A recent deal by Yelp to provide business listings for Internet searches on Yahoo is garnering negative reviews from some small-business owners, who say years of positive comments from customers have disappeared from the portal, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Since mid-March, fresh reviews about a business posted on Yelp replace reviews that had been posted on Yahoo Local, the portal's own consumer-review tool. Until a new Yelp review is posted, the Yahoo reviews remain.
Entrepreneurs argue having multiple online reviews visible is vital to businesses because consumers make decisions based on a diverse pool of opinions. Some business owners have resorted to copying or taking screen shots of positive reviews for fear they may disappear.
Yahoo declined to comment on specific businesses for the WSJ article.
"We partnered with Yelp, one of the most trusted, relevant sources of consumer business reviews, to provide a richer search experience for Yahoo users," a spokeswoman for the Sunnyvale, Calif., company told WSJ. "That's why when Yelp's reviews are available for U.S. businesses, they will replace Yahoo Local reviews."
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—CNBC.com