-frills listing, along with space for posting photos, videos, and deals. Merchants that offer special discounts get 50% more traffic than those that don’t, according to CitySearch. Another technique to improve search rankings is to list a business with multiple specialties.

Kudzu takes it one step further by offering green “BizCheck Approved” badges, monitored and validated by Experian. Experian’s database approves active, registered U.S. companies with clean business reports. Kudzu also offers a “reviews widget,” which allows a business to showcase high marks by linking its Kudzu profile to its website. Another bonus is that the Kudzu business network can connect businesses to each other’s profiles, helping them rack up more endorsements.

Paid services, starting at $5,500 a year at Kudzu, offer higher placement for “sponsored” results, detailed activity reports on profile traffic and targeted advertising by neighborhood. Kudzu, like its brethren, is quick to provide the disclaimer, however, that their rankings aren't pay to play. They won’t fudge the ratings in favor of their advertisers.

The proliferation of these sites and services makes it impossible to hide and unwise to ignore what your customers are saying. Building customer relationships and managing your online presence is no longer an option for your business.