Internet Yellow Pages - Yelp: Local Search Guide

Company

Yelp is an online city guide that provides consumers with local business information through user-generated reviews and ratings of local businesses written by Yelp Members. Yelp maintains specific community sites for more than 24 major metropolitan cities and a database of local business information nationally. Yelp offers users bird's-eye view mapping, driving directions and community discussion boards. Additionally, users can save searches through bookmark capabilities. Yelp was founded in July 2004 by Jeremy Stoppelman (former vice president of engineering at PayPal) and Russel Simmons (former lead architect at PayPal).

Partners

Yelp's maps are powered by Google.

Yelp provides reviews and ratings to Local.com.

Advertising

Business Profiles: A detailed searchable business listing including contact information, links to the Web site, email address, maps and driving directions, slide shows, custom messages and reviews.

Yelp Reviews Promotion Program: Advertisers can put a customized Yelp badge on their own Web site and find the badge for their business by clicking "Link to this Page" from a Yelp business profile page.

Mobile

Yelp Mobile (http://mobile.yelo.com): Mobile users can search for local business listings. Enter a category or business name and the address/intersection, city, state or zip. Returned business listings include reviews. An optimized interface, photos and additional search features are available on Nokia phones.

Headquarters

San Francisco, Calif.

Timeline

2008	Yelp launches iPhone application.
2007	Yelp.com receives more than 1 million review and 4 million unique monthly visitors
2006	Yelp raises $10 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital Yelp.com hits 2 million unique monthly visitors Yelp Mobile launches (mobile.yelp.com)
2005	Yelp.com launches Yelp.com raises $5 million in venture capital from Bessemer Venture Partneres

Last Update: 09/12/08