Yelp! I Need Somebody. Not Just Anybody!

Seventy percent of Americans trust online reviews by strangers.  A recent piece in The Washington Post shows how deeply grassroots perception campaigns have reached into the world of Yelp and other online reviews.

That world of online-reviews is not exactly the Wild West.  There are industry standards, ethical boundaries of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines on disclosure.

Little understood by many is the need for firms to use proactive techniques to counter the dark side of reviewing.  Critics complain about Yelp’s elevation of good reviews for firms that advertise on Yelp.  Less well understood is how often it is necessary to use tools to get out the good word, to protect oneself from what Chicago’s Zocalo Group calls “reputation terrorists” and “competitive destroyers.”