I Need Your "Yelp"!

First day in New York. I get out of the plane craving to try one of the best New York Pizza in town. But how can I take it from there? How can I know what is the best pizza place in NYC not far from my location? It doesn't stop there. How can I, a recent expat, get any insights on the most recommended, restaurants, gyms, laundries, nail and hair salons, bars, ice cream shops etc. if it wasn't for Yelp!

Needless to say, Yelp is one of the most renown crowd-sourced review app available at the tip of your fingers. Founded in 2004 (around the same time as facebook), by Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman, and originally designed as a website, Yelp has today more than 175 million monthly visitors! #SuccessStory.

Yelp's Mobile Interface

First let me put it out there: Yelp's interface design is outdated and could definitely use some rebranding. Don't get me wrong, the user experience is quite pleasant and the platform is user friendly and easy to handle that even my dad knows how to get around with it! BUT the choice of font, the round cornered outlined buttons, the layout... just makes it look like an old version of facebook.

Nevertheless, Yelpers are not on Yelp for what it looks like but rather for what it does. Some of its most famous features (a part from reading, writing and reacting to ratings) include restaurant reservations, scheduling appointments, food deliveries and even viewing reviews in augmented reality (only on the app)! And you can even refine your search based on filters such as location (map search), ratings, cost etc. There is even something for marketers with the added feature of promotion through in app ad banners - The latter actually constitute Yelp's main source of revenue, but I will not dwell on that. In other words, Yelp is another form of social network "connecting users with local businesses".

Power to the Consumer

"But nowadays, the power to determine a restaurant’s future rests almost entirely with civilian eaters."

Hanna Raskin

Every available business is on Yelp and is subject to user-generated reviews. I can even argue that it is reincarnation of the "yellow pages" directory in modern times, with an added value of user-generated ratings.

Inevitably, Yelp has somehow redefined the critic industry particularly for restaurant. Some researchers at Harvard Business School even proved "that restaurants increase their revenue by 5 to 9 percent for each additional Yelp star". #HowCrazyIsThat! A business' sales are now affected because of a personal taste and not even a "trained" one!

Although I have never placed a review (yet), I personally rely heavily on Yelp when picking my restaurant discovery of the week, scrolling through its most famous dishes. I mean wouldn't you want try out a rate 4.5 stars restaurant with more than 1000 reviews just to know what's the fuss about it? Of course, I'm not saying that all what is written is true. In fact they are a lot of questionable, misplaced or even fake reviews out there!

(Have you seen the youtube series "real actors read yelp"? #Hilarious

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=QEdXhH97Z7E&index=1&list=PLt2VJ1eENe_EvwpG6BdUscNi44wb1LCcS)

You just need to keep an eye on the most trustworthy ratings using common sense and good judgment. Also a good tip is to always support your research with insights from real professional critic resources such as www.theinfatuation.com, www.zagat.com or www.zomato.com (but this is just for restaurants).

My Rating of Yelp

So, if I were to use Yelp's rating language to rate the app itself, I would give it 3.9 stars out 5. Although it has some questionable reviews and some effort to put on the design, it is my first choice go to app when I'm in the lookout for a "good" particular type of business or service in a specific location.

Let me know what is your take on Yelp in the comments below!

Photos credit http://keepgogogoing.com/?portfolio=yelp

Some Resources

. NR"Testing the Laws of Attraction Between Users and Businesses." Fast Company. June 20, 2016. Accessed February 26, 2018. https://www.scribd.com/article/335724176/Testing-The-Laws-Of-Attraction-Between-Users-And-Businesses.

. Raskin, Hanna. "Yelp Help: How to Write Great Online Restaurant Reviews." Smashwords Edition. July 10, 2013. Accessed February 26, 2018. https://www.scribd.com/read/195440516/Yelp-Help-How-to-Write-Great-Online-Restaurant-Reviews.