Topic: Yelp! Inc.

Angry Store Owner Assaults Yelp Reviewer Who Called Her Store "a Total Mess"

Man pans bookstore on Yelp. Bookstore owner tracks him down, writes harassing emails, and tries to break into his house. Man responds by calling police--and Yelping about the entire experience. In what can only be described as a ...READ»

What Proposition 8 Shows Us About Having Your Own Social Media Turf

This post is an idea-stem from an excellent post that was written by Michael Mace in the Rubicon blog network. When consulting with clients and while delivering presentations about social media, I often mention the imperative that ...READ»

Yelp Accused of Shaking Down Restaurants

A few months ago, I wrote about the travails of user-submitted review site Yelp. Now there are new accusations that the site is running a protection racket to try to sell advertising. Small business owners in the Bay Area have ...READ»

Yelp Tweaks Its System for Transparency--and Lawsuit-Dodging

Yelp has found a work-around for those wicked extortion rumors (and that pesky lawsuit). In a blog post with the no-nonsense headline "We're Increasing Transparency and Eliminating 'Favorite Review'," Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman ...READ»

Yelp Lets Businesses Yelp Back

The user-submitted restaurant and small business review site Yelp has been the subject of some pretty hot debates over its policies as its influence in local markets from San Francisco to New York has grown. Now it seems they ...READ»

iPhone 4.0 Multitasking Preview: Exposé-Like App Switcher

It's one of the most frequently-cited weaknesses of iPhone OS, from the iPhone to iPod Touch to iPad: it can't multitask. iPhone 4.0 should change that, and we might know how.READ»

Reputation - trashed, but who cares?

With a new Yelp style service for people, it is going to get even easier to trash the reputation of individuals online. Managing the positive aspects of your reputation is going to get harder.READ»

More Plaintiffs Allege Extortion in Yelp Lawsuit

The legal pressure on Yelp is mounting: New plaintiffs have joined the case which alleges the social media review site offered to remove bad customer reviews of a business if that business bought advertising space on Yelp ...READ»

Yelp CEO Responds to Class-Action Lawsuits Alleging Extortion

Yelp has been the subject of continued grumblings that its ethics are less than stellar--and last week, the user-generated reviews site got hit with an official class-action lawsuit making those grumblings legal accusations. Even worse, yet another (very similar) lawsuit just emerged.READ»

Do Mobile Apps Like Yelp Herald a Boom for Mom-and-Pop Shops?

Consider what a site like Yelp does for a small but excellent cafe: For travelers and locals alike, a good mobile-Web app should make it as easy to find as the nearest Starbucks. Does that signal a shift in the market, sapping the ...READ»

Five AR Apps to Watch For

Five augmented-reality apps that reflect where this hot technology is going.READ»

• Augmented Reality Swoops In

The Perils and Promise of the Reputation Economy

It's not easy doing business in the reputation economy.READ»

• Under Review

Ratings and Reviews Are Key to Luring Tourists

Having just returned from a family trip to Europe, I've come to value even more sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp that let users rate and review restaurants, tour guides, and more. Sites like these were particularly helpful in Europe where there seems to be two kinds of customer in every town: The locals who know everyone and the tourists who know no one. We fell into the latter group, so finding good restaurants and attractions required good recommendations and referrals.READ»

Yelp and OpenTable Partner Up for Better Dinner Planning

What's most surprising about this is that it hasn't happened sooner: OpenTable's reservation system will soon be integrated into Yelp.READ»

Is Google Buying Yelp? That Might Be a Mistake [UPDATE: Deal's off?]

Rumors are swirling that Google's about to spend half a billion dollars to buy business review phenomenon Yelp. That's a lot of money, and if other analysis is right, it could be a bad move--Twitter and Foursquare may steal the market.READ»

ZoomPool: A Social Network for Carbon-Conscious Carpoolers

The just-launched service aims to link like-minded commuters--thus making ride-sharing easier, and cutting down on the creep factor.READ»

Time to Audit Your Facebook Privacy Settings, Here's How

Now that Facebook is loosening its data-sharing policies with third-party Web sites and applications, it's the perfect time for users to consider tightening up their privacy settings. This week the mega social network announced new ...READ»

Coupon clippers: care and feeding guide

A trendspotting firm recently asked me if I had any insights to share regarding customer service in a recession. No need for my second hand opinion - just stand in line anywhere in the city and you'll witness some elementary customer ...READ»

Update

Ratings Game Small business owners in the Bay Area have claimed that soon after they got negative reviews on Yelp ("On the Internet, Everyone Knows You're a Dog," December 2008/January 2009), a sales rep from the site would ...READ»

• Feedback

Facebook Places Secret Super Power: Local Business Location-Based Ads

The interwebs are alight with discussions about Facebook's new location-based checkin service Places. Among the flurry of info and debate about its value, one thing may have been overlooked: The secret ingredient of the system that may end up making Facebook a lot of money.READ»

Denver Internet Marketing: Promoting Your Business with Social Media

Get vast exposure to your business by linking in to the social network on the webREAD»

Swipely Lets You Overshare Everything You Buy

Social network purchase-info site Swipely launches today. Its aim: to reward you for telling others what you've just bought. READ»

Smartphone Crowdsourcing Uncovers Ski Report Snowjob

My wife is way up in the frosty Bavarian mountains right at the moment, and I don't need to check out the weather reports to know the snow conditions: I just need an SMS from her like the one saying "There's a ton of it. I'm up to ...READ»

Telefonica Appoints Customers as Heads of Marketing, Tech Support, and Customer Service

Companies have crowdsourced everything from ad campaigns to package design, usually through contests. But Spanish telecom giant Telefonica is putting a new degree of trust in users, handing over the marketing, technical support, and ...READ»

Under the Radar Conference Preview: GoodRec

We live in a recommended world. Seemingly every website offers opinions on something. And recommendation-only sites, such as Yelp, are growing in popularity. GoodRec offers a lightweight, socially focused recommendation service that's very addictive.READ»

• Under the Radar Conference Preview: Smule