yelp

Foursquare launches rating system, competes with Yelp

Foursquare is edging even deeper into Yelp territory. Today the check-in social network announced that it is launching a 10-point rating system for local businesses with its iOS app update.

Sound familiar? That's because it's basically Yelp's business model. However, Foursquare said that what it's introducing is "a lot different from the other types of ratings you see today."

"Instead of other sites where every place gets 3.5 stars, we come up with our scores using the same Foursquare magic that powers Explore," the company wrote in a blog post today. &… Read more

Yelp reports that revenue jumps 63 percent year over year

Yelp today reported third-quarter sales of $36.4 million, up 63 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

In its quarterly earnings release today, the leading online local-reviews service reported a net loss of $2 million, or 3 cents a share. Last year at this time, it reported a loss of $3.8 million, or 24 cents a share.

Yelp also said its cumulative number of reviews was up 49 percent from a year earlier and that it now has about 84 million unique monthly users, up 37 percent from the same time last year.

In its earnings release, … Read more

Yelp sued by Village Voice over 'best of' listings

The owner of the Village Voice is suing Yelp over the "best of" lists the site offers in several cities.

Village Voice Media Holdings, (VVMH) which filed the suit on Thursday in Arizona federal court, is targeting Yelp's "best of" listings in Dallas; Denver; Houston; Miami; Phoenix; Seattle; St. Louis; San Francisco; Broward and Palm Beach counties, Fla.; and the Twin Cities in Minnesota. News of the lawsuit was first reported Monday by Law360.

VVMH claims in its lawsuit that it would be "irreparably harmed by Yelp's unauthorized use of the registered … Read more

What an anti-Google antitrust case by the FTC may look like

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not certain that Google will face a federal antitrust lawsuit by year's end. But if that happens, it seems likely to follow an outline sketched by Thomas Barnett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer on the payroll of Google's competitors.

Barnett laid out his arguments during a presentation here last night: Google is unfairly prioritizing its own services such as flight search over those offered by rivals such as Expedia, and it's unfairly incorporating reviews from sites like Yelp without asking for permission.

"They systematically reinforce their dominance in search and search … Read more

Yelp buys European rival Qype for $50 million

Yelp is looking to grab a bigger slice of the European pie with its latest acquisition.

The company, whose mission is to "connect consumers with great local businesses," said today that it has acquired Qype. Located in Germany with operations in the U.K, Qype dubs itself Europe's biggest local reviews site.

The two sites help people find local restaurants, gas stations, hospitals, retail stores, and a variety of other businesses. Users can find details on a business, including the address, directions, and phone number. And they can read reviews from fellow members to see if the … Read more

AOL's twist on e-mail: You've got stacks

Thursday's CNET Update is checking your away message:

Just when you've given up all hope of having an organized inbox, along comes AOL with a new e-mail client called Alto. Today's tech news roundup looks at how Alto manages multiple accounts and sorts messages into stacks. The service is in beta test now (so you have to sign up for an invite to try it), but it could be open to everyone by February.

In other news, Yelp is cracking down on companies that pay for reviews. If Yelp sees that a business is trying to inflate … Read more

Yelp clamps down on paid reviews with new 'consumer alert'

Yelp is taking aim at business owners that try to artificially inflate their reviews on the site.

The user-reviews site today announced today that it has launched a new initiative to root out companies that have made "significant attempts to pay for reviews." In the event it finds such attempts, Yelp will post a "consumer alert" on a company posting alerting users to the violation.

"We caught someone red-handed trying to buy reviews for this business," the alert reads. "We weren't fooled, but wanted you to know because buying reviews not only … Read more

Getting to know Maps on iOS 6

One of the biggest changes users will notice in iOS 6 is the Maps app. As you may be aware, Apple has stopped using Google Maps to power it, opting to go with its own solution.

You're still able to search for venues or points of interest, find phone numbers, and get directions and drive times. In addition, you'll now also have access to Yelp reviews and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions and a new 3D map view.

Editor's note: Not long after the iOS 6 download became available, many people began noticing significant problems with the new mapping app, … Read more

How to use Siri's new features in iOS 6

Siri was useful on iOS 5, but it often felt like it should be capable of more. With iOS 6, Siri has gained some new capabilities, all of which are nice additions to the personal assistant on iOS.

Siri can now make reservations, give you movie info, keep you up-to-date on sports, launch apps, and post to Twitter and Facebook on your behalf. Let's start by taking a look at the process to make a reservation using Siri.

Twitter and Facebook

Having to type out a tweet or status update for Facebook is so 2011. In 2012 and beyond, … Read more

Yelp rolls out gift certificates for local businesses

Upping the ante in the daily deals game, Yelp announced today that it will now let small-business owners offer gift certificates directly from their profile pages.

These gift certificates don't come with any sort of discount; they're just a simple way for users to buy cash presents for their friends, family, or colleagues. Yelp came up with this idea after a testing phase where it found that keeping deals separate from gift certificates is important because most people don't like to give discounted products as a present.

Here's how Yelp explained the new feature in a … Read more