Comments on: What’s wrong with Yelp? http://www.johntantalo.com/blog/why-you-cant-trust-yelp-reviews/ It's not so much a time machine as it is my blog. Sat, 01 May 2010 16:49:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John http://www.johntantalo.com/blog/why-you-cant-trust-yelp-reviews/comment-page-1/#comment-6547 John Fri, 09 May 2008 01:26:25 +0000 http://www.johntantalo.com/blog/?p=18#comment-6547 Chris: I agree completely. I think the problem has been solved by Netflix: given enough ratings on a common set of objects, they can predict users "like you" and objects "you like." I seriously doubt if Yelp could follow suit, though. On Netflix, everyone rates the same common set of objects. On Yelp, you're limited to the objects near you. Chris: I agree completely. I think the problem has been solved by Netflix: given enough ratings on a common set of objects, they can predict users “like you” and objects “you like.”

I seriously doubt if Yelp could follow suit, though. On Netflix, everyone rates the same common set of objects. On Yelp, you’re limited to the objects near you.

]]> By: Chris Radcliff http://www.johntantalo.com/blog/why-you-cant-trust-yelp-reviews/comment-page-1/#comment-6521 Chris Radcliff Wed, 07 May 2008 20:55:25 +0000 http://www.johntantalo.com/blog/?p=18#comment-6521 When I go to Yelp, I read the reviews as well as look at the ratings. The reviews themselves (if detailed enough) might tell a completely different story than the ratings. For example, if a restaurant has stellar ratings but 90% of the reviewers say things like, "There's not much for a vegetarian, but the shrimp was amazing," and the negative reviews are all from vegetarians, then I know to avoid taking a vegetarian there. Other than detailed reviews, what could be done to determine whether "people like me" are among the reviewers? When I go to Yelp, I read the reviews as well as look at the ratings. The reviews themselves (if detailed enough) might tell a completely different story than the ratings. For example, if a restaurant has stellar ratings but 90% of the reviewers say things like, “There’s not much for a vegetarian, but the shrimp was amazing,” and the negative reviews are all from vegetarians, then I know to avoid taking a vegetarian there.

Other than detailed reviews, what could be done to determine whether “people like me” are among the reviewers?

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