4 ms·

It was a lot of work gathering review info for over 500K restaurants in the US but I hope some people will use this app and find it useful. Cheers.

minimaxir 10y ago
Are you following the Terms of Use for each service? Yelp definitely doesn't allow you to redistribute rating data without serious restrictions.
- benkarst 10y ago
  I'm not redistributing or displaying the Yelp ratings. If you look in the app, the Hapibelly rating is displayed, then all the links to the different review platforms are provided. I did read this: https://www.yelp.com/developers/display_requirements https://www.yelp.com/developers/display_requirements when developing the idea.
  - jads 10y ago
    I think this might be a concern, depending on how the "hapibelly" score is generated: >Don’t aggregate or blend our star ratings and review counts with other providers. You may show content from multiple providers, but Yelp data should stand on its own. For example, you may not average Yelp business ratings with other providers to show an overall score. If you're combining ratings from different platforms, this seems to fall foul of Yelp's developer TOS (and a few others, I believe)
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - benkarst 10y ago
      Thanks. I should probably contact Yelp if this app gets any traction. Also, I think these are just the terms for using the API. I'm not sure if they can do anything if I don't use the API. Even If Yelp and Foursquare are a no-go, that still leaves 6 other solid review platforms to use. Yelp and foursquare are useful but not the best. The granularity of rating for Yelp is too big. Over 50% of restaurants are 4.0 stars. (That's why the app is useful) Foursquare is the least used platform with the oldest reviews.
      - twalling 10y ago
        What do you mean you're not using their API? If you're screen scraping the content, you're still violating their terms of service. "You also agree not to, and will not assist, encourage, or enable others to:" "Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, scrape, or index any portion of the Site or any Site Content;" https://www.yelp.com/static?country=US&p=tos https://www.yelp.com/static?country=US&p=tos
        softawre 10y ago
        Curious observer here. Since he's not a Yelp partner or customer or anybody, why does he have to worry about their TOS?
        twalling 10y ago
        Whether one likes it or not, simply by visiting or looking at a site, you're agreeing to their TOS. "By accessing or using the Site, you are agreeing to these Terms and concluding a legally binding contract with Yelp Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California ("Yelp"). Do not access or use the Site if you are unwilling or unable to be bound by the Terms."
        towelrod 10y ago
        Or... what? It says "Do not access or use the Site..." but what would be the penalty for using a site like this outside of the terms of service?
        benkarst 10y ago
        This article helped clear things up for me. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/court-violating-terms-service-not-crime-bypassing https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/court-violating-terms-...
      - minimaxir 10y ago
        If you're not using the API, you won't be contacting Yelp, Yelp will be contacting you, and not in a friendly way.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- dubcanada 10y ago
  Zomato also claims copyright/IP of any reviews/content on their site. Though I am not a 100% sure if just the out of 5 or % number usage counts or not.
  - benkarst 10y ago
    Do you know if using info for aggregation violates copyright?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - benkarst 10y ago
    I actually posted a question to quora, "Is it legal to use review information from websites to calculate an average score?" Replied: "In the US, so long as you have the legal right to access the data to begin with (i.e., you didn't crack into someone's system to get it), yes. Simple facts, and things like mathematical analysis of those facts, cannot be copyrighted. Calculating an average is just a mathematical process. It doesn't require the type of creativity that would allow for copyright." Link:https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-to-use-review-information-from-websites-to-calculate-an-average-score/answer/Todd-Allen-9?__snid3__=290497742&__nsrc__=4 https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-to-use-review-information-...
stevenwiles 10y ago
LOL you mean you hope some people will use this app and send you money? Come on, you at least have to make it seem genuine...

minimaxir 10y ago

Are you following the Terms of Use for each service? Yelp definitely doesn't allow you to redistribute rating data without serious restrictions.

benkarst 10y ago
I'm not redistributing or displaying the Yelp ratings. If you look in the app, the Hapibelly rating is displayed, then all the links to the different review platforms are provided. I did read this: https://www.yelp.com/developers/display_requirements https://www.yelp.com/developers/display_requirements when developing the idea.
- jads 10y ago
  I think this might be a concern, depending on how the "hapibelly" score is generated: >Don’t aggregate or blend our star ratings and review counts with other providers. You may show content from multiple providers, but Yelp data should stand on its own. For example, you may not average Yelp business ratings with other providers to show an overall score. If you're combining ratings from different platforms, this seems to fall foul of Yelp's developer TOS (and a few others, I believe)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - benkarst 10y ago
    Thanks. I should probably contact Yelp if this app gets any traction. Also, I think these are just the terms for using the API. I'm not sure if they can do anything if I don't use the API. Even If Yelp and Foursquare are a no-go, that still leaves 6 other solid review platforms to use. Yelp and foursquare are useful but not the best. The granularity of rating for Yelp is too big. Over 50% of restaurants are 4.0 stars. (That's why the app is useful) Foursquare is the least used platform with the oldest reviews.
    - twalling 10y ago
      What do you mean you're not using their API? If you're screen scraping the content, you're still violating their terms of service. "You also agree not to, and will not assist, encourage, or enable others to:" "Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, scrape, or index any portion of the Site or any Site Content;" https://www.yelp.com/static?country=US&p=tos https://www.yelp.com/static?country=US&p=tos
      - softawre 10y ago
        Curious observer here. Since he's not a Yelp partner or customer or anybody, why does he have to worry about their TOS?
        twalling 10y ago
        Whether one likes it or not, simply by visiting or looking at a site, you're agreeing to their TOS. "By accessing or using the Site, you are agreeing to these Terms and concluding a legally binding contract with Yelp Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California ("Yelp"). Do not access or use the Site if you are unwilling or unable to be bound by the Terms."
        towelrod 10y ago
        Or... what? It says "Do not access or use the Site..." but what would be the penalty for using a site like this outside of the terms of service?
        benkarst 10y ago
        This article helped clear things up for me. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/court-violating-terms-service-not-crime-bypassing https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/court-violating-terms-...
    - minimaxir 10y ago
      If you're not using the API, you won't be contacting Yelp, Yelp will be contacting you, and not in a friendly way.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
dubcanada 10y ago
Zomato also claims copyright/IP of any reviews/content on their site. Though I am not a 100% sure if just the out of 5 or % number usage counts or not.
- benkarst 10y ago
  Do you know if using info for aggregation violates copyright?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- benkarst 10y ago
  I actually posted a question to quora, "Is it legal to use review information from websites to calculate an average score?" Replied: "In the US, so long as you have the legal right to access the data to begin with (i.e., you didn't crack into someone's system to get it), yes. Simple facts, and things like mathematical analysis of those facts, cannot be copyrighted. Calculating an average is just a mathematical process. It doesn't require the type of creativity that would allow for copyright." Link:https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-to-use-review-information-from-websites-to-calculate-an-average-score/answer/Todd-Allen-9?__snid3__=290497742&__nsrc__=4 https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-to-use-review-information-...

stevenwiles 10y ago

LOL you mean you hope some people will use this app and send you money? Come on, you at least have to make it seem genuine...