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Yelp offers new tool for business owners to gauge its value

The tool allows for business owners to determine how much revenue they might be generating from their Yelp listings.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
A look at the Yelp Revenue Estimate.
A look at the Yelp Revenue Estimate. Yelp

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.