Gun and cash

“Billion Dollar Bully” Yelp Keeps Pressure On Businesses

Despite bad publicity and lawsuits, Yelp continues to tank ratings in order to punish those who won’t advertise.

By Art Keller | February 5, 2020 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Food, Law | Advertising, Billion Dollar Bully, Bullying, Communications Decency Act, Conflict of Interest, David Balto, Davide Cerretini, Dining, Documentaries, Eric Goldman, Extortion, Food, FTC, Harvard Business Review, Kaylie Milliken, Levitt v. Yelp, Marketing, Ratings, Restaurants, Reviews, Section 230, Vince Sollitto, Yelp, Yelp Exposed

Jonathan Taplin

Podcast #28: Jonathan Taplin on Internet Aggregators

Jonathan Taplin, former music and film professional, tells first-hand what the new rentier economy of Internet aggregators like Google and Facebook has done to the creative arts, journalism, and democracy.

By Mo Lotman | March 13, 2019 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Journalism, Law, Media, Podcasts, Politics, Society | Addiction, Advertising, Amazon, Annenberg Innovation Lab, Antitrust, Art, Automation, Bing, Bodycams, Cambridge Analytica, Campaign Finance, China, Civil War, Consumers, Copyright, Creative Fields, Decentralization, Democracy, Digitization, Dystopia, Eric Garcetti, Europe, Fake News, Federal Government, GDPR, Google Facebook, Head Tax, Infrastructure, Internet, Jeff Bezos, John Seely Brown, Journalism, LA Times, Larry Page, Law, Levon Helm, Local News, Localism, Mark Zuckerberg, Martin Luther King, Middle Class, Musicians, New York Times, Newspapers, Parking Apps, Peter Thiel, Photography, Privacy, Producers, Recommendations, Record Business, Robert Bork, Roger McNamee, Royalties, Safe Harbor, Search Engine, Social Credit, Social Networking, State Politics, surveillance, The Band, The Last Waltz, The Weight, Throat Cancer, Tim Berners-Lee, Tristan Harris, Vint Cerf, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Watchdog Role, Winner-Take-All, Yelp, YouTube

Alia Meddeb

For Yelp, Extortion Has a Starring Role

Yelp uses the power of its rating system to bully small businesses into buying their expensive advertising; if they decline, so do their ratings.

By Art Keller | August 23, 2017 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Food, Law | Advertising, Alia Meddeb, Better Business Bureau, Billion Dollar Bully, Bullying, Dining, Documentaries, Extortion, Food, FTC, Google Reviews, Janie Gilarde, Kaylie Milliken, Marketing, Morocco, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, North African Cuisine, Ratings, Restaurants, Reviews, Rod Brant, Tunisia, Yelp

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