Yesterday, the well-known start-up Yelp was slapped with a class action lawsuit.    You can read about the story here.  Yelp has been accused of “extortion” by a veterinarian hospital in California.  The hospital contacted Yelp asking them to remove negative reviews of the business.  Yelp refused to take down the reviews.  Then a funny thing happened, the veterinary hospital was promptly contacted by a Yelp “sales representative.”  The rep told the company they could delete or lower the negative reviews on their pages for the low cost of around $300/mo.

Much to my surprise, this isn’t new news.  I tweeted a few articles yesterday and the reactions were shocking.  Apparently, I live under a rock.  My tweeps informed me that Yelp has been extorting business for quite some time.

I had NO idea…honestly.

This almost triggered me to remove my 40 some Yelp reviews yesterday, but I decided against (for now).  Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and there are intriguing questions to be answered:

Are they really extorting small businesses?

Do Yelp reviews still hold water anyways?

How many businesses do you think will join the class action lawsuit countrywide?

One thing I do have to say about the situation:  It has destroyed Yelp’s credibility.  The site is built on reviews, whether negative or positive.  The fact they are collecting revenue to “hide” negative reviews destroys the entire mantra of the site.  Who can you trust?  In my eyes, the money blinded Yelp from what they originally set out to create.  I am anxious to see their response to the lawsuit.

What do you guys think?  Can a start-up like Yelp withstand a nationwide class-action lawsuit?  How do restaurant owners feel about it?  Is Yelp dead?