The first yelp review I left was a result of serendipity. I was wandering around NYC with my beloved, and we wound up in the worst, most overpriced, awesome-mood-killing bar. It was so bad that I rely on yelp in new cities now. If only I'd looked it up on my phone, I would have saved us some agony. This article makes me sad, because I don't want to miss something great because sn owner is being extorted, but I am also incredibly wary of walking into a place without checking reviews first.