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The sentence preceding the excerpt you quoted is relevant. Phil wrote, "We did this recently by asking customers to go to Facebook and Yelp and write reviews of East Coast Aero Club." But Yelp frowns upon businesses that do that:

http://www.yelp.com/business/common_questions

Q. "Should I ask customers to write reviews for my business?"

A. "While we understand that there is a temptation to solicit reviews from your customers, it is not something we encourage. [...] If you do ask your customers for reviews, please be prepared for the review number fluctuation that might follow."

Hmm, no wonder yelp is being hit with lawsuits.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/24/yelp-class-action-lawsuit/

"Folks have explained" isn't a useful data point. It just reflects some people's perceptions, which, as you point out, are already negative.