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Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

cnbc.com

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Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#441

Post by sureaboutthis »

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!!!!

In most cases, reddit should be avoided at all costs anyway so you now have another excuse not to go there.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#442

Post by sureaboutthis »

a_wild_dandan wrote: post #236
Scoundreller wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a matter of time before they acquire the top app or two and block the rest.

Guess it's a matter of time before I stop using Reddit then. I already ran to Relay as an escape from Reddit's astonishingly garbage mobile browser experience. Next stop is the door.

To repeat myself, reddit, in most cases, should be avoided anyway so you will gain by doing so.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#443

Post by pbhjpbhj »

ilikehurdles wrote: post #76
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understood they do NOT hide reviews unless you pay; so if you get bad reviews you can sign up and hide them. But perhaps they do the other thing that you suggest too.

They don't do either of these things. There are some anecdotes online but no evidence of this happening.

Was that always true? I had a call from Yelp at work where one of the selling points was controlling your profile, in which they mentioned "removing spam" and "offensive reviews" (they might have said "fake"). I took that euphemistically when combined with rumours I'd heard. But that was some years ago (maybe 5+, in UK); and could have been overselling or phishing by a third party I suppose.

How do you handle offensive reviews (like swearing, libel, personal details), do Yelp really manually intervene?

Don't they remove fake reviews, in which case a business can say the review is fake.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#444

Post by foobar1962 »

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…

> ... why people feel so strongly about not installing apps

Because it means I'll be prompted for the App Store password, which I probably won't remember (or will get wrong 3 times) and so will need to change it, but the process won't let me change the password to anything I've used in the past 12 months (so I cannot change it to whatever I though the password was). So I need to make up a whole new password, and that means my mail and everything else linked to the account will stop working on all my other devices and I'll need to update the account passwords on those too.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#445

Post by skinnymuch »

stanleydrew wrote: post #307
rchaud wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 inter…

I don't think Apple cares about any Yelp "IP". It's a local establishment discovery and review site. You suggest "they can just pay for the POI data." Which is basically what I'm suggesting. Yelp's actual underlying asset is its POI database. Apple might want that if they decide to own rather than rent (which is a transition Google made a while back). Not at any price, but if Yelp continues to struggle the valuation…

Wouldn’t Foursquare make more sense as a much much cheaper acquisiton if none of the things actually driving most of Yelp’s value don’t matter? Yelp is still valued at close to $3B. If it recovers half of what it lost, Apple would have to pay close to $4B for Yelp. If it doesn’t recover at all, still talking over $3B.

While Foursquare wouldn’t even be for $1B. It was last valued at $300M 3 years ago and just raised money again. So at worst it’s 4x cheaper. At best, 5x or 6x cheaper. The business model probably fits better too with having an enterprise package with Apple Maps.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#446

Post by bootaccount »

huehehue wrote: post #296
bootaccount wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they're using app.adjust.com to force the user to get the app and track the behavior -- using Firefox and something like uBlock will prevent the behavior and block the redirect attempt

I'm using Firefox and uBlock Origin, it still kicks you to uBlock's warning/whitelist page.

the only option I've found is to force desktop mode, otherwise virtually all engagement with the mobile site will redirect to the app

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#447

Post by richardknop »

wlesieutre wrote: post #151
Scoundreller wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!!!!

Don't you want to view it in the official Reddit app for the best experience ? No, no I don't. And the official reddit app is not the best experience.

The Reddit mobile app is so shit. It would be less annoying if their app was actually usable but the website is so much easier to use. I'm so tired of them trying to force me to use their bad app, using shady practices to make me accidentally click on links that open the app.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#448

Post by allochthon »

jressey wrote: post #122
allochthon wrote: post #86

I can't relate to the negativity I see here. I like Yelp quite a lot. There have been a number occasions where I've found an excellent local restaurant that I wouldn't have otherwise found. Admittedly, you have to know what you're doing. If you're in a food desert, like some parts of the US, you'll need to take those 4 and 4.5 star restaurant profiles with a grain of salt. What I would really like: the ability to sel…

This sounds like one of the false reviews that people complain about.

In this instance, this observation is equivalent to saying that some of the false reviews that people complain about sound like someone's genuinely expressed opinion.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#449

Post by Consultant32452 »

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #234
Consultant32452 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Congratulations, Scoundreller, on learning a new language. As a reward we've temporarily lifted your maximum withdrawal limit!"

Not sure if joke about you choosing english and the machine being shit or just not knowing another language to make the job more authentic.

It's kind of a double joke. The machine is dumb because it doesn't remember what language you chose. The second part is that if his language suddenly changes, it's probably not him. Removing the withdrawal limit allows the person with his stolen credentials to get more money.

Re: Yelp craters 30% as advertisers abandon the site

#450

Post by makecheck »

manigandham wrote: post #423
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.

Similar issue with Quora. Pop up blocks the site after a few scrolls, and there's no way to exit. Doesn't matter if you're in the middle of reading a long answer, the site just stops working.

Why do companies think this is “good”? They basically assault the very subset of people that actually stuck around longer than most, actually showed some interest in their content. Instead of encouraging that to continue, they cut you off.

Imagine if you were in a physical store. Then, after 2 minutes of walking around, someone suddenly pulled you aside, erected a bunch of cardboard walls around you and said “sorry, if you want to keep looking, you need to sign up for a store account!”. You’d mutter some curses and walk straight out the door, obviously; exactly zero people would say “why, sure!”.

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