Review platform glossary: verified, gating, imported and more

Labels on a review

• Collection method: how the review came to exist. Organic (the reviewer came on their own), Invited (the business sent a request), Imported (the business uploaded its own export from another platform).
• Verification status: Verified customer (tied to a real transaction), Unverified (no evidence either way), Verification pending (proof has been requested).
• Incentivized: the reviewer was offered something for writing a review, regardless of its content. Must be disclosed; counts at 0.8 weight.
• Insider: the reviewer works for or owns the business, detected here by an email on the business's own domain. Excluded from scores.
• Pending tag: a visible "verification pending" marker on a published review while we wait for proof of purchase.

Scores

• Overall score: the Bayesian recency-weighted average of all counted reviews, 1.0 to 5.0.
• Verified-only score: the same formula using only verified reviews.
• Prior: the seven imaginary reviews at 3.5 that every business starts with, so a single review cannot define it.
• Half-life: the 90 days after which a review's weight halves.
• Provisional: a business with fewer than three counted reviews, listed without a rank.
• Label: the word attached to a score range, from Bad (1.0 to 1.7) to Excellent (4.3 to 5.0).

Moderation

• Risk score: a 0 to 1 number from a rules engine and an automated text check that decides whether a new review publishes, publishes with a pending tag, is held for a moderator, or is not published.
• Flag (report): a reader's or business's request that a moderator look at a review, with a stated reason. A flagged review stays visible and stops counting until it is resolved.
• Reason code: the recorded, public reason for every removal: auto_risk, spam, conflict_of_interest, harassment, not_a_customer, duplicate, legal or other.
• Appeal: the one chance a reviewer has to ask a human moderator to reverse a removal.
• Soft delete: a removed review is hidden, not erased; its history stays in the record.
• Review version: every edit to a review creates a new version; the old text is kept.

Practices

• Review gating: asking only customers you expect to be happy, or screening customers before sending them to a public review site. Prohibited here and under the FTC rule.
• Review bombing: a coordinated burst of reviews, usually negative, often unrelated to a customer experience. Triggers a seven-day hold from the score.
• Astroturfing: fake grassroots praise, including reviews written by the business, its staff or paid writers.
• Non-disparagement clause: contract language that penalizes a customer for leaving an honest negative review. Void in form contracts under the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016.
• Open platform: anyone can review any business. Closed platform: only invited customers can.

Frequently asked

What is the difference between an invited review and an incentivized review?

An invited review was requested by the business, with nothing offered in return; it is normal and labeled as invited. An incentivized review was rewarded (a discount, a gift card, an entry in a drawing) regardless of what it said. Incentives must be disclosed and the review counts at reduced weight.

What does a reason code look like?

A short fixed label stored with the removal, for example auto_risk when automated checks rated a new review high-risk, or conflict_of_interest when the writer turned out to be a competitor or former employee. The code is shown to the reviewer and recorded in the audit log.

Is "not recommended" on Yelp the same as removed?

No. Yelp's not-recommended reviews are still readable through a link on the listing but are not counted in the rating. A removed review is not public at all.