When it comes to getting reviews for your business, Yelp can make you yelp in pain. The algorithm can be messy and accept bad reviews, establishing a million red flags on positive ones. In this article, we’ll go over why and give some tips on how to improve the rate of Yelp’s acceptance of legitimate positive reviews so they won’t get hidden or ignored.
Yelp reviews tend to disappear constantly. Reviews and ratings are powerful in shaping your brand reputation, influence, and search engine visibility. Knowing why they’re disappearing is crucial to changing the results of your business growth.
Why Do Yelp Reviews Disappear?
Yelp reviews disappear for several reasons. There are a few constant reasons including:
- Fake reviews
- The author deleted the review
- It violated content guidelines
- Yelp filtered the review, making it “not recommended”
Fake Reviews
If it’s a fake review, Yelp may remove it from a business page. Yelp normally stays indifferent in disputes but Yelp moderators typically verify questionable reviews that have been previously reported or flagged. If a review is seen as fake by moderators, the review gets removed from the business page.
The Author Deleted the Review
If you’re wondering what happened to your Yelp review, it may be because the author or writer of the review removed it for some reason or other. If this happens, you’re unlikely to receive the review again, even if it was positive. If you want to get it back on your page, you’ll need to have the author reestablish the review and re-write it.
Violation of Yelp’s Content Guidelines
Yelp content guidelines are as follows:
- No hate speech or threats.
- No conflict of interest. If a relative posts a review on a business site that’s against Yelp’s rules.
- No promotional content.
- Only relevant content to the product or service.
- No violation of privacy. No photos without the customer’s permission.
- Original reviews only.
Yelp accepts a variety of reviews but according to their site, the best ones are “passionate and personal.” Each one may be story-driven, detail-oriented, and helpful for other consumers.
Yelp Filtered the Review
Yelp removes reviews even if the reviews are unoriginal or don’t violate content guidelines. Yelp’s review filter can sometimes automatically flag the comment or remove it. If a review isn’t recommended by their software, it will be hidden from your page and only show the recommended reviews.
If a person wants to see the reviews that Yelp doesn’t recommend, they can do so by clicking on a link at the bottom of the Yelp Business page. This doesn’t factor into the business’ rating or review number though.
What does “Not Recommended” Mean?
This review filter is a great way to ensure that you get original, organic, unbiased reviews. Every review, according to the site, is automatically checked by their software scanning for “Quality, Reliability, and User Activity.”
Reviews could be filtered because:
- The reviewer has an incomplete profile
- The reviewer doesn’t have social media
- The reviewer has 5 stars constantly
- The review was from a separate IP address
- The reviews are all coming from one source
- The reviewer has zero Yelp friends
Yelp does this scan constantly with its filter so that a “not recommended” Yelp review can come back to life if it’s proven to be legitimate and created by a trusted Yelp reviewer.
Yelp review filters are automated, meaning that the support team at Yelp has no say in the software and cannot override it to change its settings or decisions, or waver between recommended and not recommended.
If you look at your Yelp for Business dashboard, you might see that some reviews may vanish or come through. That’s normal. The order of reviews will vary constantly based on the trustworthiness of Yelp reviewers who’ve already reviewed your business.
Yelp Reviews Disappeared: Next Steps You Can Take
It’s difficult to give you one way to go on responding to removed reviews. Here we’ll tell you what you should avoid. Evaluating Yelp’s content guidelines is a great place to start so you can prevent future issues with hidden or disappearing reviews.
Follow Orders
Never utilize promotional content on your Yelp page. Don’t solicit reviews from customers on Yelp either. The site’s software will be vigilant in identifying and not recommending reviews encouraged by the business.
Engage with Yelp Users
Engaging with your customers directly on Yelp is great for soliciting repeat business. Really listen to what they have to say and respond empathetically. Know how to respond to the not-so-positive ones. Don’t fight fire with fire. Engaging your Yelp community will ultimately help you grow your relationships with customers, gain organic reviews from consistent and active Yelp users, and people with profiles that have links to socials, as well as those who post both positive and negative reviews, and finally those who have connections with other Yelp users.
Yelp Reviews are a two-way street
Respond to online reviews to really effectively build up your force of fans and customers. Your brand presence can be strong on Yelp if you treat your customers like people you really care about and try to help them as best you can. The algorithm rewards those businesses that are actively maintaining their page and commenting on reviews. Responding in a professional and sincere way is a great way to nurture positive customer feedback and maintain a great customer experience.
If there’s something wrong with someone’s review or they mention something false or inaccurate, by all means, respond with your perspective of the issue.
Final Thoughts
If your reviews are constantly disappearing and you don’t know why, or if they’ve been flagged as not recommended by the software, then act fast and review the above tips. Respond to comments and keep the page refreshed to understand the patterns of customer feedback. Yelp is a great tool for businesses to directly interact with their image and customer retention. Manage it well and see your reputation shine.
