Running a restaurant isn’t for the faint of heart. In an industry with long hours, razor-thin profit margins, and sky-high customer expectations, it’s important to celebrate every win. Unfortunately, sometimes those wins get caught in the Yelp Review Filtering System.
Why does Yelp remove reviews? Keep reading to find out why your positive Yelp reviews are disappearing – and learn how to prevent it from happening again. If you follow these insider tips, you may even be able to bring them back.
What is Yelp Review Filtering?
Yelp has accumulated more than 278 million reviews since its 2004 launch, and 22 million reviews in 2023 alone. With so many reviews constantly pouring in, Yelp needs a quality control process that prioritizes the most helpful and honest reviews, while hiding – or completely removing – the reviews that don’t meet their standards.
This process includes an automated Yelp review filtering system that measures all reviews against the same standards. This gives everyone an equal shot at having their Yelp reviews recommended – or having their Yelp reviews not recommended.
Why Does Yelp Hide Reviews?
If you’ve noticed your Yelp reviews disappearing, you’re not alone. Reddit is full of threads beginning with some variety of “why does Yelp remove reviews?.” The short answer is: Yelp’s working hard to ensure that all posts adhere to its Content Guidelines.
But what does that mean in practice? Why are some Yelp reviews “not recommended”? Generally speaking, Yelp filters out reviews when:
- The review doesn’t seem to be tied to an authentic, first-hand experience (for instance, the reviewer is writing about a friend’s experience or posting in reaction to a news article about the restaurant).
- The review contains hate speech, threatening language, explicit images, personal information, and other inappropriate material.
- The reviewer seems to have a conflict of interest (for example, they own a competing restaurant or have been paid to leave a review).
- The reviewer has only posted a handful of reviews and hasn’t yet built a track record of useful, trusted content.
At Yelp, filtered reviews totaled 4.4 million in 2023. The automated system handled over 3.5 million of those. Unfortunately, automation isn’t always good at making nuanced decisions. As a result, sometimes Yelp filtered reviews that should have been recommended.
When the review is negative, this plays out in the business owner’s favor. The reviewer might react with a “Hey! Why did my Yelp review disappear?,” but you’re likely happy to see it gone.
You’re not off the hook, though. In most cases, the review hasn’t been deleted – it’s just hidden. Customers can still easily find unrecommended reviews by clicking a link at the bottom of your business page.
You might be wondering “Why does Yelp hide reviews if people can still access them?.” It’s a good question (one that only Yelp knows the answer to), but what really matters is that when a review is hidden, the filtered review no longer contributes to your restaurant’s star rating.
How to Unfilter Hidden Positive Reviews on Yelp
While a hidden negative review is often cause for celebration, positive reviews are another story. Business owners end up frustrated, worried about their restaurant reputation management, and wondering “Why are my five-star Yelp reviews disappearing?”
If this is happening to you, there are steps you can take to “unhide” those glowing reviews – and to prevent it from happening again.
1. Don’t Ask for Reviews
Yelp’s recommendation software is highly sensitive to potential conflicts of interest. When people ask “Why are some Yelp reviews not recommended?,” the answer is often that these reviews look like they were solicited.
Whether you offer your customers some kind of incentive to review your restaurant (like a percentage off of their bill), or you convince your entire extended family to wax poetic on your Business Page, chances are good that the sudden influx of positive reviews is going to tip off Yelp’s recommendation system. If your restaurant is flagged by the algorithm, you’re more likely to lose a few of those positive reviews.
2. Ask for Check-Ins
While Yelp doesn’t allow review solicitation, it actually encourages business owners to draw customers to their Business Page by creating a Yelp check-in offer, a free tool that rewards customers when they use Yelp to “check-in” at a business. Offers can include discounts, loyalty points, and more. Simply decide on a promotion or incentive, then set up your check-in offer.
To access the incentive, customers have to check-in, which justifies any increased activity that might alert the filtering system. It also boosts your reviewers’ credibility by strengthening their track records with the platform, making it less likely that their reviews will land in the Yelp “hidden reviews” section.
3. Use Your Business Page to Develop Customer Relationships
Taking the time to respond to customer feedback is a good practice no matter what – whether you’re online or in the dining room, customers love it when restaurateurs take the time to show they care. And when you positively engage with customers on Yelp, they’re more likely to leave a review in the first place.
By interacting with your Business Page, customers also increase their credibility with the platform. Build a strong network of reliable customers who engage with you regularly and you’ll be less likely to ask yourself “Why did my Yelp review disappear?” anytime soon.
4. Save Your Reviews by Boosting Your Customers
Restaurateurs aren’t the only ones frantically googling “Why are some Yelp reviews not recommended?.” Internet forums are full of irritated customers with hidden reviews.
We touched on this briefly in point #2, but the reality is, sometimes reviews are filtered simply because the reviewer isn’t a trusted member of the Yelp community yet. Here’s how to manage that risk:
- Step 1: Build a routine of checking for new reviews every couple of days. Hopefully you’re already doing this – monitoring reviews is also important for removing Yelp spam comments.
- Step 2: When you see a positive review come in, check the reviewer’s account to see how old and active it is. If their account is new or they’ve been relatively inactive, move fast and take one of the following actions.
- Step 3: Boost your customer’s presence on Yelp by replying to their review, adding them as a friend, and reacting to their reviews of other companies. You can also use the Useful, Funny, and Cool tags to help label them as a trustworthy Yelp user. That way, the algorithm will be more likely to recommend their reviews – including yours. If you’re a little late to react and the review has already been filtered, taking these steps can also encourage the recommendation system to unhide the post.
Given Yelp’s position as one of the top apps for restaurant owners, every positive review is an important review. Proactive measures like monitoring reviews and engaging with your customers not only prevent reviews from being filtered, they also come with the added bonus of strengthening your customer rapport. And when reviews do get filtered? Acting quickly may help you regain that 5-star rating you’ve worked so hard for.
Katherine is the Content Marketing Manager at TouchBistro, where she writes about trending topics in food and restaurants. The opposite of a picky eater, she’ll try (almost) anything at least once. Whether it’s chowing down on camel burgers in Morocco or snacking on octopus dumplings in Japan, she’s always up for new food experiences.
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