Business review siteYelp has paused a partnership with GoFundMe that automatically set up fundraisers for tens of thousands of small businesses after restaurant and bar owners complained.
The Verge reports that business review app Yelp has paused a partnership it launched with fundraising platform GoFundMe that opted tens of thousands of small businesses into fundraisers after restaurant and bar owners complained. The initiative was launched earlier in the week in response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic which has negatively affected thousands of businesses that are unable to operate.
However, the update opted a number of businesses into fundraisers without their consent. Some business owners also claimed that the process for opting out was also unnecessarily complicated. A Yelp spokesperson said in a statement:
On Tuesday, Yelp announced a partnership with GoFundMe to provide a fast and easy way for people to support their favorite local businesses by donating to a GoFundMe fundraiser directly on the Yelp pages of eligible businesses. In an effort to get businesses help quickly and easily, a GoFundMe fundraiser was automatically added to the Yelp pages of an initial group of eligible businesses, with information provided on how to claim it or opt out should a business choose to do so.
However, it has come to our attention that some businesses did not receive a notification with opt-out instructions, and some would have preferred to actively opt-in to the program. As such, we have paused the automatic rollout of this feature, and are working with GoFundMe to provide a seamless way for businesses to opt into the program moving forward, as we have received a great deal of interest and support for the program from both consumers and businesses alike.
Many have been critical of Yelp’s handling of the situation, including Andy McMillan, an organizer of the annual art and technology festival XOXO and owner of Suckerpunch bar in Portland, and Nick Kokonas, co-owner of the Michelin star restaurant Alinea.
Hey @gofundme, can you shut down this page please? https://t.co/bP97PeRMcS It was created by Yelp without my consent. I'm not comfortable giving you a scan of my ID, and I don't have an EIN, so I can't complete the form myself.
— Andy McMillan (@andymcmillan) March 26, 2020
Kokonas demanded that Yelp take down the GoFundMe fundraiser when he saw a link automatically placed on the Yelp page for Alinea. In a tweet directed toward the food and dining website Eater, Kokonas stated: “If you want to report on the worst behavior in the industry — here you go. This causes harm to our reputation, is done without consent, and is being done on a mass basis for their own benefit. Unbelievable. I don’t need to deal with this in the middle of a crisis.”
It is unconscionable of you to create a page for my restaurants trying to take advantage of this crisis for your companies under the guise of 'helping'.
Immediately remove all Alinea Group properties. I hope someone sues you… I might once i have time. pic.twitter.com/0xfCK6OnG3
— nick kokonas (@nickkokonas) March 26, 2020
Yelp is currently pausing the partnership and plans to create an easier way for businesses to opt-out of the program.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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