I wrote the other day about accusations leveled at user-generated review site Yelp, claiming they were using shady tactics to get merchants to advertise with them by promising to remove bad reviews, among other things.

Yelp shot back with a response pointing out that many of their clients have not benefited from advertising with them, showing screenshots of a client that has not had bad reviews taken down by Yelp.

Yelp also cites the fact that many of the sources for the East Bay Express piece were either anonymous or dubious in nature. It is true that the author of the article contacted “dozens” of business owners and only got a few anonymous participants.

But it’s hard to believe all of these people were willing to lie just to rip on Yelp, and all had similar stories.

Also, this is not the first time stories of this type have been written about Yelp, including from The Register UK.

I think Yelp will survive. Honestly, I kind of forgot about Yelp but used it today to find a great Mexican restaurant in the San Fernando Valley. But they need to tread lightly for awhile now.

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