I feel this borderline slanderous and I’m contemplating contacting a lawyer.

Evidence reveals that asking customers for reviews dramatically affects the number of positive and insightful reviews a business will receive. It is easy to “stack the deck” by offering something in exchange for the review—such as a discount, coupon, or exclusive offer. The quid pro quo nature of this transaction tends to generate a much higher return of favorable responses. This approach is particularly recommended for businesses that feature products or services that lack the emotional appeal of Apple, Starbucks, or Massage Envy.

There is also a disconnect, especially with restaurants. There typically are too many in most markets for all to survive. And many of the restaurants are not very good. As a former serial restaurant owner, I had a couple that I was not thrilled with and sold them quickly.

But diners had very few ways to vet the good from the bad. This allowed many restaurants that should not survive to hang on while providing a sub par experience. Yelp is a game changer as it grows because the information on whether a restaurant is good or not will be disseminated quickly.

For a good restaurant one snarky review is not going to hurt it. Odds are the reviewer will lose prestige in the community before the restaurant does.

For a bad restaurant the reviews should help the owners improve the experience they offer or shut down and saving some of their savings.

A win-win, even if it is a painful experience.

I believe social media in the form local business reviews has yet to really evolve.

For review directories/sites, it will be essential to force more transparency among the community of reviewers–this could possibly mean verifying reviewer accounts by phone or address (similar to the Google LBC), making the process to provide reviews more cumbersome but more credible. This will eliminate much of the phony clutter. The directories/sites that feature the most credible reviews will likely become the most popular.

For small business owners/local business marketers the key is to embrace reviews and not to take them personally. I strongly recommend engaging reviewers directly. As a guideline, here are some review scenarios and recommended responses to win the hearts and minds of your target audience:

**The poor customer service review** If a customer has been forced to wait for an extended period of time or was treated to a display of attitude, it is important to acknowledge the issue and ask for permission to discuss the problem offline, seeking a resolution. If the review is fake, there will likely be no response, but prospective customers will observe your sincere attempt to resolve the issue.

**The unsatisfactory product or service review** If a product or service does not meet expectations, acknowledge the disappointment, share your determination to provide some redemptive options, and ask for permission to discuss the problem offline, seeking a resolution.

**The flawed/destructive product or service review** Let’s say you’re a well-known dry cleaning brand with a couple thousand locations. One of your locations gets nailed with a horrifying review describing how a priceless wedding dress was destroyed by a solvent in the cleaning process. This can be an extremely distressing experience for a new bride. Acknowledge the sensitive issue and ensuing anxiety and suffering with a sincere, empathetic apology. Ask the customer for permission to discuss the problem offline, seeking a resolution. Make every effort to exceed expectations offline.

**The vile name calling and threats review** Do not engage these types of reviewers, the reviews speak for themselves in a self-defeating light. Take action to have these types of reviews deleted by the business directory hosting the review. If the review is submitted through a Google Maps business listing, click the “Flag as inappropriate” link found under the review, and submit a report. Google will likely remove the review upon review.

**The brand champion review**
If the review is a genuine 5-star rave why not publicly thank them for their kind words and engage them on their observations? Of course this is a judgment call, but if the review provides valuable insight it is logical to build upon the comments. Imagine turning a forum for customer reviews into a glowing, ongoing conversation that increases conversions.

Here’s another thought—reward prospective customers for researching your reviews. One example is to publish an exclusive coupon code or offer within your review section, driving prospects to a specific web page, microsite, or offline transaction. This is also a great way to get a feel for how many customers are sizing up your reviews. The perspective here is that reviews are part of your virtual brand real estate, why not strategically use this social forum to better serve customers and increase revenue.

It’s the rants and attacks which are the problem. I mean, sure, anybody with any sense reading for context can identify a wacko, but on brief review a “one-star, scarred for life” review can be devastating.

I have a client right now who one of his reviews isn’t even a review, it’s an indictment of his Yelp ethics. The sum of the review is “this guy’s full of it and pays for reviews” (which, to the best of my knowledge, is wholly untrue).

And, yelp won’t take down either even though this guy pays $675 / month.

It’s tough. Like Google, Yelp has its own internal ethical standards which are non-democratic and potentially life-changing.