Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut • Hacker News Board

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#51

Post by bg4 » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:38 PM UTC

ilikehurdles wrote: post #24

kadabra9 wrote: post #12

Yelp is such a slimy company. First they wall off their mobile web reviews to try to force you to download their POS app, they have the whole extortion racket going trying to strongarm restaurants into paying for advertising, and now this. Friendly reminder - if you are on mobile and trying to read a Yelp review and don't want to download their app, simply hold refresh, click "request desktop site" and it will load t…

https://www.yelp-support.com/article/Does-Yelp-extort-small-... I've kind of gotten tired of diving into the whole "yelp extorted my brother's cousin's friend's coworker's business for better ratings" anecdotal story schtick so I'm just going to link the above -- or are you suggesting they're getting away with lying on official communication? If yelp is altering reviews for paying clients, please show the evidence as…

How's your internship at Yelp going?

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#52

Post by notyourday » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:38 PM UTC

sundayedition wrote: post #5

I've found Google Maps review quality and quantity improved over the last few years so it's rare that I'd even open Yelp in recent months. With this, I'm deleting my Yelp app.

Yelp still has the best (as in the most comprehensive) reviews of restaurants. Google's reviews are littered with one sentence reviews which is rather unfortunate.

Having said that Yelp is absolutely, positively removes negative reviews from places that pay it for promoting. Having written a few and having opened tickets after those reviews disappeared I found the fun tricks they use to be able to claim that they don't censor reviews. They absolutely do. The only way to ensure that your review stays up is to post a copy of your check as a part of your review ( that's why you are seeing them these days ) which of course makes you totally identifiable and open to the lawsuits. Otherwise whoever "owns" the listing can dispute the review by claiming the person who left it is not sharing his or her personal experience.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#53

Post by potench » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:38 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #32

potench wrote: post #31

My favorite sushi-restaurant SugarFish was originally a take-away-sushi shop, the sushi is very high quality and somewhat inexpensive for the quality ($40 a meal). Also dine-in lines are consistently super long (they don’t take reservations), so I like to order pick-up / take-out. Except, now they force you to order take-out through Postmates which charges a large 15% fee and a flat service-charge (that I don’t recal…

> inexpensive ... ($40 a meal) What a wonderful world we live in.

You misquoted that. Sushi is expensive, the point is it’s all relative and I think for the quality it’s typically more in the range of $60 a meal. Very expensive compared to other meals sure, but a good value for the quality of sushi.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#54

Post by hyperbovine » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:38 PM UTC

quietbritishjim wrote: post #36

tfha wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. I remember we used to use Yelp to find the best restaurants in a city. It worked incredibly well. It doesn't anymore, but Google maps is not better. For example, I tried to use Google maps to find good buffalo wings in Brooklyn. But, the top suggestion didn't even have buffalo sauce on the menu! Just soy! I tend to blame SEO first and ads / paid promotion second.

If you're looking for good restaurants in a city, TripAdvisor is probably your best bet. It does have the downside of terrible location-based search though (what decent restaurants are within 50m of my current position?).

(TripAdvisor-owned) TheFork, aka La Fourchette, is the way to go in Europe. The quality of the reviews on that site is impressive, and there are numerous torch-the-unicorn style discounts to be had. Europeans take their food seriously :-)

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#55

Post by dx87 » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #32

potench wrote: post #31

My favorite sushi-restaurant SugarFish was originally a take-away-sushi shop, the sushi is very high quality and somewhat inexpensive for the quality ($40 a meal). Also dine-in lines are consistently super long (they don’t take reservations), so I like to order pick-up / take-out. Except, now they force you to order take-out through Postmates which charges a large 15% fee and a flat service-charge (that I don’t recal…

> inexpensive ... ($40 a meal) What a wonderful world we live in.

Inexpensive for the quality.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#56

Post by emeraldd » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC

makerofspoons wrote: post #37

sundayedition wrote: post #5

I've found Google Maps review quality and quantity improved over the last few years so it's rare that I'd even open Yelp in recent months. With this, I'm deleting my Yelp app.

Their CEO was on NPR recently complaining about how Google Maps was eating their lunch and how it wasn't fair.

I used to work for a company that owned a bunch of traditional broadcast stations. The day the CEO got up in front of the local branch of the company and asked the question (roughly) "How do we get people to watch broadcast TV again?" I knew it was time to get out there. The company is still around and probably has enough inertia to keep going for a long while, but with that kind of thinking in the leadership, it's pretty much a zombie.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#57

Post by ilikehurdles » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC

bg4 wrote: post #51

ilikehurdles wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.yelp-support.com/article/Does-Yelp-extort-small-... I've kind of gotten tired of diving into the whole "yelp extorted my brother's cousin's friend's coworker's business for better ratings" anecdotal story schtick so I'm just going to link the above -- or are you suggesting they're getting away with lying on official communication? If yelp is altering reviews for paying clients, please show the evidence as…

How's your internship at Yelp going?

High quality banter. Truly enlightening commentary.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#58

Post by lovehashbrowns » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:40 PM UTC

patejam wrote: post #39

callinyouin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I had to install their app to get in line at a local restaurant This happened to me somewhat recently, though I'm unsure whether it was Yelp or some other app I was asked to install. It's a little arrogant for a restaurant owner to think it's fair to assume all their patrons are willing (or even able!) to install an app on their phone for the sole purpose of getting on their waiting list. This was not a fancy, spec…

I'm not sure what app it is, but I really really like the feature where you can see exactly how many groups (and their sizes) are in front of you in line. Makes it easy to decide when to start heading back to the restaurant or when to order another drink at the bar you're hanging out at. Maybe not Yelp, but I thought most had a basic texting option as well? If not, that's lame.

Yelp does have that feature that tells you how many people are in front of you. It's a really nice feature, too. I was able to walk around the Japantown mall in SF while I waited for our seat. I'd actually be happy with it if I didn't already hate yelp for their scummy things.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#59

Post by DantesKite » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:41 PM UTC

sundayedition wrote: post #5

I've found Google Maps review quality and quantity improved over the last few years so it's rare that I'd even open Yelp in recent months. With this, I'm deleting my Yelp app.

I wonder sometimes if Google Maps does better than Yelp because it tracks where people actually eat, not where they say they eat.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut

#60

Post by duxup » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 3:42 PM UTC

Grubhub's process of creating fake websites that compete with the restaurant's official site so that they can take a cut of any direct orders is so scummy.

I refuse to have anything to do with either company. I care about my local restaurants, not slimy practices like that.