Yelp's filtering algorithm was put in place as part of an effort to eliminate fake and/or abusive reviews that violate policy. It is Yelp's goal to showcase reviews that are of high quality, reliable, and posted organically by the reviewer's choice and will. Across its entire platform, Yelp filters one-fourth of all reviews. Unfortunately for us, Yelp also filters legitimate reviews on occasion.

What Reviews Will Be Filtered?

• Reviews that read as fake.
  • "This place is great! I love everything about it. Everyone should move here! I wouldn't move out if you paid me a million bucks!" 
• Reviews left by Yelpers who have posted very few reviews and have no profile picture.
  • If a someone is new to Yelp and your community is the first review they post, the review is likely to be filtered. As that person becomes more active on Yelp by adding friends and posting additional reviews, Yelp may remove the filter from the original review.
• A large number of reviews at one time.
  • If your community receives a lot of reviews at once, this looks suspicious to Yelp’s algorithm, and you will likely see several of the reviews get filtered.
• Many reviews that mention one person.
  • Yelp discourages businesses to aggressively ask for reviews. If the same name is continuously being repeated throughout several reviews, Yelp may be concerned that the person being mentioned is asking for reviews.
  • For example, “Lucy is great”, “Lucy is the best!”, “You have to ask for Lucy. She’ll help you with all your questions.”

Can Anything Be Done About Legitimate Filtered Reviews?

While there are no guaranteed methods to completely avoid Yelp’s filtering algorithm, the below steps are recommended as potential courses of action

1. Encourage residents and prospects to “check-in” on Yelp before posting a review. This will let Yelp know that they have had legitimate interactions with your community.
2. Work with Essex corporate communications to get a response posted as soon as possible. This way, if Yelp does remove the filter from a review, it will show publicly on your community’s listing with a timely response.
3. Try and stagger your reviews. Avoid getting a lot of reviews at one time, if possible.
4. Do not aggressively ask for reviews. Be kind and courteous with a quick verbal request as part of a conversation.

How Can I See My Community’s Filtered Reviews?

While logged in to Chatmeter, click on the “Reviews” tab.

Using the Advanced Filters, you can select “Only Filtered Reviews,” which will generate the list of your community’s reviews that have been filtered by Yelp’s algorithm.