THE FACTS
Yelp launched in 2004 by American entrepreneurs, Russel
Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman, as a local search website. Conceived as a searchable online Yellow
Pages, the name Yelp was coined.
Simmons and Stoppelman relaunched Yelp in 2005 with an added focus of
user reviews and profiles, making Yelp a content community. Listing the Yelp user as “locals who are "in the
know" about what's cool and happening in their city, visitors who want to
get an insider's local perspective, and anyone trying to find a great local
business”, Yelp is really for everyone.
Yelp users can search and review local businesses by genre
(restaurant, physician, mechanic, retail, etc). Yelp is free to join for both users and businesses.
Starting with only 12,000 users in 2005, Yelp instituted the
“The Yelp Elite” which rewarded frequent reviewers with invitations to
exclusive industry parties and events.
This, combined with a targeted window sticker campaign for business on
Yelp, skyrocketed Yelp to 15
million unique visitors per month.
In 2008, Yelp expanded business listings by allowing business owners to manage their own Yelp pages, and also launched their first iPhone app. Expanding on this app
in 2009, Yelp added a feature allowing a user to super-impose the Yelp rating
over the camera of the phone. This
revolutionary feature was the first of its kind.
Now, after 8+ years, Yelp sees a massive 100 million unique
users per month – with 30% of those users visiting from a mobile device.
THE FEATURES
Yelp contains 3 main features:
Search engine:
By using address or zip code (or location services on mobile
devices), Yelp allows users to search business by category or area. Business listings provide an address,
hours, parking, and other information.
Users can then rate and review businesses on a 5 point scale, with an
option to leave commentary.
Content community:
The user review feature on Yelp connects reviewers with
other reviewers. Profiles are
created through registration, and users are encouraged to use a real name and
photograph. Users can make “friends” on Yelp, become “fans” of other reviewers, “follow” their favorite
reviews, and even bookmark other user’s profiles, and their favorite businesses. Contributors are
rewarded with badges (First to Review) and able to give feedback to other
users. Reviews can be shared on
Facebook and Twitter as well.
Businesses are able to directly (publicly and privately) message reviews
and users who comment and review on their page. Businesses can offer “check in deals” which reward users for
“checking in” at an established Yelp location. Checking in to same place multiple times, or many places of
the same genre (say sushi restaurants) can earn you specific badges and rewards. There is also a discussion forum on the
Yelp website to talk about local happenings.
Advertising:
With 70% of it’s revenue coming from local business
advertisements, and 15% from national business advertisements, Yelp heavily
relies on ads. Business owners who
pay for ads are rewarded with higher listings on Yelp, search engine
optimization (within Yelp), and special features on their listings.
THE EXTRAS
With ‘Facebook Connect” and a similar sharing ability on Twitter, user reviews on Yelp are becoming more and more social. As a registered reviewed, one can
choose to share individual reviews on both Facebook and Twitter, or set up
automated sharing so all your reviews are posted on your social sites.
With 30% of users Yelp-ing from their mobile device, Yelp is incredibly mobile friendly. With
apps available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Blackberry, and Palm, Yelp
has all its bases covered. For
users who don’t have the ability (or desire) for apps, Yelp maintains a mobile
website easily accessed from any mobile device.
“The Yelp Elite Squad” is Yelp’s way of “recognizing and rewarding yelpers who
are active evangelists and role models, both on and off the site.
Elite-worthiness is based on a number of things, including well-written
reviews, great tips on mobile, a fleshed-out personal profile, an active voting
and complimenting record, and playing nice with others. Members of the Elite
Squad are designated by a shiny Elite badge on their account profile.” Let me just say, the Elite Squad sounds
pretty awesome. Unfortunately for
me, as a local business owner, I am disqualified from becoming “elite”
(boo). Parties, meet ups, and
rewards are all offered to the Elite.
Details are slightly secretive (I think the first rule of The Yelp Elite
Squad is don’t walk about The Yelp Elite Squad).
Though a
major social media player in it’s own right, Yelp has a strong presence on
other social media outlets.
Check out
their pages on:
Flickr -
featuring pictures from those awesome Elite parties
Pinterest –
sub pages for cities
And various
communities on Google+
THE REVIEW
I have a new
found appreciation for Yelp. As a
business owner, I like the sense of community within other local
businesses. I also like the
ability to directly comment and message with users who offer reviews to my
business. Positive or negative, it
is important for me to hear that they are saying, and offer feedback to the
time they took to write a review.
Yelp is also a great tool for travel, offering search, nearby
suggestions, and even walking directions.
All in all, Yelp really does… well, help.
View my Prezi on Yelp for a quick run through and some interesting videos.
View my Prezi on Yelp for a quick run through and some interesting videos.
Malik, Om (March 2, 2012). "What do Yelp and Twitter have in common?". Giga Om.
Orlowski, Andrew (October 13, 2004). "Yelp! A viral recommendation system you can't resist?". The Register.
"Yelp's Online Reviewing Mafia". (June 2, 2011). BusinessWeek.
Hart, Kim (April 29, 2008). "Yelp Opens Up to Business Owners". The Washington Post.
"Yelp CEO: Our iPhone app Funamentally Changed our Business". intomobile.
Parr, Ben (August 27, 2009). "Easter Egg: Yelp is the iPhone's First Augmented Reality App". Mashable.
"Yelp Sales Pitch". (August 13, 2008). The Register.
Kelleher, Kevin (August 5, 2013). "Finally, web IPOs have something to Yelp about". CNN.
Fisher, Maxwell (March 11, 2012). "Yelp Gets A Warm Welcome". The Motley Fool.
Saul Hansell (May 12, 2008). "Why Yelp Works". New York Times
Yelp
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