Yelp announced in 2017 that it prohibits its business clients from requesting any reviews from their customers—directly or through any review management platform. Yelp also announced that it will aggressively enforce this policy by demoting businesses’ search rankings within the Yelp app and Yelp website if they request reviews.

Reputation.com believes that this position does a disservice to businesses who deserve to have an accurate and truly representative picture of their customers’ experience—something that is only possible when businesses invite all of their customers to review them.

Are any of the review management platforms able to request reviews on Yelp?

The few remaining partners in the Yelp Knowledge Partner program have agreed to restrict all review requesting and cannot deliver the one thing proven to support an accurate online reputation: requesting genuine reviews from all customers. Should the sales personnel from any vendor imply that their technology enables review requesting on Yelp or any other site, we recommend that you ask for written confirmation from Yelp.

How does Yelp’s decision affect my business?

The impact of Yelp’s policy is negligible for most industries, as Yelp can only demote businesses in their own app and web pages. They have no control over the major consumer on-ramps to the Internet such as Google and Facebook. The vast majority of consumers are able to assess the reputation of a business on these major on-ramps and no longer have a need to take a second step to visit the Yelp site.

Who should I contact if I have additional questions?

If you have additional questions, contact us at yelpquestions@reputation.com. You are also free to contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) who advises you on a regular basis.