I have a small anecdotal experience with yelp manipulations. In my case as a user trying to search for a restaurants reviews by the exact name of the place. The search resulted in a competing restaurant blocks away of the same ethnicity that happens to pay for yelp advertising. This is pretty poor practice. The only way to find the restaurant I was actually looking for was with the map view.<p>If the excuse is poor search quality, it seems too convenient.