Yelp is the leading local business review site in the United States, offering
consumers unmatched local business information and businesses a variety of opportunities
to connect with purchase-intent driven consumers. Our mission is to connect
consumers with great local businesses of all sizes and to provide a convenient
platform for each stage of their interaction, from discovery and engagement
through the completion of a transaction and beyond
Content. Yelp brings “word of mouth” online through consumer reviews,
tips, photos and videos that share their everyday business experiences. Business
representatives are also able to provide information about their businesses
and respond to reviews, among other things, by registering for a free account
and “claiming” the business listing page for each of their locations.
As of December 31, 2017, consumers had contributed approximately 148.3 million
cumulative reviews of almost every type of local business, and business representatives
had claimed approximately 4.2 million business listing pages on Yelp. These
contributions drive a powerful network effect whereby the expanded content draws
in more consumers (and more prospective contributors), which in turn improves
the value proposition of our products to local businesses.
Discovery. Each day, millions of consumers take advantage of our wide-ranging
content in their search for great local businesses by visiting Yelps website
and mobile app, as well as through third-party services like Apple’s Siri
and Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant programs, which access Yelp content
to respond to local search queries. Businesses that want to promote themselves
to our large audience of purchase-intent driven consumers can pay for premium
services such as targeted search advertising and further enhancements to their
business listing pages.
Engagement. Yelp provides multiple channels for consumers and businesses to
engage directly with each other. In addition to writing and responding to reviews,
consumers and businesses can communicate through our Request-A-Quote and Message
the Business features. We also facilitate consumer engagement with businesses
in our restaurants and nightlife categories through Yelp Reservations, our online
reservations product, and Yelp Nowait, the waitlist system we acquired in February
2017, which allows consumers to check wait times at restaurants and join waitlists
remotely. Our Yelp WiFi Marketing product, which we acquired in April 2017,
allows businesses to connect with their customers by offering them access to
a free in-store wifi network.
Transactions. The Yelp Platform allows consumers to transact with local businesses
directly through our website and mobile app, primarily through integrations
with partners ranging from RepairPal (auto repair booking), to GolfNow (tee
time booking), to BloomNation (flower ordering). Online food ordering constitutes
the largest category of transactions by revenue and volume on the Yelp Platform
and is currently available through partners including Eat24, which we sold to
Grubhub Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grubhub Inc. (“Grubhub”),
in October 2017. Concurrently with the closing of our sale of Eat24, we entered
into a strategic partnership with Grubhub to expand our online ordering capabilities
by integrating Grubhub’s restaurant network onto the Yelp Platform.
Retention and Analytics. In addition to being a point of engagement between
consumers and businesses, our Yelp WiFi Marketing product includes an analytics
platform that provides wifi as a digital marketing tool to retain and reward
customers. The Yelp Cash Back program, which allows consumers receive up to
10% cash back when they shop at participating businesses, provides another tool
for businesses to attract and retain loyal customers. We also offer business
owners local analytics and insights based on our historical data and other proprietary
content through our Yelp Knowledge program, as well as tools to measure the
effectiveness of our products, including reporting and advertising-management
features, through the Yelp for Business Owners app.
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