I don't have any sympathy for a site that purposely cripples the web mobile site to force you to install their app. They lock you out of pictures after around 20 so you have to go to desktop or install their crappy app. Yelp will not be missed.
Mobile browsers should differentiate the style of links with URLs that resolve to apps. I am tired of tapping links expecting to remain in Safari and having useless “open in app?” prompts instead. I’m not IN an app, I’m in a browser; I want to use the browser.
And when cancelling the prompt gets you nothing, it really feels like Yelp is screaming “NO SOUP FOR YOU!”.
I don't disagree, what I wonder about is how management sees this as a better alternative than serving their customers. I expect it is a "damned if you do damned if you don't" type situation.
They are at a tremendous disadvantage as a 'web' experience because you're getting there through Google, Facebook, or Bing rather than landing directly on their page so they have already paid that platform to put you in front. The App means they have full control over the experience and can charge restaurants directly to move them around in the search results (more revenue).
So at some point I presume the go full "Yellow Pages" and just charge venues a monthly fee to appear at all in their pages. That works if they are generating significant foot traffic into the venue but fails if they can't connect the app/website use with the visit.
All in all I don't see how they can make a business here.
I couldn't agree more. Hopefully this is a wakeup call to Yelp and other slimy sites that try to extort users into downloading their app.
Also, small pro-tip for anyone unaware. If you are on mobile web and on Yelp, but don't want to download the app, hold down the refresh button, and select 'Request Desktop Site' - this will load the non mobile version of the site that will not force you to download the app. The UI isn't as great as the mobile optimized site, but hey at least you can read reviews without being extorted into downloading an app.
Just to give some balance to the echo chamber here, I would miss Yelp. I never try to use the mobile site, so I've never felt that pain. Most people I know are in the same boat. It's pretty silly to suggest that nobody would miss Yelp.
Let's also call out Venmo and Google Pay (nee Google Wallet) in this hall of shame, both of which removed the ability to send and receive funds from their website (both mobile and desktop) in favor of strongarming you into installing the app to do so (get bent if you don't have a smartphone, I guess?). It would seem that "entering a number into a form" is a feature that is too sophisticated for the web platform to properly support (alternatively, perhaps we are meant to believe that such a thing is beyond the abilities of Google engineers?).
It's sad but many companies have tunnel vision - probably getting thousands of reports of people complaining of this. Unfortunately they think, for whatever reason, those are all outliers. It takes a good scathing top-rated post on HN to let them see. I'm sure a developer at Yelp that has been complaining to management for years is going to take this thread and show someone that can change it.
Can someone in marketing help me make sense of this, please? If I'm accessing a site on the web, what makes them so sure I'd access them more frequently if I had their app?
Personally, if I'm on a web page, I am actually much more likely to never install their app if I have a bad experience.
I think one of the most interesting/telling user experience things in the industry today is why people feel so strongly about not installing apps. It seems like it spans most people, from novice users all the way to technology experts.
Personally, I've never understood it, since nearly every mobile website is terrible. I prefer installing the app.
Seems like a key problem for mobile OS vendors to solve.
Similar issue with Quora. Pop up blocks the site after a few scrolls, and there's no way to exit. Doesn't matter if you're in the middle of reading a long answer, the site just stops working.
If you think that's bad. You only get 3 reviews when querying the API per business. Also, they aggressively fight scraping with traps. (For those who try to pull the business phone numbers, or the ones who try to get the full reviews).
Ever notice how you get a 404 occassionaly when going through the list of businesses? That was a scraping trap.
I haven't installed a new app in like 18 months. I'm done with that song and dance, tired of my device always being the product, especially after I just spent $1000 on a phone.
You better have mobile web figured out properly or you're not getting me as a customer.
I stopped using Yelp exactly because this reason! Google let you read reviews without using the app. I had the same issue with TripAdvisor but I think they don't do it anymore (not sure).
This. I don't install apps as they're usually trojans trying to steal all your info. They might offer functionality but they're usually sneakily stealing your other data.
Can you recommend something to find restaurants with a sufficient number of reviews to be meaningful? Yelp at least had a lot of users, even if many of the reviews were fake. Google reviews tends to inflate everything, so most restaurants have a higher score on Google reviews than they do on Yelp. It would be nice if someone solved the review problem for restaurants.
I am not very happy with some of Yelp UX decisions, but if their service goes down, it will be missed very much by me. I know their ratings are not always reliable, but I haven't found any better alternative. It is somewhat weird that one of the obvious things that people started working at decades ago, still doesn't seem to have a satisfactory solution.
Good. Yelp is utter trash. They've shaken down several friends of mine who own and run restaurants. Either you pay for their premium services or a bunch of 1 star reviews start magically appearing on your business Its a well known racket and they should be run out of town on a rail for it.
On a more personal note, they also refused to adequately protect my wife when we encountered and reported an unscrupulous vendor who threatened my wife and exposed her personal information on the site.
There is a very real need for this kind of thing but Yelp has proven time and time again that they can't be trusted to deliver it.
This. After I received my first positive review on the site they called me and tried selling me all kinds of advertising. Hundreds of dollars per month worth. I declined, and around the same time my review went from being on my business page to being buried behind a "View Reviews that are not recommended" link.
It's a total scam and they should be dragged into court and their internal memos and procedures turned inside out for the world to see.
I hear what you're saying. But bear in mind that there's an entire "SEO" industry out there, which tries to shake down businesses by either promising to improve their search rankings, or threatening to tank their search rankings.
So I'm sure your friends got a bunch of calls about this. But are you (or they) sure it was Yelp, though? Often it's some scammers in foreign countries like India.
> Either you pay for their premium services or a bunch of 1 star reviews start magically appearing on your business
How do you square that claim given that both current and former Yelp employees say they do no such thing?
How do you know those reviews are fake vs coincidence? I've heard a lot of anecdotes and conspiracies about this, but have never seen actual proof. No documents, recorded phone calls, court cases etc? And given how many people have worked at Yelp it's strange no one has blown the whistle yet if they engage in such practices. They would be an instant hero.
The Yelp app/site is basically the same it was 5 years ago. Rather than innovate they chose to:
- Opt for the shakedown/extortion method of ranking sites (those that advertised with Yelp rank higher, negative reviews can mysteriously disappear for advertisers)
- Whine to regulators about Google is stealing content from them (by, you know, serving a snippet of content that Yelp allows to be scraped).
- Harass users to install their (shitty) app.
This is just bad management/leadership to the core and such a waste opportunity. A telltale sign of this is the demonization of some nefarious third-party and blaming all your woes on them, which they've clearly done with Google. Don't think that's effective? Look at the current state of US politics.
I can't relate to the negativity I see here. I like Yelp quite a lot. There have been a number occasions where I've found an excellent local restaurant that I wouldn't have otherwise found.
Admittedly, you have to know what you're doing. If you're in a food desert, like some parts of the US, you'll need to take those 4 and 4.5 star restaurant profiles with a grain of salt. What I would really like: the ability to select other users whose tastes are similar to mine that Yelp would then use to influence the ratings I see. This might also protect against paid spam reviews and over-picky reviewers.
I abandoned Yelp as a user pretty quick as it was just too much to filter through so many reviews by people who 1) Had some one off bad experience that is probably not representative of anything. 2) Wished that place they reviewed was like some other place that is kinda the same but ... it's twice the price so why are you comparing?
Yelp is incredibly annoying as a business owner. After signing up to setup basic NAP consistency, they will automatically flag it as some sort of tag often incorrectly and then continue to call and email you asking to spend advertising dollars on their site for months. Even after asking them to no longer do so.
I'm glad google reviews and others have taken their place.
In contrast to many posters here, I really like Yelp (as a user, at least, never been a restaurant owner). I sort by number of reviews and find places that are highly rated (4 stars or so) and almost always this has worked well. Other services I've tried are not nearly as easy to use or reliable.
I bet Apple will be snooping around for a cheap acquisition here. Apple already uses Yelp for their place data in Apple Maps and they are still way behind Google.
Eventually Apple will probably need to have its own place data if it wants to continue to compete in maps. Yelp would give them a starting point.
Great news! I run a local service company and stopped advertising with Yelp several months ago. No transparency how clicks go to $12 when they used to be $5. That's not even a click to your site, just your Yelp profile still on their site!
On top of it, my 5 star reviews keep getting filtered, even ones that have shown for months. Meanwhile two recent 1-star reviews we got with people from brand new accounts still show just fine.
Does anyone else find that their best restaurant experiences come from places that only show up on a yelp search several pages down (if at all)? A number of years ago I stopped using yelp to find places to eat in my hometown because I found that the app completely overlooked smaller, locally run places for big name places near tourist hot spots.
Yelp ads were completely ineffective for me as a business. I was paying about $900/mo for 3 months (they force a contract) and literally got 0 leads (calls, clicks, messages, etc...). If I was even able to get a project from Yelp ads it would have been worth it. I can't imagine if you're a restaurant (where the average sale is a _lot_ less than web design/development services) that you can make any money advertising on Yelp. No surprise that ad sales are going down/staying stagnant.
Yelp in NYC is infuriating to use. Not only it does not know neighborhoods, it is incapable of identifying rivers that separate areas. Ask it for places in Greenpoint and it would happily include stuff in Manhattan, sometimes well before it runs out of the Greenpoint options which could be OK had Greenpoint not been separated from Manhattan by the East River.
Yelp is also happy to manipulate reviews contrary to their denials. It is rather funny, of course, because it seems that no one in the tech leadership of the company understands how easy it is to take a screenshot of a review.
The problem is even now Yelp is probably the best resource out there for finding new restaurants but I find Yelp poorly run. There is no innovation, the UI hasn’t been updated or changed since the first release. They have so much potential, for example, they should have been the leaders in delivery and should have provided the api for Uber eats. They just don’t do anything outside of maintaining the servers for their basic service, at least that’s what it feels like.
These large corporations need to knock off the bullshit and make their websites well developed and designed in-browser apps. Something so simple could save Yelp and many others. There is no need to have a native app unless you require certain hardware features that are unavailable on the browser to meet your apps purpose.
Yelp is full of wannabe food critics/influencer types who complain about the ambience or quality of service. I always get the impression that these people only go to places that are already popular. For things not related to food/drinks, Yelp is no better than Google.
Also, they focus too much on search/ratings, so finding a place is harder when you aren't quite sure what you're in the mood for. I hope Yelp focuses more on the discovery aspect, because right now that's happening on Instagram and blogs like Eater.
They've tried to hold restaurants and other small businesses hostage for years and never expected that, given how despised they are, someone would displace them?
The way they run their business is comical as well. In my city Yelp is basically a non-factor. Businesses that have 500 Google or OpenTable reviews will often have a dozen Yelp reviews at most, yet Yelp will constantly phone you trying to get you to sign up for their services... Usually very aggressively and during peak business hours.
[+] [-] mlrtime|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] makecheck|7 years ago|reply
And when cancelling the prompt gets you nothing, it really feels like Yelp is screaming “NO SOUP FOR YOU!”.
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|7 years ago|reply
They are at a tremendous disadvantage as a 'web' experience because you're getting there through Google, Facebook, or Bing rather than landing directly on their page so they have already paid that platform to put you in front. The App means they have full control over the experience and can charge restaurants directly to move them around in the search results (more revenue).
So at some point I presume the go full "Yellow Pages" and just charge venues a monthly fee to appear at all in their pages. That works if they are generating significant foot traffic into the venue but fails if they can't connect the app/website use with the visit.
All in all I don't see how they can make a business here.
[+] [-] kadabra9|7 years ago|reply
Also, small pro-tip for anyone unaware. If you are on mobile web and on Yelp, but don't want to download the app, hold down the refresh button, and select 'Request Desktop Site' - this will load the non mobile version of the site that will not force you to download the app. The UI isn't as great as the mobile optimized site, but hey at least you can read reviews without being extorted into downloading an app.
[+] [-] notyourwork|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nickrivadeneira|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kibwen|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rhacker|7 years ago|reply
But I think it's too late.
[+] [-] JustSomeNobody|7 years ago|reply
Personally, if I'm on a web page, I am actually much more likely to never install their app if I have a bad experience.
[+] [-] wilg|7 years ago|reply
Personally, I've never understood it, since nearly every mobile website is terrible. I prefer installing the app.
Seems like a key problem for mobile OS vendors to solve.
If you don't like it, why not?
[+] [-] manigandham|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] admn2|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] monksy|7 years ago|reply
Ever notice how you get a 404 occassionaly when going through the list of businesses? That was a scraping trap.
[+] [-] crunchlibrarian|7 years ago|reply
You better have mobile web figured out properly or you're not getting me as a customer.
[+] [-] tinyhouse|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] village-idiot|7 years ago|reply
No Reddit, I am not installing your fucking app. I clicked decline a dozen times in a row, get the hint.
[+] [-] internet555|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shaklee3|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sys_64738|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shaklee3|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smsm42|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cft|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jimmy1|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] systematical|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mathattack|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alphakappa|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vikingcaffiene|7 years ago|reply
On a more personal note, they also refused to adequately protect my wife when we encountered and reported an unscrupulous vendor who threatened my wife and exposed her personal information on the site.
There is a very real need for this kind of thing but Yelp has proven time and time again that they can't be trusted to deliver it.
[+] [-] zelon88|7 years ago|reply
It's a total scam and they should be dragged into court and their internal memos and procedures turned inside out for the world to see.
[+] [-] 1024core|7 years ago|reply
So I'm sure your friends got a bunch of calls about this. But are you (or they) sure it was Yelp, though? Often it's some scammers in foreign countries like India.
[+] [-] bredren|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thoughtexplorer|7 years ago|reply
How do you square that claim given that both current and former Yelp employees say they do no such thing?
How do you know those reviews are fake vs coincidence? I've heard a lot of anecdotes and conspiracies about this, but have never seen actual proof. No documents, recorded phone calls, court cases etc? And given how many people have worked at Yelp it's strange no one has blown the whistle yet if they engage in such practices. They would be an instant hero.
[+] [-] kadendogthing|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cletus|7 years ago|reply
The Yelp app/site is basically the same it was 5 years ago. Rather than innovate they chose to:
- Opt for the shakedown/extortion method of ranking sites (those that advertised with Yelp rank higher, negative reviews can mysteriously disappear for advertisers)
- Whine to regulators about Google is stealing content from them (by, you know, serving a snippet of content that Yelp allows to be scraped).
- Harass users to install their (shitty) app.
This is just bad management/leadership to the core and such a waste opportunity. A telltale sign of this is the demonization of some nefarious third-party and blaming all your woes on them, which they've clearly done with Google. Don't think that's effective? Look at the current state of US politics.
I really have no time for these shenanigans.
[+] [-] allochthon|7 years ago|reply
Admittedly, you have to know what you're doing. If you're in a food desert, like some parts of the US, you'll need to take those 4 and 4.5 star restaurant profiles with a grain of salt. What I would really like: the ability to select other users whose tastes are similar to mine that Yelp would then use to influence the ratings I see. This might also protect against paid spam reviews and over-picky reviewers.
[+] [-] duxup|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SnowingXIV|7 years ago|reply
I'm glad google reviews and others have taken their place.
[+] [-] momentmaker|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nasalgoat|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Upvoter33|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stanleydrew|7 years ago|reply
Eventually Apple will probably need to have its own place data if it wants to continue to compete in maps. Yelp would give them a starting point.
[+] [-] adwordsjedi|7 years ago|reply
On top of it, my 5 star reviews keep getting filtered, even ones that have shown for months. Meanwhile two recent 1-star reviews we got with people from brand new accounts still show just fine.
GOOD RIDDANCE, hope they go BK. They deserve it.
[+] [-] 27182818284|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skadamou|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zachruss92|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notyourday|7 years ago|reply
Yelp is also happy to manipulate reviews contrary to their denials. It is rather funny, of course, because it seems that no one in the tech leadership of the company understands how easy it is to take a screenshot of a review.
[+] [-] yalogin|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] radium3d|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] haloux|7 years ago|reply
I miss the days when their competitor, Urbanspoon, was really pushing the envelope on a great customer experience and review variety.
[+] [-] sxp62000|7 years ago|reply
Also, they focus too much on search/ratings, so finding a place is harder when you aren't quite sure what you're in the mood for. I hope Yelp focuses more on the discovery aspect, because right now that's happening on Instagram and blogs like Eater.
[+] [-] Mikeb85|7 years ago|reply
The way they run their business is comical as well. In my city Yelp is basically a non-factor. Businesses that have 500 Google or OpenTable reviews will often have a dozen Yelp reviews at most, yet Yelp will constantly phone you trying to get you to sign up for their services... Usually very aggressively and during peak business hours.