Yelp Adds Mobile Reviews

Yelp has launched a few new features aimed at making its services easier to use for both visitors and reviewers.

First up, there is a new Yelp mobile app, available today on iOS, with Android compatibility to follow, which allows users to post Yelp reviews straight from their mobile phone. This means that, instead of having to wait to get back to their computer in order to write a review, people could write a review for a business while still on its premises or immediately upon leaving.

This is good news for businesses that have a good reputation. Oftentimes, people wish to leave a great review for business they've frequented, but either forget or just never quite get around to actually writing it once they're at their computer.

With that in mind, businesses that are poorly run or tend to get negative reviews may not benefit as much. The new app allows users to instantly post their negative review right while they are still angry or upset about something, perhaps leading to a rise in impulse posts.

Mobile users could previously leave a 'tip' once they have checked into a business, which are generally meant for short, tweet-like comments about the business. These tips will also be remaining for those Yelp users that use them frequently.

As people begin using the mobile review feature to post business reviews, Yelp may turn shorter posts into tips rather than leave them as a full-blown reviews. However, adjustments to this feature are still underway, and reviewers will also be able to go back and edit shorter reviews and tips left on a mobile device.

With nearly 10.4 million unique mobile devices using Yelp's app, this feature is sure to get some great usage, and it is something that avid Yelp reviewers have been asking for in the past.

More Consumer Alerts

Yelp is also implementing new consumer alerts that will alert visitors if Yelp has caught a particular establishment using some sort of incentives for great reviews, such as offering cash, discounts, or gift certificates. They also note that the FTC deems this kind of activity illegal, and downright unethical, too.

When Yelp discovers that a business has been soliciting positive reviews, the new consumer alert will show up on their Yelp listing for 90 days, since a large number of fake positive reviews can definitely impact competitors who aren't cheating, as well as damaging Yelp's reputation when fake reviews lead them astray.

While Yelp uses automated tools to try and discover many types of fake reviews, such as multiple reviews posted from the same IP address or a high number of reviews coming from other countries, it is clear that Yelp is now also considering the problem of solicited positive reviews.

While this new consumer alert will be displayed on the businesses caught cheating, users still can click the link to see the reviews for that business. However, it is unclear whether they are also going to automatically remove the flagged reviews.

Image: William Murphy

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This article originally published at ClickZ here