Yelp is one of the most popular and powerful review sites on the Internet. Although that’s great when it comes to getting positive word-of-mouth about your company to spread, it’s not so good when people have negative things to say.
As a business owner, you’re understandably very concerned about what kind of reviews appear on Yelp, and you may be aware that you can flag certain types of reviews for removal from the site. However, Yelp’s terms of service don’t permit you to flag any and every negative comment about your company; if you do, you may be risking your status on the site.
It doesn’t help that there are so many rumors and misleading information being spread about what businesses can do with regard to negative reviews. Conflicting information might make you hesitant to flag a negative review because you’re unsure whether or not the review actually violates Yelp’s content guidelines or terms of service.
The good news, however, is that there are certain things that make it possible for you to flag reviews for removal from Yelp. Knowing what Yelp considers to be in violation of its terms can be extremely helpful for a business owner because it gives you the ability to have negative comments removed from the site. Although these rules won’t apply to all negative reviews, you may be able to at least clean up some of the irrelevant or malicious customer reviews, and show the public a more accurate and balanced view of your business.
Whether the review contains offensive language, a rant from an angry employee or reviews written based on secondhand information, many reviews can be flagged for removal from Yelp without fear of negatively affecting your business’s standing on the site.
The following guide explains the conditions under which reviews can be flagged for removal from Yelp. Keep these in mind the next time you scan your reviews, and you may be able to keep the worst kind of word-of-mouth from spreading.