Yelp, a website for restaurant and local reviews, has recently added an option for the consumers to make mobile reviews. Yelp's new functionality would allow everyone to write and edit full reviews through the Yelp mobile app.
Yelp stated it preferred reviews written on a personal computer since the quality of reviews were better. Furthermore, mobile reviews could be very negative. However, the company's focus on mobile prove to be relevant for Yelp since more advertisers and users shift to mobile devices.
Yelp's second quarter earnings report showed 59% of Yelp searches were done on mobile devices. Moreover, 40% of the company's local ads were displayed on handsets while its mobile app was utilized on 10.4 million distinct mobile devices.
The latest feature would allow Yelp to face competitors in the mobile industry. Facebook recently announced it would permit OpenTable bookings on its mobile app. The said functionality is currently offered by Yelp. Also, Foursquare currently competes with Yelp on the capability to make comments on its mobile app.
It has been observed by industry observers that Yelp seems to grow both its revenue base and operating expenses too. In 2011, its revenue boosted to USD83 million but its operating costs reached USD99 million.
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