Yelp has fought back against the allegations made in the film, arguing that “There has never been a connection between ratings and reviews on Yelp and buying advertising.”....But notice how Yelp does not promise that a small business owner can speak to a Yelp representative or appeal to any sort of third-party arbitrator about taking down a fake review. This is likely cost-driven. Adding a formal process to consider contentious reviews would be highly expensive for the company, which has been publicly traded since 2012. The documentary also highlights how Yelp is virtually invulnerable to lawsuits.