Yelp is a collection of consumer-generated reviews of businesses in their area. Originally a San Francisco-centric venture, the site has become popular in 33 cities with tens of thousands of reviews. The Inc. Magazine article, You’ve Been Yelped, has a great history of the company, as well as business owners’ reactions to it. (Read it!)
Obviously, consumers place a high value on peer reviews, and despite the fact that the majority of Yelp reviews are “overwhelmingly positive”, some business owners are starting to fear the effect those rarer negative reviews could have on their business, occasionally going so far as to blame Yelp for their company’s failings (as embarrassingly described on the first page of that Inc. mag article). Others take the approach that Domino’s has, by embracing negative reviews and trying to improve their offerings.
#1 ranked for Cincinnati shopping is my neighborhood’s own Shake-It Records.
“One of the holy grails of Ohio record stores. Selection is outstanding — I mean, how often do you see Redd Kross or Camper Van Beethoven albums anymore? Kids these days with the iTunes and MP3 whatnots, I tell ya. Get out of the house, dammit.”
Gosh, I love crotchety reviews.
Seeing Shake-It at the top of that list immediately made me smile. The community aspect that comes along with Yelp is not to be ignored. I scanned the reviews and saw many familiar names and faces, and was pleased to see other neighborhood businesses topping their respective lists locally, too, sporting such informative reviews as, “All the cutest girls in town work here. Hi ladies.”
Despite the potential damage Yelp could pave the way for in the case of less-than-stellar businesses, it also commends and celebrates those that are doing a good job, creating a digital circle of cheerleaders around those places. It’s got to be tough as a business owner to know that the Internet takes away a huge chunk of control (businesses do not get to opt-out of Yelp), but the Web is a cut-throat equalizer, lauding the good and reprimanding the bad. As one Yelp-reviewed business owner said, “you can’t hate the future.”