  In the era of Big Data and Social Computing, the role of customer reviews and
ratings can be instrumental in predicting the success and sustainability of
businesses. In this paper, we show that, despite the apparent subjectivity of
user ratings, there are also external, or objective factors which help to
determine the outcome of a business's reviews. The current model for social
business review sites, such as Yelp, allows data (reviews, ratings) to be
compiled concurrently, which introduces a bias to participants (Yelp Users).
Our work examines Yelp Reviews for businesses in and around college towns. We
demonstrate that an Observer Effect causes data to behave cyclically: rising
and falling as momentum (quantified in user ratings) shifts for businesses.
