Why does Yelp's Review Filter exist and how does it work?

To understand why the Review Filter Algorithm (RFA) exists, you have to understand Yelp itself. According to Yelp, “our purpose: to connect people with great local businesses.” Because it is a social site, Yelp developers knew that its users would be their own judge of how great a business was by providing reviews of their experiences. In order for Yelp to become the trusted source for prospective consumers, they had to protect against its biggest threat: fake reviews. Unlike other review sites that were deemed to be easily manipulated, Yelp developed software that’s sole purpose was to identify and remove fake reviews from the site.

How does the RFA work?

According to Yelp, “We use automated software developed by our engineers to recommend reviews from the Yelp community. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.”

This is the most you will ever get out of Yelp as to how the algorithm works. They have never publicly released any information regarding the specific details about how the RFA works. However, after spending the better part of the last 5 years working with our clients by testing and hypothesizing what factors the algorithm takes into consideration, we have a narrowed it down to 3 primary factors. These 3 Primary Factors are: The Review, The Reviewer, and The Business Page.

The Reviewer

The first primary factor that we are going to discuss is the reviewer. For several years now, Yelp has posted a quick “cute” video explaining how the review filter works. In it, Yelp focuses the majority of attention on the Reviewer side.

When Yelp focuses on the reviewer, they assign a veracity score of the reviewer based on their user profile. Yelp wants to see that the Yelper is an active user, who engages with the site often, and does so within an appropriate proximity of a given business. The higher the veracity score of a reviewer, the higher the likelihood of a review sticking.

The Review

The second factor Yelp looks at is the review itself. Once they have discerned the veracity score of the reviewer, they take a look at the review itself is trustworthy. They look for the following things: The length of the review, the content of the review, and the location where the review was left. If any of these things seem out of the ordinary to Yelp, then the RFA will hide the review

The Yelp Page

The Business’s Yelp Page is probably the biggest determining factor of whether a review sticks. It is all encompassing as the veracity score of the Yelp Business Page determines how high the veracity score of the Reviewer and of the Review must be in order for a review to stick.

For example: A 4.5 star rated business will accept a low veracity 5 Star Review. A low veracity 5 Star Review will be filtered on a 2 Star Rated business.

To learn more about these primary factors, click on any of the factor above that will take you to our blog on each factor. Or if you would like to enroll in our Yelp Rating Accelerator Program where we use our proven methods to help you improve your Yelp rating you can click here to book an appointment with us now.