Jonah Spangenthal-Lee at The Stranger investigates the craftiness between Village Voice Media, which owns SF Weekly, and the Yelp.com-like site Likeme.net, in which VVM owns a majority stake. It seems most of the positive reviews on the site are written by VVM ad representatives. And said positive reviews are about businesses that advertise in VVM publications.

if you search for a review of Nick’s Crispy Tacos on the San Francisco Weekly’s site, a review from Likeme user LaraW is prominently displayed on the San Francisco Weekly’s page for the restaurant under the heading “The Inside Word on Nick’s Crispy Tacos.”

“If you’re looking for a great midweek activity that doesn’t cost a fortune, this is a great place to go,” LaraW gushes. “The crowd is always fun and the food is awesome.”

“Lara W” is actually Lara Weiss, the advertising coordinator for the San Francisco Weekly, where Nick’s Crispy Tacos advertises.

In Weiss's defense, the tacos there really are good.

Spangenthal-Lee adds:

And Weiss isn’t the only advertising staffer at a VVM paper writing reviews. Jessica Hill, the Phoenix New Times marketing director, raves that Phoenix nightclub Bar Smith is “THE place to be on a Saturday night,” while Kansas City Pitch advertising director Britton Hunter proclaims that Waldo Pizza has excellent pizza and GREAT ranch dressing!!” Bar Smith advertises in the Phoenix New Times; Waldo Pizza advertises in the Pitch. In fact, just about every VVM publisher, promotions manager, and ad rep have accounts on Likeme, which is easy to find when cross-referenced with each paper’s staff list.

This tactic isn't new or even that shocking. Referred to as "astroturfing," Spangenthal-Lee goes on to say that companies like "Sony, Microsoft, and Philip Morris have all built fake grassroots campaigns to promote their own products."

Read more about it here.