Yelp! I Need Somebody
Posted in User Experience, social networking
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Alternatively, I could go look up your restaurant on Yelp and not get fooled at all.
Yelp is a website with social aspects that allows people to rate and write reviews for stores, restaurants, bars, hair salons, barbers, dentists, doctors and pretty much any business I’ve missed. You can look a place up to find reviews and leave a review after you’ve been to a place. That’s the whole premise.
And, in the age of mobile browsing (which is probably here to stay), it’s genius. Standing awkwardly outside of a restaurant and judging by its name or how the hostess looks is a thing of the past. Look it up on Yelp and get some insight regarding the experience you may be about to pay for. It just makes sense.
The site also checks your location when you visit so that reviews are near you. This includes events such as restaurant weeks, new reviews, and “Best of” in a variety of categories, all near you. The site does its best to assist the American consumer, it does it well, and it’s something to be aware of both as a business owner and as a consumer.
Matthew March 3rd
I always thought it was, ‘Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again!’
Antoine March 9th
I’ve found Yelp to be a good resource in most cases, but recently it has received some criticism and is getting sued for possible fraud/extortion. The accuracy and legitimacy of Yelp’s reviews are now tainted based on allegations of Yelp only removing negative reviews if the company purchases a monthly advertising subscription. We’ll see how this shakes out. I sense Yelp re-engineering.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TheLaw/yelp-faces-extortion-claim-class-action-suit/story?id=9944826
Brian March 15th
Thanks for that Matthew.