Asian-owned businesses see a sharp rise in anti-Asian reviews on Yelp

Yelp’s mission is to connect people with great local businesses and enrich the lives of consumers and small business owners. The business review and discovery company just released its 2022 Trust and Safety Report, and some of the results are alarming.

In 2022, Yelp removed 475 reviews targeting Asian-owned businesses that were deemed “hateful, racist, or potentially harmful.” This represents a 5,178% increase from 2021, the highest among any identity group.

One review targeting Curry Up Cafe, an Asian-owned cafe in Los Angeles, California, read, “I will not have my dog eat in this place because they might cook him. The owner works for the Chinese government.”

Yelp reportedly removed the review but only after the owner of the cafe and several customers complained. “If one person read that and decided not to come in, that’s someone who could have been a satisfied customer for years,” Wong told The Associated Press.

In a separate study, researchers from Boston College, the University of Michigan, and Microsoft Research, concluded that anti-Asian racism resulted in a $7.4 billion loss for Asian American restaurants in 2020.

The long and the short of it? Asian-owned businesses have dealt with surging anti-Asian sentiment for years and it’s severely impacting their bottom line. Support Asian-owned businesses.