Yelp Jumps Into Home Services - Will You Jump With Them?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Julie,

I agree with this, and believe many consultants would, too:

I still use Yelp and coach my clients on how to make Yelp work for them, but it's because you can't afford to ignore something that has such a big market share, not because they are pro-business.

It will be interesting if Kristen can let us know why she feels Yelp is kinder to big businesses than small ones. To me, the playing field in that regard has always seemed relatively level, but I'd be interested to hear other perspectives on that.

[Guest]

This post is deleted!

[MiriamEllis]

I see! Thanks for clarifying. Appreciate it.

[Christy-Correll]

Great discussion, Miriam! I am curious, why would Yelp likely filter out first-time reviews? Do they currently do this? I would imagine that would be very discouraging to someone who took the time to leave a review, but maybe I'm missing something...

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Christy!

So, happy to see you here!

Yelp has, perhaps, the most stringent filter of any platform when it comes to trusting reviewer profiles. It's estimated that you have to leave something like 10-15 reviews before Yelp's filters start to lift, making it impractical for business owners to earn Yelp reviews if a customer isn't already an active Yelper. Filtering represent Yelp's effort to uphold the quality and trustworthiness of their content, but some of the consequences of this effort aren't widely appreciated!

Phil Rozek wrote an epic post last year on both oft-bemoaned and little-known facets of Yelp issues:

http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2015/04/23/20-plus-depressing-observations-about-yelp-reviews/

Totally worth a read!

[Christy-Correll]

A new Yelper needs to leave 10-15 reviews before the filters lift? That is cray-cray! And so is everything else Phil Rozek wrote about in that post, Miriam. I'm really glad he included that cat picture near the end. I'm not a huge fan of cats, ahem, but I sure needed it by the end of that post. Whew! It's a wonder Yelp stays in businesses with those practices. Not only are they not business-friendly, they don't seem very user-friendly, period. What is the incentive for Yelpers to jump through so many hoops, I wonder... ?

[MiriamEllis]

Cray-cray, indeed! Yelp's main appeal is the dominant role they have come to play in so many cities as the premium review source. The sheer number or reviews simply can't be matched - not even by Google. Could be Facebook will give them a run for their money, but I don't think we're there yet. Many business owners feel that they have to participate in Yelp or be left behind, and that's often true, particularly on the coasts. But there have been complaints since Yelp's early days about both their policies and their sales approach, so it's never been an unalloyed experience of joy for business owners.

As for cats, I don't have one myself, but I did have a wild rabbit in my yard yesterday, taking care of trimming the grass for me

[bdiddy]

Miriam, are you certain Yelp has more reviews than Google? Although I've never compared them next to each other, I've personally researched tens of thousands of Google and Yelp listings in recent months (i.e. https://www.reviewjump.com/local-search-analysis/), and it seems to me Google still has more reviews than Yelp, overall. Of course, in some parts of the country, even in Google's own back yard of Silicon Valley, Yelp is the stronger review platform.

Brodie

[bdiddy]

Hence, my growing desire to create the anti-Yelp. Anyone with me?

Brodie

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Brodie,

Thanks for letting us know about the research you are doing. My impression of this could possibly be colored by the fact that I live on the West Coast and consistently see individual businesses having a greater number of reviews on Yelp than Google (and also by the fact that Google, in the past, has tried to buy Yelp to try to pay catch-up to them and control the game). In Q3 of 2015, Yelp reported a total volume of 90 million cumulative reviews, but interestingly, on a quick check, I'm not finding comparable data for Google.

Are you able to find that number for us? I'd like a reality check for myself on this if you can turn up 2015 stats for total volume of Google My Business reviews. My impression is that Yelp is still out ahead, but if you've seen something different, it would be great if you'd share what you've learned here.

[bdiddy]

I haven't seen any of the specific stats you're asking about. Through my research though, I've found that Yelp seems to have a strong presence in the coastal United States, while Google has a strong presence just about everywhere.

But even if Yelp still outnumbers Google in quantity of reviews, this ratio would likely be skewed anyway because of one category, restaurants. Take away this, and I'm even more certain Google has more reviews.

I could be wrong, but I've analyzed so many local listings that this is my intuition.

Brodie

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Brodie,

Thanks for following up with further details. I think it's really weird that neither you nor I can find a total number of Google reviews. Had I not been unable to find it, I would have bet the house that this data existed in some sort of quarterly report or something, but if it does, I simply can't find it. Our conversation has made me curious as to what that total number is, now

If you can find it, I'd love to see that data!