Canadian OD Says Yelp Unfair to Non-Advertisers

Company denies that it has ever been a “pay-to-play website.”

A prominent Vancouver optometrist is accusing online review website Yelp of extortion, according to a newspaper report. Alan Boyco, OD, who provides eyecare to major Canadian sporting teams, says both good and bad customer reviews appeared on his Yelp page while he advertised with the service. “When I stopped advertising with them, [many] of my positive reviews were filtered out. I noticed that when someone would tell me they had posted a positive review, I’d look at it, and then it would disappear – usually in a day.” California-based Yelp has been the target of similar charges from small business owners in the U.S., but a company spokesman denies them, insisting that Yelp is not a “pay-to-play website.”

Read more at Globe and Mail