Should We Pass A Law To Stop Yelp From Harming Chain Restaurants?
from the the-internet-enables-niches dept
We keep hearing stories about how "the internet is killing music" or "the internet is killing newspapers," which inevitably seem to suggest that "something must be done," and often that "something" involves the government getting involved. Of course, if you look at the details, you realize that the internet isn't killing music or journalism at all. In many ways it's just changing both and enabling new means of creation, distribution, promotion and sales. But, people like to interpret the struggles of one part of an industry, and pretend that represents the wider industry -- and then insist something must be done.But, of course, one part of an industry becoming obsolete due to technology and market changes is the natural path of disruption, and not a cause for concern. Just to highlight this point, it's worth pointing to a Washington Post article with the title, How Yelp is killing chain restaurants. It refers to a study (pdf) that looked into the impact of Yelp reviews on restaurants. Among its many findings was that the market share of big chain restaurants appears to have declined.
When you think about it, this is not surprising at all. Part of the reason why chains are successful is because they offer familiarity, which allows potential diners to trust that the food they'll get at them will be of a certain quality. If you're unsure where to go, and want to minimize the risk, you are more likely to just hit up a big brand you're familiar with. But Yelp changes the equation. Now you can get an approximation of trust in a restaurant you've never heard of. It's not perfect, but it certainly decreases the risk, and thus increases the likelihood that you'll try a smaller alternative. At the same time, there's little that Yelp is likely to do to increase the attractiveness of a chain restaurant.
Of course, there's a wider parallel to other industries as well. We've heard some fears that the internet creates too many "winner takes all" situations, with a single dominant player, but the reality often seems quite different. It creates the ability to build a multitude of niches, because information decreases the risk of trying someone new or different. So rather than relying on a major record label to spoon-feed you the next big hit, you can find more niche music that you like. Rather than relying on the mainstream press for your news coverage, you can seek out alternative viewpoints. The rise of the internet and the ability to share information means that things are less likely to consolidate into single large players, because the reasons for such large entities often is undermined by more widespread information.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: chain restaurants, protectionism
Companies: yelp
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
who's fault?
Is this just another example of shifting the blame and shirking responsibility?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: who's fault?
Entrepreneur A's business has always been subpar. But they never had to deal with any publicity stronger than pure word-of-mouth. They could depend on a small, but significant, stream of first-time customers. Most of these will never return. With a popular service like Yelp, their revenue from first-timers will shrink. That can be directly attributed to Yelp('s users?) convincing people they (the restaurant) ain't worth your time. Of course, the bad reviews were directly caused by bad service, but if Yelp didn't exist, the customers wouldn't have anywhere public to complain. So it's Yelp's fault.
No, really. It is. Didn't you read my post? It's logical. If it's logical, it must be correct.
Plus, you're being very mean, trying to suggest that I should spend money trying to please my customers, when ANYONE can tell it's those dirty pir- *ahem* yuppies making my business fail.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Gutter
Am I the only person who's brain stopped at that line and thought for a second Mike was talking about entertaining politicians? I had to start the paragraph over to get the full context.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yelp filter
We have recently implemented a system to outsmart yelp from hiding our filtered reviews:
Step 1- first of all, if you’re advertising with yelp, we suggest that you stop doing so and shift that money to optimize your own web site instead
Step 2- Have a graphic designer make a yelp badge that is placed on your web site. It should say “we have …… filtered and unfiltered reviews on yelp”.
Step 3- when a visitor clicks on the badge, it will go to another page ON YOUR OWN WEB SITE (instead of going to yelp’s. (why help them get traffic and rank higher anyways)?
Step 4- On this page have your graphic designer get a screen capture (picture) of all your filtered and unfiltered reviews and have them pasted together onto one page.
Now, all your reviews (filtered or not) will be visible to all your web site visitors.
5- put a note on the top that says, “for your convenience we have placed all our filtered and unfiltered reviews on one page to see. If you’d like to go to our live yelp page, click here …………”
Make the whole page clickable to your live yelp page so no-one will think you’re trying to hide something or trying to be dishonest
Advantages of doing this:
1- Your visitors will stay on your web site instead of being directed to yelp’s
2- Your visitor can’t click on your competitors
3- No more being a slave to yelp’s algorithm
4- Yelp would not benefit from getting traffic from you and higher rankings on google
5- This project cost us less than $150 to implement
Just be sure to shift that $300 per month on yelp advertising and put it into KEYWORDS that people will search for.
Please pass this along
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yelp filter
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Yelp filter
that sounds like actual work. i'd rather not do anything of value but still get paid as if i did.
people like you make me sick.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Yelp filter
Slowly step away from the keyboard, I am calling for an intervention, the random trolls around here seem to have rubbed off on you ... ;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Yelp filter
around here the difference between deadpan sarcasm and trolling is often hard to detect.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Yelp filter
The worst part is that the jokesters usually try to be a parody of the biggest trolls. Many, myself included, have found that is almost impossible without explaining the joke.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Yelp filter
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yelp filter
That is all.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'm fairly sure that legislation is not the answer, but one wishes that there was some way for people to be held accountable for their actions...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
This was true thousands of years ago and it is just as true today.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mainstream news consistently wrong was and is USEFUL.
Double-edge sword as always.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mainstream news consistently wrong was and is USEFUL.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Mainstream news consistently wrong was and is USEFUL.
If wherever you live isn't covered by Zagats then I suggest you move.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Mainstream news consistently wrong was and is USEFUL.
But wait, Google just acquired Zagat. This will make it soooo pedestrian. Fancy foodies will have to go to new hipsteresquely obscure lengths to find a more elitist restaurant review site!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Mainstream news consistently wrong was and is USEFUL.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How very, very un-American of you! Do you realize that that if we started holding everyone accountable every Wall Street banker would be unemployed and Washington DC would have to be vacated? Can you just imagine if corporate executives had bonuses that were actually based on performance? The horror!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Internet is not cool when it is a giant virtual Mall.I like the older Internet much better and am not liking these times one bit.
And for those who did go to college for 4 years in Computers I have seen a lot of $10 - $12 per hour jobs so I bet it would take many years to pay off an estimated $30 grand to go to a college.Think I will attempt this when I turn 56 in just a few months so I can work another decade or so and then retire with a nice big bill to pay off with my SSI Checks ?
I am so screwed and so are a lot of you who went thru a tech school and are now hitting the pavement trying to find a decent job.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Used to be everyone had to slave in the hot sun for fourteen hours a day just to scrape by with enough food to live on. Now all those jobs are gone! They were stolen by fancy tech-nol-o-gie!
The world would be a much better place if we could all just stop from being so damn efficient and productive!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
> practically no retail jobs in Portland, ME.
> Really sucks for me at 55 years old.And it
> sucks for all other folks who did work in
> Retail Stores or who did try and build a small
> business.And it does suck for the decreased
> tax revenues of local government.
I sympathize with you and am truly sorry you lost your job, but you're essentially equivalent to a blacksmith at the turn of the century. Once the Model T came along, it sucked to be a horseshoe maker, too, but we didn't outlaw cars or hobble the new automobile industry to protect the jobs of the blacksmiths. We didn't pass laws protecting the steamship industry when planes were invented.
New technologies disrupt old ways of doing things. It's the way of the world.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The stores which are more appealing to use than sitting at home will thrive; the internet will kill the rest.
There is something patently unwelcoming about going into a shop and knowing, just knowing, that the kid at the counter resents one's existence, or that the owner is only going to "let" one browse for so long before trying to rush one out door.
It's annoying and demeaning to deal with huge passive-aggressive signs saying, "Smile! You're on camera!" or stores which insist every customer check their bags at the counter.
It's beyond annoying to have obtrusive or pushy sales people shoving crap down one's throat; there's no adblock equivalent for in-store salesmen.
The places I know of which have remained in business are unsurprising: they're practical, efficient, competitively priced, and treat their customers like honoured guests, instead of annoying sources of cash.
Just remember, the second I think my money is more important than my patronage, I'm going to go online and buy whatever-it-is for 4% cheaper (shipping included) rather than deal with the kind of entitled fuckup who thinks that just because they own the store that they also own their customers.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Feeling sorry for the poor big chains
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The only reason it was the jocks that beat you up in school Masnick is because the art people figured it was easier to let those guys do the dirty work.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
the only reason i gave you any points was for the prhase "fatboy computer nerds opine".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
> about music and art
It's been my experience that the average techno-nerd is thin, not fat. Not sure where you're getting your stereotypes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
WTF?
As an aside you should really explain why the hate, or see a therapist asap.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I travel 200 days a year for work. When i first started, I used to seek out small independent restaurants. For every great place I stumbled into, I had about 3 bad or overpriced meals. Eventaully I just decided that a guaranteed mediocre meal at Applebee's or Chili's was better than the chance of another really bad meal.
Yelp changed all that. I have tried places that I never would have considered if I had just been driving by. My Yelp experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. I have eaten Thai food in just about every big city in America but the best Tom Yum soup i ever had was at a tiny little place in the unlikely town of Banning California.
So....Yelp has certainly shifted my dollars away from chains and toward local establishments but it has nothing to do with negative reviews of the chains. My opinion of the chain places is based on the many meals I have eaten there.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
number of things
Yes YELP is helping people decided on what is a good place to eat when people are unfamiliar with it. It is certainly not killing resteraunts... that is unless the establishment wishes to be killed and does poorly, continuously, then people will give bad reviews and business will drop and then no resteraunt.
Good service and food will make a resteraunt, the opposite will not... before yelp, urbanspoon or whatever other tool we all use, resteraunts would die because of bad service and word of mouth.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: number of things
> and specialized.
You'd never know it where I live in Los Angeles. Every restaurant I go to is packed. Always have to wait for a table. For a shitty economy, people sure do still seem to have money to spend on dining out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: number of things
Didn't you know?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
just wow.
Cuz y'know, the people that go to chain restaurants are a picky bunch and definitely consult Yelp before taking that exit off the highway or making the choice between Ruby Tuesday or Red Robin.
hahahahaha
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
(see also above post by MrWilson regarding High school)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That was the Washington Post saying YELP was killing chains.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I mean, Darden restaurants is Too Big to Fail. Just think of all the Seafood Chefs that will be out of work when Red Lobster falls to small, locally owned and locally sourced restaurants owned by money grubbing entrepreneurs run them out of business with their Yelp cult members.
I propose filtering done by the Ministry of Truth, who should have an unlimited budget and be lead by the Legacy Industry Czar. Just because the world changes, why should an industry change to meet the changing landscape?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There Ought to be A Law
Companies routinely form "associations", hire lobbyists, and employee public relation firms to promote a glowing images and to entice consumers to buy.
The problem of course, is that when the consumer gets ripped-off, how do they fight back? The internet provides one such opportunity.
Unfortunately, as noted by various TechDirt posts, companies seek to squash bad publicity. Companies even seem to believe that it would be appropriate for them to "buy" such laws from our politicians.
Given that mentality, so much for the free-market and freedom of speech.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Consumer Reports should be outlawed!
This is bad for two reasons -- unrelated to the evil Internet.
First I would point out how this is bad for the economy. If people don't buy that bad product, then they won't soon be buying another better product to replace it.
In times past vendors of shoddy products could depend on uninformed people buying their product. In fact, an entire business model could be created around selling shoddy products to uninformed people. Consumer Reports undermines this and is thus guilty of Felony Interference With a Business Model.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Exploring
Local places can far outstrip the quality and price of chains.
Bahn Mi for 5$?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Good.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gulp?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yelp Filters
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yelp.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
YELP - HOW TO BECOME IMMUNE TO THEIR STUFF
We did it all in a few minutes and never have to care again about Yelp ot any other review sites affecting our business.
Just go to unyelpme.com and read the one page there and you'll understand in a few minutes.
We think it's fabulous!
Good luck all!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
People in over seas pull down dictators by putting their lives on the line, why can't we have an organized demonstration to bring light and attention to this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
People in over seas pull down dictators by putting their lives on the line, why can't we have an organized demonstration to bring light and attention to this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]