Yelp has voiced a grievance against Google over a recent modification to search results affecting restaurant review sites. TripAdvisor has also expressed its dissatisfaction on social media regarding the same issue.
Late last week, Google announced an immediate adjustment to its search results, which will highlight critic reviews and restaurant review sites more prominently when users search for dining options. While this change appears favorable for review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, both companies argue that they are being overshadowed in favor of Google reviews and Google-owned sites such as Zagat.
On Friday, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman shared an example on social media where Google’s own properties dominate the first two pages of search results.
TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer also criticized Google for prioritizing its own content over that of other review sites.
On Monday, Stoppelman continued to provide instances of Google ranking its own results above competitor sites. He shared a screenshot demonstrating that even when the term “Yelp” is included in the search query, Google still surfaces its own content more prominently.
Since 2014, Yelp has been vocal about what it claims are biased search results from Google, even joining the European Union in filing formal antitrust complaints. Google has consistently denied these allegations but often declines to comment further.
It may be too soon to determine if Google’s recent changes to restaurant search results will negatively impact the traffic directed to third-party review sites. The change had been in effect for less than a day before the CEOs expressed their concerns. Over time, the consequences of this update on review sites and the overall restaurant search experience will become clearer.
