How Yelp Pressures Dentists to Pay High Monthly Fees
Why Your Practice Should Avoid Yelp
Online reviews are one of the most important aspects of any effective dental marketing plan. In today’s fast-paced world, people rely on consumer feedback to make decisions. From Amazon to plumbers to restaurants and dentists, people take advantage of their powerful smartphones and the steady stream of data generated by the masses. Of course, Google dominates as the most influential review platform, but what about review websites like Yelp? The name sounds quirky and innocent enough; however, this site has generated a mountain of bad press over the years—and for good reason. Their business practices are nefarious, and many practitioners learn too late that Yelp threatens dental brands in order to sell costly marketing plans.
The Power of Online Reviews for Dentists
Online reviews are the most influential factor when purchasing products and services because they are rooted in a concept called social proof, which is our tendency to be influenced by others. The classic example is when a group of people suddenly moves in a particular direction; most people will follow, believing that they’re avoiding danger. Basically, humans, like a herd of cattle or a school of fish, trust others to provide information for their survival. This is why reviews are so powerful; they assure prospective patients that your dental team can be trusted—and the more positive reviews you have online, the more trust you build; the more trust, the more new patient appointments.
The Order of Your Reviews Matters, A Lot
How your reviews are displayed online can have a tremendous effect on your brand. Google, for example, displays reviews chronologically for the most part. That is they show visitors the most recent reviews, and unless there are obvious signs of fraud, all the reviews that patients submit. This type of structure allows businesses to eventually dilute bad reviews by replacing them with more and more positive reviews.
If, for example, one of your patients gets angry about a procedure that wasn’t covered by his insurance and decides to rant on Google, you can be sure that all your positive reviews will eventually replace the negative comments. Yes, in the short term, such negative feedback is unpleasant, but over time, your satisfied patients will cover over this unflattering review with their supportive words.
Yelp’s Mysterious Algorithm
Yelp threatens dental brands because their reviews are displayed differently than other review sites. Instead of posting reviews chronologically, Yelp claims to use an algorithm that arranges reviews to best serve consumers. This computer program not only determines the order of reviews but the legitimacy of reviews as well. For example, one of your long-time patients might leave a review on Yelp, a glowing recommendation about how your dentistry improved her oral health and how your dental team is so personable and caring. Unfortunately, however, the Yelp algorithm may judge this review as illegitimate and bury it in a section of your profile titled “not currently recommended.” To find this great review, patients would have to scroll to the bottom of the page and click a small link that clearly suggests that reviews in this area aren’t valuable and probably not accurate.
In other words, the appearance and, therefore, strength of your Yelp page changes based on the calculations of the algorithm; this is the main reason why Yelp threatens dental practice brands. One day, you may have four of your strongest reviews on the first page. You’re proud to see all the positive comments and know that visitors will understand your commitment to dentistry and dedication to patient care. The next day, however, you go to your Yelp page to find the algorithm has moved your four worst reviews (maybe from years ago) to the top, so prospective patients now see all sorts of negative comments about your practice and staff. Worse, maybe this is the day that someone is looking to invest $20,000 in a full-mouth makeover, and you just lost out because of the negative reviews. Maybe a local family is settling into a new home and looking for a dentist to care for the entire family, but when they read the first page of your Yelp profile, they quickly move on to the next practice. You may have received dozens of great reviews over the last year, but those reviews are now buried at the bottom of the list, and some of them have even been moved to the “not currently recommended” section.
Yelp’s Questionable Business Model
What’s even more concerning than Yelp’s review structure is the way it uses bad reviews to sell expensive marketing plans. The model has been documented by countless businesses and goes like this: 1) A business claims its Yelp page and encourages customers to leave reviews. 2) The business inevitably receives some bad reviews. 3) Yelp keeps those bad reviews displayed on the first page. 3) The business owners discover that Yelp has the power to keep those bad reviews at the top of their profile indefinitely; this frustrates the business owners and costs them money. 4) A Yelp salesperson calls to sell a marketing plan and promises to help them “manage” their negative reviews.
A quick search on Google will reveal just how many liken Yelp’s business practices to mafia extortion. There are even documented cases of Yelp employees orchestrating negative reviews and then calling the frustrated business to sell a high-priced management plan, implying that this Yelp service will help deal with the bad reviews.
My Personal Experience with Yelp
I may have questioned some of these horrendous Yelp stories if I hadn’t experienced it firsthand. I was working with a dental practice that received a Yelp review from someone claiming to be a new patient. The person was fake, and the entire appointment was fake. This review suggested that one of the providers had implied something lewd. We speculated that it was perhaps written by either a competing practice or a disgruntled ex-staff member. I called Yelp to have the review taken down and was told that they can’t remove reviews unless they contain profanity, discrimination, or threats. I explained that this review was damaging the practice brand and was fraudulent. The Yelp employee told me that the Yelp algorithm would ultimately determine its legitimacy and that there was nothing they could do about it.
The practice owners were obviously angry that this false account was displayed on the first page of their otherwise positive Yelp profile. About a week later I received a call from Yelp. It was a salesperson who had heard about the situation and wanted to help. She went on to explain that for just $450 a month, she could help me “manage” this negative Yelp review. I kept pressing her on the word “manage”; I wanted to know what this meant, specifically. Did this mean she would take the fraudulent review down? Her answer strongly suggested that there was “a lot” she could do to help, but she never actually said she could remove the fake review if the practice had a Yelp ad plan, for obvious reasons. To say, “Buy this subscription, or we’ll keep that negative review up forever” is clearly extortion and illegal. Instead, Yelp uses words like “manage” and “guide” and “structure” to transmit a kind of “wink, wink” that nudges businesses to buy a marketing plan and fix their woes. For many businesses (with well-documented cases online), Yelp’s intentions are clear: Buy a subscription, or your negative reviews are going to stay prominently displayed forever and damage your brand.
I tell all practices to avoid Yelp completely. Instead, encourage patients to leave Google reviews. The more Yelp reviews you accumulate the more power Yelp has to extort your dental practice. You can read story after story of how Yelp has destroyed small businesses that don’t pay for their services. At this point, there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that reveals their unethical business practices, and it’s just not worth letting Yelp threaten your dental practice brand.
Respond to Online Patient Reviews—Period
How Online Reviews Can Attract New Dental Patients The Largely Untapped Practice Builder If you don’t respond to online patient reviews, it’s like deciding not to cash in winning lottery tickets. There’s so much opportunity in both good and bad reviews—yes, even less-than-perfect reviews can strengthen your online practice brand
