Yelp really shook things up when it burst onto the scene in 2004 as a platform for crowdsourced local business reviews. Founded by two former PayPal engineers, Yelp became the go-to site for finding the hottest restaurants, shops and services in your area. For a while, it seemed like nothing could stop this hip startup on its path to dominate the online reviews space.
But flash forward to today, and Yelp is struggling. The crowds have moved on to review sites owned by Google and Facebook. Revenue is declining, and offices are closing.
So how did things go so wrong? What happened to send Yelp from tech world darling to cautionary tale? Let‘s take a closer look at the main reasons this company with so much early promise has declined over the years.
Yelp‘s Impressive Early Growth
To understand Yelp‘s fall, you first have to appreciate its meteoric rise. Co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman came up with the idea in 2004 after getting the flu during a business trip to San Francisco. He couldn‘t find any online reviews to help him find a local doctor.
Stoppelman and co-founder Russel Simmons realized this was a major gap in the market. People needed a way to tap into local knowledge to evaluate businesses in their community. The potential was massive.
Armed with an initial $1 million investment from their former boss at PayPal, the duo launched Yelp in July 2004. The site took off like wildfire. Here‘s a quick look at some of Yelp‘s impressive early milestones:
- 1 million monthly visitors by Q3 2006
- 3.5 million reviews by 2007
- 16.5 million monthly visitors by 2008
- 36 million monthly visitors by 2010
- Expanded to 6 countries by 2010
- 71 million monthly mobile app users by 2016
With users and reviews growing exponentially each year, Yelp raised over $100 million in funding by 2010. The company seemed unstoppable, as the Yelp brand became synonymous with online local reviews.
But while things looked great on the surface, cracks were already starting to show…
Stuck in the Past as the Market Changed
Though it started strong, Yelp failed to keep up with how the needs of users and the competitive landscape evolved over time. By clinging to what worked before, Yelp left the door open for competitors to swoop in.
Let‘s look at some of the key market changes Yelp was slow to react to:
The Google Juggernaut
Google entered the local reviews game in 2007 by acquiring Zagat and launching Google Places. By integrating reviews into Maps and Search, Google could provide a smoother discovery experience. Searches returned relevant reviews and directions in one place.
Google also had a major advantage in reach. As the dominant search engine, Google could surface reviews from its vast index to all users. Yelp depended on visitors coming directly to its site.
Facebook Leverages Its Social Graph
Facebook gradually added review features through Place Pages in 2010, check-ins by 2012, and finally official review capabilities in 2013.
With billions of built-in users and social connections, Facebook reviews from friends carried more weight than anonymous ones on Yelp. Facebook continues adding features like food orders and restaurant reservations that build on its social power.
The Rise of Influencer Reviews
Video reviews on YouTube, beautiful photos on Instagram, and long-form blog reviews allowed internet personalities to connect with audiences in more personal ways.
Yelp remained primarily text-based, while influencer content provided rich, immersive reviews that were entertaining as well as informative.
Mobile Apps Take Over
As mobile devices surged, users increasingly accessed reviews on the go via apps. Yelp‘s mobile capabilities lagged behind competitors, missing key features like in-app maps, reservations, and visual discovery.
By failing to diversify its offerings and user experience, Yelp lost ground as the market moved past its original model.
A Shaky, One-Trick Business Model
While competitors capitalized on varied revenue streams, Yelp relied almost solely on advertising sold to local businesses. This risky approach was plagued by issues:
-
Aggressive sales tactics turned off many business owners from buying ads. Yelp developed an adversarial reputation.
-
Limited value proposition made it difficult to attract national brands who found more benefit in broader channels.
-
Small businesses saw declining returns on Yelp ads as traffic slipped. Many shifted budgets to Google and Facebook.
-
Annoying ad frequency and placement was perceived to degrade user experience and enjoyment of the site.
Despite its issues, Yelp failed to diversify its monetization and gave competitors an opening to siphon off advertisers.
Internal Company Conflict and Leadership Challenges
With a hard-driving founder at the helm for almost 20 years, Yelp developed a "bro" culture that proved detrimental to stability and innovation.
-
CEO Jeremy Stoppelman prioritized rapid growth over investing in internal systems and controls. Former employees described constant frustration and burnout.
-
High executive turnover like 2 CFOs and 3 COOs in just 6 years suggested poor company leadership.
-
Lack of diversity in management led to bias, with few women or minorities in leadership roles.
-
Staff grumbled that a sales-first mentality led to distrust between departments.
While Yelp expanded quickly in its early days, problems brewing under the surface came back to bite it as challenges mounted.
Shady Reputation from Review Manipulation Claims
Fairly or not, Yelp developed a reputation for manipulating reviews to extort advertising dollars from businesses. Though Yelp denied claims of bias, the controversies likely contributed to Yelp‘s decline.
-
Multiple class action lawsuits accused Yelp of hiding or removing positive reviews for non-paying businesses. The cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence.
-
Small business owners shared anecdotes of positive reviews vanishing after they declined to buy ads. Yelp blamed automated filtering.
-
Some local governments opened investigations into Yelp‘s practices, resulting in minor settlements.
-
Yelp sales reps were recorded linking ad buys to more positive review treatment.
While validity of manipulation claims is uncertain, ongoing controversies almost certainly eroded consumer and business trust in Yelp over time.
What Can We Learn from Yelp‘s Story?
As we‘ve seen, Yelp has all the hallmarks of a promising startup undone by strategic missteps and failure to change with the times. Its story offers some key lessons for companies looking to avoid a similar fate:
-
Innovate constantly – Don‘t rest on your laurels. Identify changing market needs early and enhance products to stay ahead.
-
Build a sustainable, diversified business model – Relying on a single revenue stream is risky. Have multiple monetization channels.
-
Invest in company culture – Toxic culture and lack of diversity will rot companies from the inside. Empower great talent.
-
Respond quickly and transparently to controversies – Even unfounded claims can erode trust if not addressed. Communicate openly.
While it‘s still around, Yelp serves as a cautionary tale of a startup that failed to live up to its early promise and potential. Understanding why can help the next generation of companies thrive where Yelp stumbled.