Yelp

Yelp has just launched in Australia. Yelp is a local business review site which allows users to search for businesses, and read and contribute ratings and reviews. Yelp was founded in 2004 in San Francisco, opened in Manhattan in 2008 and now has international sites in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Review

Reviews are contributed by users of the site together with a five star system. Any business, from a laundromat to a fine dining restaurant can be reviewed.

Search

Businesses are most commonly searched for by type or name and location, in two search bars.

Mobile

Yelp offers apps for iPhone, Blackberry, Android and other popular mobiles.

Social

Yelp highlights users who engage with the site with membership of the Yelp Elite Squad, and recognition for first to review businesses.

In other countries, Yelp holds events for Elite Squad members.

Sensis

The Australian Yelp site is reported to have partnered with Telstra’s Sensis (Yellow Pages) to serve Yellow pages advertisements in 2012. In other markets, Yelp has proven to be a formidable competitor to Citysearch, which is also backed by Telstra in Australia.

www.yelp.com.au