Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site • Hacker News Board

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#221

Post by cletus » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:27 PM UTC

Good.

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.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#222

Post by lovehashbrowns » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:29 PM UTC

wilg wrote: post #182

mlrtime wrote: post #9

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.

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. If you don't…

I don't like installing apps on my phone and having them do whatever in the background. I don't want notifications. I don't want to give an app any kind of access to my phone, period. I don't want more ads in different places. I don't want a different interface than what I'm already used to.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#223

Post by zelon88 » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:29 PM UTC

vikingcaffiene wrote: post #210

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…

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.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#224

Post by timr » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:33 PM UTC

cblades wrote: post #220

timr wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of this is true. Stop repeating rumors. Source: I worked there, on the systems in question, and know for a fact that the things you're asserting are not true.

Working on the systems in a technical capacity doesn't necessarily inform you of how those systems were used.

I worked directly on the code that would have done the things you're asserting to be true. There's no code to support it, and in fact, there are tools in place to prevent what you're claiming.

If there were some top-secret internal conspiracy to use the other tools on the site to do what you're claiming, you have to be especially credulous to believe that I -- or people just like me -- wouldn't have noticed it.

Unless you have some evidence to bring to the table other than "I read it on the internet", my word is worth more than your theories.

If you don't believe that what I'm telling you is true, then feel free to provide some proof.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#225

Post by WrtCdEvrydy » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:33 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #163

oh_sigh wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, and even when you switch to old mode it frequently reverts when you use the back button. They are intentionally making the web mobile experience horrible because they think that you'll be more engaged if you use the app.

So now that reddit’s Death has begun, what’s our alternative?

Digg?

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#226

Post by ghaff » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:34 PM UTC

swaggyBoatswain wrote: post #204

ghaff wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not great but TBH I still find it to be better than nothing. You've pretty much described every review site on the Internet. "My hotel room in Manhattan was small." You don't say. I still prefer Zagat (though it's not what it was when it was pretty much limited to foodies) where it's available. But if I'm in an area I don't know well I still will take Yelp over picking a restaurant on total whim or because it ha…

I looked up local Zagat best in "XYZ" type reviews in my citiy, all the top listings are completely off by a wide margin in multiple categories. Some popular restaurants aren't even on there. That being said I usually use whatever has the best content available

None of them are even close to perfect. "Best" isn't necessarily all that correlated to popular though.

The other problem with "Best ofs" generically is that most of the restaurants are more expensive than I'd pay for except on rare occasions. In my nearest city, 95% of my experience is with mid-rangeish ethnic, etc. restaurants. I'm very rarely in a restaurant that's likely to make a Best of list.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#227

Post by pnw_hazor » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:35 PM UTC

notyourday wrote: post #28

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…

I found some nice causal places to eat in Hell's Kitchen. I wanted to get away from the tourist spots near our hotel.

Yelp worked great.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#228

Post by chefkoch » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #102

makecheck wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!”.

Reddit keeps asking me if I want to download their app or Open in Safari... regardless of which browser I’m using. Not every iOS user is using Safari!!!!

There is a setting in the hamburger menu to stop the pop up. I was annoyed for too long before i googled the nag screen.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#229

Post by dragonwriter » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #209

mlrtime wrote: post #9

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.

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 pr…

> 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?).

Er, just checked and the Google Pay Send and Request money feature is accessible from both mobile and desktop site (well, I was lazy and checked both from mobile using “view desktop site” on and off.)

So, let's not call them out for something they absolutely didn't do.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#230

Post by rchaud » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

stanleydrew wrote: post #30

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.

Doesn't Apple tend to buy relatively unknown companies and fold their IP into their products? Beats Audio was the only major one I remember them absorbing, and was rebranded as Apple Music.

But Beats had that upscale demographic and positive brand image that Apple covets so dearly, whereas Yelp feels very much like a bygone brand of the 2010s IPO rush (along with Groupon and Foursquare). Not sure Apple would be interested. They can just pay for the POI data. Why buy the cow when all you need is the milk?