yelp

Negative Yelp post lands reviewer with $750K suit

The Web is a lovely place to not merely get mad, but get even.

But what if the company you're criticizing thinks your version of "even" isn't even-handed?

A woman in Fairfax, Va., may now have to go to court to prove that her Yelping assessment of a contractor's work was vaguely just.

The way the Washington Post tells it, Jane Perez believed that Christopher Dietz had not merely damaged her home, as opposed to repair it, but also invoiced her for work he never did at all.

And then there's the jewelry.

Perez … Read more

The 404 1,179: Where we've found the right woman (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Pizza Hut commercial from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" VHS tape ~ 1990.

- Invite-only girls club OnLulu is the Carfax for new boyfriends.

- Collector shows off huge Apple collection, iOS not included.

- Virginia woman is sued for $750,000 after writing scathing Yelp review.… Read more

Yelp CEO: Yep, Google can be pretty evil

NEW YORK--Sure, Google can be pretty evil, Yelp Chief Executive Jeremy Stoppelman said.

Stoppelman, speaking here today at a Business Insider conference, responded to a question from Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider deputy editor, about whether Google is evil. While he didn't straight out call the larger company the devil, he did say that Google has some evil business practices, such as ranking its reviews higher than those from competitors like Yelp.

Stoppelman said that any disruptive businesses, like Uber and Airbnb, are guaranteed backlash, and government and business entities shouldn't necessarily be allowed to limit those businesses. However, … Read more

Battle begins between Foursquare, Yelp

Tuesday's CNET Update is rating you on a 10-point scale:

Today's tech news roundup looks at the growing competition between Foursquare and Yelp. Foursquare launched a new 10-point ratings system for local businesses, which is what Yelp has been doing. But Yelp has been creeping in on Foursquare's territory recently by highlighting friend activity. Yelp also rolled out an app update that displays restaurant menus and reviews of each menu item.

Amazon is now offering a payment option of $8 a month for Prime, the same price as Netflix and Hulu. The yearly $80 subscription is still … Read more

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