Media Kit
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About the Company (Download this as a PDF)
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Company Fast Facts (Download this as a PDF)
Expert Sources (Download this as a PDF)
Story Ideas (Download this as a PDF)
A Way for Businesses to Respond to Fans — and Critics
Last week, when looking for a yoga studio in my neighborhood, I checked out Yelp.com, a Web site I often visit to see what other people are recommending. I like that the reviews come from people who walk the same streets I do. And when I read a review, I usually check out other reviews the reviewer has written before deciding whether to rely on it. I’m not the only one. According to Yelp, the site had an average 9 million unique visitors in March.
One other thing to keep in mind — although Yelp is the prototypical Web 2.0 concept, it only features businesses that have a physical location. The idea is to provide users with word-of-mouth referrals for businesses in a given neighborhood.
Now Yelp is letting businesses have more of a voice, with the addition of “Yelp for Business Owners.” In this section, business owners can claim their business’s profile (Yelp uses a telephone verification to assure the right party is claiming ownership.) and become active in the conversation about their business. Yelp is also offering business owners ways to see how many people view their business’s page and receive e-mails about new reviews.
The chatter on Yelp has had an effect on the businesses who get reviewed (See this column by Frank Bruni for an excellent example.) Like La Sirene, the restaurant discussed in Mr. Bruni’s review, many businesses with a lot of Yelp activity are vigilant about monitoring and reacting to patrons’ critiques. But until this week, it has often been a one-way conversation.
If you are cynical about the legitimacy of all the reviews (as I was initially), or if you own a business and think you can game the system, have a look at these two FAQs: “tricky situations and other questions,” and “Yelp’s review guidelines.” The underlying model, which allows users to read all the past reviews of reviewers, goes a long way toward preventing unreliable reviews. And Yelp does do some policing that results in the occasional suppression of a questionable review.
