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Yelp’s Not Currently Recommended Folder

Let’s talk about Yelp!

So…Your company has been doing great work and your satisfied customers want to post a great review for your company on Yelp. Fantastic! Satisfied Customer posts her 5-star review on Yelp and goes her merry way, never considering the possibility that the review may disappear. And why should she? Her job here is done.

Then you, Amazing Business Owners, get an email from Yelp alerting you to this great new review and you do what all marvelous business owners do – log in to Yelp so you can respond to your review.

 

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But it’s gone. You search and search, only to eventually discover that this shiny new review has fallen into the “Not Currently Recommended” section of Yelp online reviews.

 

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There’s nothing quite as frustrating as this scenario and it seems to be happening more and more. Here’s what Yelp has to say about it:

 

We use automated software to recommend the reviews we think will be the most helpful to the Yelp community based primarily on quality, reliability and the reviewer’s activity on Yelp. Advertisers get no special treatment. The reviews below didn’t make the cut and are therefore not factored into this business’s overall star rating. Watch the video above or check out our FAQ for more details.”

 

WebPunch previously released an awesome infographic that gives more details regarding Yelp reviews. It offers great information about the kind of Yelp profile your customers need to create so that Yelp will “see” that they are legitimate customers.

But what can you, Amazing Business Owners, do about these reviews? If you wish, you can still send a private message to a reviewer – even if the review has dropped into this section. Just scroll down to the bottom of your reviews on your Yelp For Business Owners page and you’ll see this:

 

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Here’s the kicker! We recently spoke to one of our Yelp friends who told us that sometimes reviews from this section DO come out of hiding and filter into the regular review section of Yelp. Actually, the conversation went more like this:

WebPunch: “Do reviews from the “Not Currently Recommended” section of Yelp ever pop back up?

Yelp: “Yep.”

WebPunch: “So they just come up randomly? With no rhyme or reason?”
Yelp: “Yep. That’s right.”

So, there you have it, Folks. Yelp is a company of few words. The good news is that there may come a time when you’ll actually be thankful for Yelp’s automated review process! If a negative review ever gets posted for your company, you’ll be thrilled if it drops into the “Not Currently Recommended” section. For now, just keep lacing up those boxing gloves and accept the challenge to defend your company’s online reputation.

 

Karin Siccardi

Karin Siccardi is a Reputation Defender, Blogger, and Proofreader/Editor at WebPunch. Originally from Oregon, she migrated to Tennessee where she lives with her husband, four children, and the family dog who lounges at her feet as she enjoys the luxury of working from her home office. An avid reader, she enjoys all wordy things as well as coffee, chocolate, and wine.