A word on user reviews.....

Did you know that some Yelpers get paid for reviews?!?

How did I not know this?

Here I sit on this computer, in my blissful ignorance, reading Yelp reviews of restaurants and bars from real live, eating, drinking, human beings like myself who just enjoy a nice meal with good service and have the thoughtfulness to write about their experiences.

And it could all be a lie. Not necessarily on par with seeing my dad's handwriting on a gift "from Santa Claus," but still so very disappointing.

I suppose I thought it was against some grand unspoken code of ethics.

Or something.

One such example is Mel's Drive-In, a famous 50s-ish-type restaurant in my own San Francisco. If you write a Yelp review, bring in a copy and get 20 percent off your burgers malts, and fries.

A local PR firm calls this a "virtual bribe," and rightly so in my opinion.

My only relief comes from the fact that Mel's Drive-In accepts both positive and negative reviews, perhaps attempting to increase their Yelp presence rather than simply buy people off for writing glowing, shining, happy, positive reviews.

Maybe it's that Mel's and other such restaurants are capitalizing on the public relations potential of Yelp.

Maybe it's that blissful ignorance talking. But in the perfect world according to Andy, this is not the way Yelp should work.