Mark Robertson

Mark Robertson

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Why you need to take online reviews like Yelp with a grain of salt

MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover payment options on a restaurant door

Photo: Getty Images

Yelp has "Elite" members who get a special badge on their Yelp profile to indicate that they are more trustworthy reviewers. In order to become an Elite member, people have to apply to Yelp and provide much more detailed information than an ordinary reviewer, including their real name and a photo, and an explanation of why they want to be one. A benefit of being an Elite member is they may be invited to special events and meet-ups. But Motherboard reports that Kay Dean, a former federal investigator who now runs a YouTube channel tracking social media scams called Fake Review Watch, has found that some Elite members have taken money to post good reviews. She believes she's found potentially hundreds of them, saying there are even Facebook Groups where people post looking for Elite members to provide these fake reviews. Dean said, "Cheating is rewarded. The playing field is pretty much just unfair” between companies that pay for Yelp Elite reviews and those that don’t.


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