On Yelp, Every Restaurant is Very Special
Reviewers on Yelp aren't very discerning: They award four or five stars 69 percent of the time (see chart). The local ratings website could combat this by grading on the curve, but would rather force you to click around.
Why doesn't Yelp just show how a restaurant's inflated ratings compare to its competitors' inflated ratings, thus negating the surplus of stars? VentureBeat's Kim-Mai Cutler asked, and Yelp answered: "Virtually identical ratings mean people have to dive into reviews to understand what's different, said Vince Sollitto, who heads communications for the San Francisco-based company." Translation: Confusion means more traffic means more advertising dough.
Which is too bad for hard-core Yelpers used to being pampered by gladhanding restaurateurs: Once owners figure out how easy it is to get five stars, the free drinks and food are over.
