yelp

TV bakery enjoys astonishing Facebook melt down

"You people are all s***. Yelp s***, Reddits s***. Every s***. Come to here, I will f***ing show you all."

On reading these words in isolation, you might imagine they were written by someone whose senses had departed for chillier climes. Or perhaps merely by an exposed politician, contemplating a loss of fame and privileges.

But, no. These words actually adorn the Facebook page of Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The name is something of a mouthful, but the sentiments expressed by its management (yes, these words are from the management) … Read more

The 404 1,259: Where we blow smoke up your tower (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- With few other outlets, inmates review prisons on Yelp.

- SF cops going undercover to stop stolen iPhone sales.

- Smoking near Apple computers voids warranty.… Read more

Yelp offers new tool for business owners to gauge its value

Yelp has a new tool in place for business owners to gauge the value of its service.

The company yesterday announced a new tool, called "Revenue Estimate," that helps business owners determine the amount of revenue they're generating from their Yelp listings. The free tool multiplies the number of customer leads from Yelp each month by the company's average revenue per customer lead.

Yelp's Revenue Estimate follows a study released last week by the Boston Consulting Group, which found that local businesses with a free Yelp account saw revenue rise an average of $8,000 … Read more

Foursquare updates Android app with locale advice

Looking more and more like a local search and reviews site, Foursquare is launching a few brand new features with its Android update today.

The central new feature is popular places recommendations.

"When you're in a new city or neighborhood, Foursquare will show you popular places, sites, and must-see attractions," Foursquare wrote in a blog post today. "When you're on your home turf, we'll tell what spots are 'new and notable' -- places that have recently opened in your area."

This feature pops up in Android devices as soon as users open the … Read more

Foursquare gunning for Yelp

AUSTIN, Texas--Make no mistake: Foursquare, the New York-based social network centered around places, is chucking the check-in to take over local search, a move that pits the 4-year-old company directly against Yelp.

When asked whether Foursquare was now gunning for Yelp, co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley said during an interview with CNET at South by Southwest Interactive that "if we keep doing what we're doing, we make the previous generation of local search products irrelevant."

The shorter answer would have been, "yes."

The underlying message is clear: The future of Foursquare depends on the company … Read more

Yelp: We compete with print -- not Google or Facebook

Google, who? Facebook, huh? Yeah, that's right. The Internet behemoths don't pose any threat to business-reviews site Yelp and its still-blossoming local advertising business. Well, that's Yelp's attitude anyhow.

"Today, we're really competing with print, radio, and television," Geoff Donaker, Yelp's chief operating officer, said Tuesday when speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom conference.

But what about Internet businesses like Google and Facebook? Donaker is sure the pair will compete with Yelp in the local advertising arena eventually -- emphasis on eventually. Yelp will let that battle "play … Read more

Foursquare debuts venue pages to share with non-members

Foursquare launched its shareable mobile venue pages for non-members today, as it continues down the path of becoming less of a social network and more of a recommendation search engine -- a la Yelp.

"Foursquare has tons of helpful information about places, like photos, menu items, and great tips from insiders and local experts," the company wrote in a blog post today. "When you Tweet, post to Facebook, email or text about a place with friends who don't have Foursquare on their phones, they'll be linked to a shiny new page showing all the most … Read more

Yelp CEO takes $1 salary

Add Jeremy Stoppelman, chief executive of business reviews site Yelp, to the list of CEOs who are willing to work for $1.

Stoppelman will take a $1 base salary for 2013, according to information in Yelp's 8-K document filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The itsy-bitsy take-home pay makes Stoppelman just like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, who have also preferred to work for just a buck.

Both Stoppelman and Chief Operating Officer Geoff Donaker reduced their base salaries to $1 for 2013. Stoppelman's 2012 salary was $300,000, according to public documents. The Yelp CEO … Read more

Yelp boasts 100M unique visitors in January

On the day when Yelp posted less-than-rosy quarterly earnings, missing Wall Street expectations and posting a loss of more than $5 million, the company's founder and CEO took to the company's blog to boast of what he says is a major milestone: In January, Yelp saw 100 million unique visitors to its site, a first in the company's almost decade-long history.

That figure, Stoppleman wrote, doesn't even include visitors who used Yelp's mobile apps.

For the first time in Yelp history, over 100 million unique visitors came to the site in a one-month period. That'… Read more