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The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is listed as a 501(c)(6) and their EIN is 83-3454617 but they don't provide any links to their financial reports or required filings on their website and trying to search for their Form 990 comes up blank, even on the IRS website. But I'm sure they're totally legit...

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All the shady behavior that Yelp has been accused of, but largely never caught doing, various state level BBB's have been caught doing.

It beggars belief that Yelp has gotten away with it. I have heard from 4-5 restaurant owners the same story: it costs $300 to hide bad reviews. Those that don't pay start getting more bad reviews.

> It beggars belief that Yelp has gotten away with it. I have heard from 4-5 restaurant owners the same story: it costs $300 to hide bad reviews.

Is there documented evidence of this available? Emails with DKIM signatures, recorded conversations with representatives who can be confirmed to work for Yelp, official Yelp correspondence, etc? Basically anything that can actually make a solid case instead of just anecdotal evidence.

Nope. What I have been told is it is always a phone call shakedown.

Random call, I am not sure if they followup. Suffice it to say, AFAIK no one has managed to record the shakedown calls.

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