How Yelp deals with everybody getting four stars (on average)

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… Continue Reading

Foodspotting helps you find the foods you love — not just the restaurants

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,… Continue Reading

Yelp’s augmented reality app is an iPhone first, but still needs improvement

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… Continue Reading

Yelp lets businesses set the record straight with owner comments

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… Continue Reading

MySpace and Citysearch partner for MySpace Local

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… Continue Reading

Roundup: Cuts at One Laptop Per Child, Yahoo takeover plans and more

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… Continue Reading

CitySquares finds funds for “hyper local” info

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… Continue Reading

CityVoter offers local media outlets city guides for their dull websites, raises $2.6 million

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… Continue Reading

Loopt launches its iPhone app with a surprise partner: Yelp

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… Continue Reading

Struck with indecision over a restaurant choice? Let the iPhone 3G decide

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… Continue Reading

Location, location, location: The iPhone with GPS nears

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… Continue Reading

Pelago raises $15 million to expand Whrrl both in the U.S. and abroad

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… Continue Reading

Angie’s List collects $35M to expand services

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… Continue Reading

Yelp raises $15 million, sees uptick in growth over past year

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… Continue Reading

Will Outside.in nail the community Web site? Maybe

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… Continue Reading