
Lessons from Yelp's Ratings Problem (And why they should sell.) - dbreunig
http://dbreunig.tumblr.com/post/289041478/note-to-yelp-sell
======
tptacek
Chicago has a huge Yelp user population, and stars aside, the reviews of
restaurants are themselves ill-informed and misleading. You have a much more
compelling case with the bodega and the Michelin-starred restaurant, but, for
example, a prominent and well-rated review of The Publican claimed they had
food-service fries, which was funny because I read it while watching Paul
Kahan peeling potatoes by hand before they fried them in duck fat.

I don't trust anything I read in Yelp. Google should buy LTHForum.

~~~
dbreunig
I don't think Google is buying Yelp for the reviews. I think they'd buy them
for the user data.

From what I hear, Google has an internal mandate to ensure that products are
globally applicable. This is why Google probably won't attack real estate
anytime soon.

Yelp is rich in certain locales (hadn't heard about Chicago, but your pop-size
ensures that pretty much most things are a hit) but it's reviews aren't going
global anytime soon. The data and patterns Google could glean, in addition to
the local business data (openings, closings, good for kids, etc) is invaluable
to them as they work towards their local business goal. They could kick off
several cities with a flick, and have learnings to scale up.

------
philelly
i don't grasp the 'problem' with the rating system. a 4.5 star deli offers 4.5
star deli cuisine, and a 4 star restaurant offers 4 star haute cuisine. are
they that much more comparable than a 4 star restaurant and a 5 star
laundromat?

------
ohlol
You can't expect an objective experience when the service offers a higher
service to businesses for money. And the paid search results aren't even
relevant.

So yeah, take it with a grain of salt.

