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 per year. For advertisers, revenue was up over $23,000.

The big question, however, is whether business owners will find that their Yelp listing matches those averages. In some cases, they might; in others, they might not.