Recode: Google Is Finding Ways To 'Piss Off' Yelp And TripAdvisor

It isn't exactly a secret that Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and its Google unit tweek its search algorithms to push down the listings of other review sites, including Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP) and Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP).

According to a report by Recode, the latest "brouhaha" surrounds a new Google search feature that highlights review of restaurants from sites such as Zagat, which Google conveniently owns.

Recode noted that neither Yelp nor Tripadvisor's reviews show up in the first page of a Google search. In certain cases, a review from either of the companies isn't even found in the second page, and mobile users sometimes need to scroll to the third screen to find a Yelp review.

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Google is "giving those companies a new reason to believe" that Google is "intentionally" pushing their review sites "way down in search rankings." Both Yelp and Tripadvisor already filed complaints in the European Union's case against the search giant for anti-competitive practices and promoting its own products and review over competing sites.

The report's claim appears to even have the support of Yelp's CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, who took to Twitter to voice his frustration.

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