Arizona Restaurateur Launches All-Out War Against Yelpers

The restaurant owner has posted banners that say "No Yelpers" at the front of his restaurants.

A restaurant owner has launched an all-out war with Yelpers. If this sounds like a scene from the recent Yelp-themed episode of South Park, that's because it kind of is. Aric Mussman, the owner of Vero Amore — which has two locations in Tucson, Ariz. — tells KGUN9-TV that he was inspired by the animated show's "You're Not Yelping" episode which makes fun of Yelpers on power trips because they think they are restaurant critics. Mussman's restaurants now bear "No Yelpers" banners near the entrances.

Mussman's restaurants have high four star ratings on Yelp, so why did he decide to hang the banners? He explains, "Our reviews are great and that's why I want to be one of the people to stand up and say something." Mossman continues, noting that Yelpers are in it for the "notoriety": "You earn badges for reviews they earn online acclaim. That's where their friends are and they feel like this self-entitled thing that they can bash" restaurant owners with no accountability for their claims. Mossman is upset that people can write whatever they want to without having to do "any fact checking."

The restaurant owner has plans to create a "No Yelpers" movement across the city and is hoping a "watchdog organization" will be created. He says that he has gone to Yelp but that the company has been unhelpful. "If you go to Yelp and say 'Hey, these people make up lies about us.' They don't care." He adds that they will only help you if you "advertise with them." The claim that Yelp manipulates reviews based on ad sales is something the review site has been fighting in court for years. The FTC eventually ruled that Yelp is not up to any funny business. The review site tells the news station:

"There has never been any amount of money a business can pay Yelp to manipulate reviews. Any claims that Yelp manipulates reviews for money or that advertisers are treated any differently than non-advertisers are completely false and have been repeatedly dismissed by courts of law, thoroughly researched and disproven by academic study, and investigated by government regulators, including the FTC, who closed a nearly two-year investigation without taking action.

Because of Yelp's influence, small businesses are realizing that online reviews are incredibly important. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to frustration, when businesses that don't like their reputation on a review site like Yelp realize they are unable to change it by trying to game the system due to our recommendation software. These businesses have only one last recourse: to discredit the site as a reliable source of information. At the end of the day, Yelp is a resource for consumers to find reliable information about how good or bad a business may be; the site would be useless to consumers if every business could buy a five-star rating."

While Mussman's restaurants have four star ratings on Yelp right now, if enough pro-Yelp activists get involved, the restaurant's rating could tank. Already a few angry Yelpers have posted negative one star reviews on the restaurants' Yelp pages. One user even went so far as to post a picture of his middle finger with a review that reads, "Really though who do you think you are hanging a sign that says no Yelpers... go f-ck yourself and I will never be back." Watch the local news story below:

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