How Does Yelp Make Money?
To continue on the trend of our last company buzz post: How does Venmo Make Money, today we would like to address the same question regarding Yelp. So, when it comes down to it, how does Yelp make money?
For some company background, Yelp, a 12 year old company that was founded in 2004, is now one of America’s most popular review websites where curious individuals can search and gather information about the following industries, from those who came before them:
Nightlife, Restaurants, Shopping, Active Life,Arts & Entertainment, Automotive, Beauty & Spas, Education, Event Planning & Services, Health & Medical, Home Services, Local Services, More Categories, Financial Services, Hotels & Travel, Local Flavor, Mass Media,Pets, Professional Services, Public Services & Government, Real Estate, Religious Organizations - Yelp.com
Yelp is completely free of charge for any local business owner who wishes to set up an account for their business. A free account will give that business the ability to post photos of their products or location, as well as message their customers directly with information.
The website and mobile application also provides users with visual maps of the establishment’s location, overall customer rating scores, number of reviews, and a price gauge for potential customers. For food establishments, customers have the option to view, in some cases, the restaurants full menu on Yelp. If desired, customers can order both pick-up and delivery through the site as well. Don’t forget to check the “what’s popular here” section if you are feeling picky about your meal choice.
So, let’s talk money and answer our initial question of, how does Yelp make money?
Yelp makes makes money by selling advertisements to local businesses, plain and simple.Here is a glance of Yelp’s revenue over the past year (includes the past five Quarters).
According to Yelp, “you’ll see these clearly labeled “Yelp Ads” around the site.” With the, “21 million unique visitors who visited Yelp via the Yelp app and 69 million unique visitors who visited Yelp via mobile web in Q1 2016,” we could see why something as simple as selling advertisements could be so profitable for Yelp.
Bottom line, if you are a local business owner or manager, you certainly want to have a positive review or two on your Yelp page. A negative review on a platform as large as Yelp could have seriously detrimental effects on the business when it comes to bringing in new customers.
Below you will see and example that shows just how well Yelp caters to potential inquiries by location:
Whether you are in New York City or California, if you are looking for a new and highly recommended place to go, it may be worth your while to first take a look at what the Yelpers have to say.