# Google reviews vs Yelp vs Trustpilot: where to read reviews

*Updated 2026-11-13 · https://roovello.com/guides/google-reviews-vs-yelp-vs-trustpilot*

Google has the most reviews for local businesses but labels nothing about how they were collected. Yelp filters aggressively and discourages businesses from asking for reviews. Trustpilot is open but puts replies and most tools behind paid plans. Feefo publishes only invited buyers. The right site is the one that shows you, on each review, how it was collected and whether the person was a customer.

## Who can write a review

Google, Yelp and Trustpilot are open: anyone with an account can review any business. Feefo is closed: only customers the business invites can write. Open platforms capture uninvited experiences; closed platforms guarantee a transaction behind every review.

## What gets labeled

Google shows the reviewer's name, date and rating, and nothing about how the review was collected. Yelp shows the same and marks some reviews as "not recommended", moving them off the main listing. Trustpilot marks reviews written from a business's invitation and labels the rest as organic. Feefo reviews are verified purchases by definition.

RooVello stores and shows two labels on every review: how it was collected (organic, invited, imported) and whether the customer was verified, plus a separate verified-only score for each business.

## How removals work

On most platforms, a review disappears when it is flagged and judged to violate a policy, and the writer is told little. Yelp's filter can hide a review without a policy violation at all.

RooVello never removes silently: every removal carries a public reason code and the writer gets one appeal to a human moderator. Businesses cannot remove or hide reviews; they can reply and flag with a stated reason.

## Where each is strongest

- Google: volume and convenience for local search; the review count alone tells you something about how busy a business is.
- Yelp: restaurants and nightlife, where its reviewer community is deepest.
- Trustpilot: online retailers and services, where many businesses actively invite reviews.
- Feefo: transaction-level confidence for UK and e-commerce brands.
- RooVello: provenance. Two scores, labeled collection methods, public removal reasons, and free tools for the business so cost does not decide who replies.

## A practical approach

Read two sources, not one. Use Google or Yelp for volume and recency, then look for a source that labels verification. Read the most recent negative reviews and the replies on each. If the pictures agree, you can be fairly confident; if they disagree sharply, the business is probably managing one of them.

## Frequently asked

### Why does a business have different ratings on different sites?

Different reviewers, different filters, different time windows, and different math. Google shows a plain average; Yelp hides "not recommended" reviews; RooVello uses a Bayesian average that weighs recent and verified reviews more. A gap of half a star is normal; a gap of two stars means one site is being managed or filtered heavily.

### Can businesses pay to remove reviews on these sites?

No major platform sells removal, and the FTC's review rule prohibits suppressing honest reviews. Businesses can pay for tools, placement or advertising on some platforms. On RooVello paying buys one thing, the ability to email past customers for a review, and it cannot change rank or score.

### Does Yelp hide real reviews?

Yelp's recommendation software moves reviews it considers less reliable to a separate "not recommended" section, which is not counted in the rating. Yelp says this is based on quality and reliability signals, not on advertising. You can still read those reviews by following the link at the bottom of a listing.

### Is Trustpilot free for businesses?

Trustpilot has a free plan with limited features; replying to reviews, invitations beyond a small number, widgets and analytics sit on paid plans that run from about $99 to $799 a month billed annually as of November 2026, per Trustpilot's pricing page. Confirm current prices there.

## Related

- https://roovello.com/guides/how-to-spot-fake-reviews
- https://roovello.com/guides/what-is-a-verified-review
- https://roovello.com/guides/trustpilot-alternatives
- https://roovello.com/compare