Bada-bing, bada-boom! Pay up, or your company is doomed! Yelp is being accused of using mafia-style tactics in the forthcoming documentary, Billion Dollar Bully. Yelp is an online forum that allows users to post positive and negative reviews about stores, restaurants and other businesses they have used.
690 backers pledged $90,100 on KickStarter.com to help bring this film to screens, but Yelp is already firing back, saying the filmmaker’s director, Kaylie Milliken, has a vendetta for the popular online-rating company over a “conflict of interest” involving her husband’s law practice.
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Milliken began her exploration of Yelp after an alternative doctor she was seeing mentioned to her that she was having trouble with Yelp reviews. Milliken tried posting positive reviews about the doctor, but she never saw them published. The experience encouraged her to set up several Yelp accounts and see what she could find out. h/t thr
The documentary makes the case that Yelp is something akin to the Mob, allegedly demanding “protection” money, lest your business be overrun with negative comments.
