Why YELP Is Getting Out of Control

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The South Park deadly duo of Matt Stone and Trey Parker have always done their best to come up with unique fodder for their animated show. Thanks to their seven day time frame they can act on current events instead of pumping out something that's got a death rattle feel to it (Family Guy, Simpson's etc). When they did "You're Not YELPing" (season 19 episode 4) it was a direct slam on the members who insist on writing 2,000 word reviews of fast food joints, pizza shops or chain restaurants (Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden etc). When I am looking to order pizza all I want to know is if it is going to taste good and how long it takes for them to deliver. You don't need to write a book to get that across to readers. If it were only isolated to food based experiences I could overlook the zealousness of some people but it's slowly started to branch out to other establishments. While some may appreciate knowing how long it took Barry to change their oil on their car or if someone had clean fingernails when they brought food to the table (because seriously if that's your biggest concern over rats, hair, dead insects etc then you lead a charmed life) it all comes down to taste and service. Tonight I had to write a one-star piece on a local pizza shop. They advertised a pizza deal and had a coupon for it on their website (not a third part site like AllMenus or GrubHub) so when the total was four dollars more than what I added it up to be I asked and was told that the price was $24.00 not $20.00. It's not my fault someone didn't change it – I mean it is YOUR website. Normally I don't give lowball ratings like that but I can almost guarantee that everyone else who ordered that just sucked it up and didn't say a word about it. YELP has gotten out of control with the things they are adding to the site; they are never going to be able to drive Angie's List off the internet (but I wish someone would) and it's no real match for Home Advisor since that is mostly home repair reviews. Moreover, there's no accountability and I know more than a few people that have been hired to write content for places that have more than one location or are part of a franchise. Do you review places at YELP? Do you ever read about an establishment before visiting them? Are the YELP articles susceptible to abuse?