How Yelp deals with everybody getting four stars (on average)
“If everybody is special, then no one is.”
Such is the problem companies face when crowdsourced criticism tends to be — er — not so critical.
Yelp, a community recommendations site, is the first that comes to mind facing this problem. The average rating for its more than 7 million reviews is 3.8 stars (out of five). Co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman says that’s a little better than other user-generated sites like YouTube, whose users say its videos are… Continue Reading
Foodspotting helps you find the foods you love — not just the restaurants
Editor’s note: This is part of VentureBeat’s series “Startup Spotlight.” Every week, we’ll sift through the scores of companies applying to be promoted and profile the best one. Companies can sign up here at the Entrepreneur Corner, which is currently sponsored by Microsoft. (Of course, you’ll still find lots of startup news and innovation in our day-to-day coverage.) Today, we continue the series with Foodspotting, below.
Foodspotting, a young web-based food guide that takes reviews beyond… Continue Reading
Yelp’s augmented reality app is an iPhone first, but still needs improvement
Yelp, the social review site, is claiming to have “the first Augmented Reality app specifically for the U.S. in the iTunes App Store.” By augmented reality, Yelp means that the app displays markers for restaurants, stores and other locations of interest right on top of the live view through the iPhone’s camera lens. Internet content firehose Robert Scoble touted the app — you need to shake it to turn it on — on FriendFeed earlier… Continue Reading
Yelp lets businesses set the record straight with owner comments
Yelp is trying to make business owners a little less cranky about getting dissed on the popular review site by allowing them to respond publicly to reviews they believe are inaccurate.
The site, which is best known for its restaurant reviews, helps business owners by giving them online exposure without paying for expensive ads, and its reviews can highlight positive feelings from a business’ supporters. At the same time, it can be pretty frustrating when some… Continue Reading
MySpace and Citysearch partner for MySpace Local
MySpace and Citysearch have partnered for the launch of a local business directory called MySpace Local. The new site lets MySpace users review, search, and share content about their favorite businesses, while leveraging Citysearch’s stockpile of local business directory info. Though MySpace Local is currently in private beta, users can expect an official launch in the coming weeks.
After getting a look behind the curtain, I can say that MySpace Local is fairly straightforward. Essentially, MySpace… Continue Reading
Roundup: Cuts at One Laptop Per Child, Yahoo takeover plans and more
Here’s the latest action:
One Laptop Per Child cuts 50 percent of staff — The group says it is refocusing its efforts and that the remaining 32 team members are facing salary cuts.
Investment group eyes Yahoo takeover — Silicon Valley executives and investment bankers are putting together a takeover deal that would be largely financed by debt from Microsoft, according to TechCrunch.
Google’s Eric Schmidt wishes he could save newspapers — But he says there’s no clear solution yet, and… Continue Reading
CitySquares finds funds for “hyper local” info
CitySquares Online, a website that allows users to find detailed information about their immediate neighborhoods, brought in a first round of funding from individuals Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Jonathan Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns the New England Patriots.
The Boston-based company says that it specializes in “hyper local” online searches, providing information on nearby businesses, including full contact information, maps and other users’ reviews. The site, which had more than 1 million… Continue Reading
CityVoter offers local media outlets city guides for their dull websites, raises $2.6 million
The hyper-local concept, which revolves around content — like business reviews — targeted to local niches, has had it rough. Over the last 18 months, two venture-backed start-ups, Judy’s Book and BackFence, have had to shut down. Another site, Insider Pages, sold to Citysearch without generating much of a return to its investors. Only Yelp seems to have gained a significant following.
So you might think investing in another local review company doesn’t make too much… Continue Reading
Loopt launches its iPhone app with a surprise partner: Yelp
Apple selected only a handful of new native applications to show off at its WWDC event last month. One of them was Loopt, the location-based social networking application. Today, Loopt launches this iPhone application alongside the App Store and it has a few surprises that were not yet revealed.
The biggest of these surprises is that Loopt will partner with other companies to pull in local area information. While Loopt may know where you are and… Continue Reading
Struck with indecision over a restaurant choice? Let the iPhone 3G decide
I’m indecisive when it comes to picking restaurants to eat at. Annoyingly so, I’ve been told. I simply don’t care the majority of the time; I’ll eat anything. Urbanspoon’s new native iPhone application may be the perfect tool for me.
The app is extremely simple. You open it, it detects your location then you shake your iPhone. This causes a series of sliders to spin around like a slot machine until they land with a recommendation… Continue Reading
Location, location, location: The iPhone with GPS nears
There’s smoke, there’s fire, and then there’s a volcano the size of Olympus Mons on Mars erupting and turning the ground into an ocean of burning lava. Such is current state of speculation surrounding the 3G iPhone.
There’s really no point in beating around the bush at this point. The new iPhone is coming on Monday. You know it. I know it. We all know it. If Apple were not to announce it at this point, it… Continue Reading
Pelago raises $15 million to expand Whrrl both in the U.S. and abroad
Social networks built around location are a hot item, and getting hotter.
It’s one thing to have a group of contacts which you can update with words from a mobile device (think the micro-messaging service Twitter). It’s another to be able to quickly update your exact location on a map and have others see it. Add to that the ability to review places (think: Yelp) as well as tag places you would like to go, and… Continue Reading
Angie’s List collects $35M to expand services
1995 might as well be the dawn of civilization in terms of the Internet as we know it today. Yet that is how long Angie’s List, a source for local service ratings, has been around. Today, the company announces a new round of funding to keep its site going strong well into the future.
The $35 million investment comes from Battery Ventures, which will also take a minority stake in the company with the deal.
Angie’s List… Continue Reading
Yelp raises $15 million, sees uptick in growth over past year
Local review site Yelp has raised $15 million from DAG Ventures. The rumor first popped up on Epicenter, last Friday, as a $30 million round at a $200 million valuation, but that valuation hasn’t been confirmed by the company.
This round comes as San Francisco-based Yelp continues to grow. The company launched its site in early 2005, and hit the one million review mark in May last year. It’s accelerating: Since May, it has gained another… Continue Reading
Will Outside.in nail the community Web site? Maybe
Updated with full list of names of angel investors
How do you build the perfect local community Web site — with news, events, comments and more?
If you manage to, it will be a grand slam. It becomes the talk of the town, people spend more time going there, and local advertisers spend money there.
A wave of companies have tried, but failed. But Outside.in, a new Brooklyn, NY start-up is looking very good — as good, if… Continue Reading