Isn't Yelp essentially committing fraud by colluding with GrubHub to impersonate business entities?
Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
401–410 of 461 posts
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#402Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me, this is a sign of grubhub/insert copycat delivery service circling the drain, trying to extract whatever cash they can get before the inevitable. Anecdata, but among my peers people sort by delivery fee or try to game the system for a new user discount. Delivery fees can easily be $7 now which is like buying another entire portion at some restaurants. Personally, I use grubhub a lot--as a menu to look at for w…
Yelp can't grow anymore. Now is when they make money and pay back their investors.
Not really, they've been public for many years. Investors were "paid back" (i.e. had a chance to sell stock) a long time ago.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I used to use Yelp, I found the reviews are so hard to wade though. So many: - I had a bad time .. once. - This restaurant isn't as good as this other place that is twice as expensive. - We had to wait a "long time". - The food sucked (because they don't like the kind of food they serve...). - This place sucks and you should go to this other completely different place.
I see many negative reviews that I suspect are from people acting in the interests of competitive restaurants.
I always thought that some of the bad reviews must be from ex-employees.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#404Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I used to use Yelp, I found the reviews are so hard to wade though. So many: - I had a bad time .. once. - This restaurant isn't as good as this other place that is twice as expensive. - We had to wait a "long time". - The food sucked (because they don't like the kind of food they serve...). - This place sucks and you should go to this other completely different place.
With so many good restaurants, why would I go back to one where I had a bad time?
That's not the question. It's natural not to want to go back to somewhere something bad happened. The question is why anybody else would care about bad luck that someone had, as opposed to a bad experience that was representative.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
You haven't responded to the points your parent comments are making. The argument is that making it difficult for users not to use your mobile app is hostile. You have been responding by saying that you prefer to use mobile apps (for reasons many people, myself included, disagree with). That's simply not relevant to the fact that it's hostile to force users into an experience they don't want.
> The argument is that making it difficult for users not to use your mobile app is hostile. It isn't hostile - because as I stated, websites are often janky when used in a mobile browser, especially interactive websites, in which case the app is a net positive. This is my experience and opinion, and I don't hide behind "many people think __". Everyone is free to have their opinion, but I hope you realize that passing…
Again, the hostility is that users are forced to use the mobile app. Forcing someone to do something that is (granted for the sake of argument) a net positive that they do not believe is a net positive is user hostile.
The question is not whether mobile apps are good things. (Everyone is free to have their own opinion about that.) The question is whether or not it's a good thing to force someone who does not want to use your mobile app to use it for your own reasons / or for your own benefit.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#406I'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.
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.
This happens to me too, also if you say the city and the name of the place it will definitely not find locations that are outside the official city border, even if it's 25 feet from that border. So crazy too because I can literally be next to a restaurant, ask for it, and not find it.
The other thing that absolutely drives me bonkers - Google maps keeps routing me to the back of something, like literally to the truck entrance of whatever grocery store or restaurant I am routing to. You would think they would employ ML to visually figure out where the parking lot is vs the truck entrance.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Something else" indeed. Recently a scam site popped up that copied the branding of our site, autotempest.com. (They registered autoStempest.com and copied our logos and such.) They claimed to be a dealership based in Texas, but were actually posting fake vehicles and having people wire them money (which they obviously kept). One of the things these scammers did to appear legit was set up a Yelp page with a bunch of…
What I do not understand is why nobody copied yelp with an ethical business model yet.
Google Maps? I mean, it's not perfect, the reviews aren't great, but usually anything rated 4.5+ is at least solid and they don't mess around with restaurant phone numbers.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#408Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Something else" indeed. Recently a scam site popped up that copied the branding of our site, autotempest.com. (They registered autoStempest.com and copied our logos and such.) They claimed to be a dealership based in Texas, but were actually posting fake vehicles and having people wire them money (which they obviously kept). One of the things these scammers did to appear legit was set up a Yelp page with a bunch of…
What I do not understand is why nobody copied yelp with an ethical business model yet.
I assume Foursquare is not the same thing? I never used Yelp, but used Foursquare for apparently the same thing.
Re: Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut
#409I've never used grubhub, but this is shady.
In a rush I once had to find and call a hotel and get a reservation. The site I used looked like a typical priceline or whatever- looked legit. Instead of providing the phone number of the hotel front desk, it sent me to some shady hotel booking service. I was tired and probably not thinking straight - but they took my card and the room was booked. After arriving at the hotel I indeed had a reservation, that was nice. What wasn't nice was that it wasn't paid for. I had no idea who I called, and it was super late so I had no options. If I wasn't in a gigantic stressful situation at the time I would have done more to figure out what happened.
Not saying that grubhub or yelp is THAT shady, but that kind of business practice is.