Google In Talks To Buy Yelp

There have been many rumors floating around concerning a possible buyout of Yelp by Google, but it appears that at least a few details have escaped, painting this as a much more serious possibility. Pointing the needle to something north of $500 million, the acquisition would mean a substantial step into localized business for Google. "Google has been showing greater interest in the local business market in the United States. It has expanded its profile pages for local businesses, which include location and hours, maps and reviews from other Web sites. In June, Google gave local businesses the ability to manage what people see on their profile pages, similar to what Yelp does. Google has been reaching out to local businesses with simpler ways to advertise on the search engine. It is also distributing stickers that businesses post in their windows and passers-by can scan with cellphones to get coupons or information about the business. The deal between Google and Yelp could still unravel, one person said, particularly if another acquirer comes forward now that details have leaked."

Comments

I don't find Yelp very helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

most posts are friends of the business owner or simply whiners.

Re:good

[madsenj37]

That's why they have options to make friends and have followers. People with similar tastes can recommend places to each other and avoid blindly following reviews.

ur doin it rong

[commodoresloat]

Of course people's tastes differ, but yelp can give you a ton of information from a bunch of different perspectives; sure it's a challenge to sort through it all but if you just read the first review and treat as gospel of course you will be disappointed. But if you look at negative and positive reviews and use them to learn about the restaurant (rather than just about someone's opinion of the restaurant) it can be really helpful. After a while you can "friend" reviewers whose comments you find informative and you can ignore those you don't. You can even look at menus and photos of the food; many restaurants have extensive photo albums contributed by users. And, best of all, you can contribute to this information -- if you have a favorite restaurant that is getting trashed by various reviewers, you can post responses.

Re:There was a story about this a year or so ago..

[Scareduck]

Actually, it was earlier this year in the East Bay Express .