Yelp is now detailing their removal of spammy lead generators and how they are targeting fake review groups as well as the businesses incentivizing reviews on social media platforms in their 2022 Trust and Safety Report.
In the report, Yelp said that they explored identifying IP addresses used for fake positive reviews and used their resources to discover users that were connected to groups that are coordinating paid reviews.
The aforementioned Trust and Safety report that Yelp has closed over 77,000 user accounts for terms of service violations and suspected deceptive and abusive actions, and also rejected over 32,800 potential new business pages for being associated with spammy activities, also a violation of their terms.
Per the report: “Nearly 2,000 business pages removed for being associated with lead generators, violating Yelp’s policies. Lead generators’ create fake business pages then take the customer leads generated and auction them to other contractors. This behavior tricks people into paying exorbitant costs for services, targeting vulnerable consumers who are often allowing service providers into their home (locksmiths, movers, home cleaning, etc.).”
