A recent letter (.pdf) sent to the WSJ by the FTC states the commission is providing the paper with 2,037 complaints filed against Yelp (YELP -3.3%), following a Freedom of Information Act request. “Identifying information” such as names/addresses has been left out.
This is far from the first time Yelp’s business practices have drawn scrutiny: Local businesses have accused Yelp in the past of hurting their ratings in the event they declined to buy ads, and a recent L.A. Times column suggests the company has told businesses it could make competitors’ ads disappear from their pages if they bought ads themselves. A Yelp spokesman says the company is merely telling businesses they can buy ads for their own pages.
There have also been complaints about fake reviews. Yelp has taken some steps to address this problem.
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April 2nd, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Yelp lower; WSJ probing 2K+ FTC complaints
12:39 PM ET · YELP