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Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

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Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#71

Post by bigbubba »

fairity wrote: post #47
lotsofpulp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the fraud? The restaurant must have agreed to the commission Yelp is asking for if the restaurant owes it to Yelp.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. It's pretty obvious that Yelp wouldn't do this if their contracts didn't cover it. The question is whether the contracts and sales language being used are worded to mislead the restaurant owner. I see no reference to contract language or sales language anywhere in the article or this thread.

It's obvious to you that corporations don't break laws because doing so is illegal? That's very naive.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#72

Post by specialist »

jellicle wrote: post #32
daniellarusso wrote: post #17

Could this be considered libel? ‘Publishing’ knowingly ‘wrong’ phone numbers associated with a business, would that cause damages?

Not libel but instead: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unfair-trade-practice.a... I honestly don't understand why various state attorneys haven't taken this on. Not enough complaints?

I consider this inauthentic speech (impersonation, fraud).

I'm now looking for model legislation, ideas on how to fix this. As said upthread, I'm meeting with two of my reps.

Please share any ideas.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#75

Post by pydry »

elefanten wrote: post #55

Yelp is one those companies. I use the product regularly, but I hate doing so -- the experience is awful and the core information is rarely particularly helpful. But they still get me to come in because they have the most information about some places. What really sets me off is how much "moral" crusading they do (eg- vs. Google) compared to how much shady stuff they do. This is just latest in a long line of crummy b…

It's like watching a victim of a scam artist complain to the police, get brushed off and then deciding "fuck it I guess I'll become a scam artist too then".

It's hypocritical and wrong but pretty understandable at the same time.

This is a systemic issue.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#76

Post by gumby »

colpabar wrote: post #24
tyingq wrote: post #3

"The question is, is there a path to independence?” Stoppelman said. “Distribution is always the centerpiece. If you create a great product or service, how do you get it in the hands of the people? The problem with Big Tech is they control the distribution channels. Distribution is the key. If [company x] is the starting place for all of the people...to the extent they get in front of consumers and block them from fi…

I have personally never seen much value in Yelp. Most people use Google as a starting point when searching anything, and the Yelp page that is returned is not very helpful to me. At best, it contains menus, pictures, hours, phone number, and reviews. At worst, it has none of those and is effectively an ad for the Yelp app. Either way, Google shows me all of that before I click anything else. Google absolutely tries t…

We drove up the Oregon coast and my GF used Yelp to find good places for us to stop and eat. I was frankly astonished as, like you, I've found Yelp pretty useless at best.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#77

Post by Spivak »

Wait I don’t get the hate over this. This isn’t Grubhub pretending to be the restaurant or anything. This is Grubhub doing the equivalent of Google Search’s link tracking but for phone numbers so that they can attribute the sale to Yelp.

Is it weird that Yelp has made referral codes for phone calls?

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#78

Post by mywittyname »

bigbubba wrote: post #58
abcanthur wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could a well-funded Yelp competitor with an orthogonal approach, at least in this portion of the business model, kickstart the lawsuit?

Maybe, but the yelp competitors seem dirty too. There's a pizza shop down the street from me that seems to have three or four websites masquerading as them, each with different phone numbers. Yelp executives being sent to prison would, I hope, sent a strong message to the others.

A local pizza chain has one telephone number which they advertise as a catchy jingle. Even after 15+ years of never eating there, it's one of maybe four phone numbers that I can recite from memory.

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#79

Post by proverbialbunny »

machtesh wrote: post #57
proverbialbunny wrote: post #45

Does anyone have an alternative to Yelp. What I care about: - Open Now (Optional) - Sort by Rating - Search by food category, not name of restaurant. Part of the problem is I have a food allergy. I'm highly allergic to soy, so I can't eat all dishes at most restaurants except their drinks. The few I can eat at tend to be very high end or very highly rated, because the alternative to ingredients that use soy is almost…

I built an alternative to Yelp called TasteJury. It doesn't give you an answer to your food allergy, but it is more about the food and rating/ranking than Yelp. It's also sorted by dishes/food category. It aims to answer: "Where is the best place to get X dish in Y city?". Service, ambience, etc don't matter. It's only about where to get the best food. https://tastejury.com

This is awesome and I wish you the best of luck! Someone needs to take over this business.

I don't live in the heart of a big city. I live about an hour away from SF. Furthermore where I live is not at the heart of the city my address is at, due to unusual city boundaries, so services like grubhub and other delivery services do not work to my address, but if I put in my neighbors address they get a bunch of options I do not that are walking distance to me. My point is, it helps to center restaurants by gps or similar, not to address, not to city. Good luck! :D

Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut (2019)

#80

Post by macjohnmcc »

diego_moita wrote: post #44

When 2 extortionists (Yelp and Grubhub) meet, what you get is extortion 2.0. “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ― Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

I won't be relying on Yelp for providing me any value with all the shady crap they are doing.
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