8 ms·

The problem I have with yelp is really the central idea of it. Who said random people are good at reviewing restaurants? Everyone's meaning of good is different

The problem I have with yelp is really the central idea of it. Who said random people are good at reviewing restaurants? Everyone's meaning of good is different, everyone's expectation for everything is on different scales with different meanings. Consolidating it all into a simple interface doesn't work. I really want two different services, one for finding something I'll be very happy with and may return to (usually found through trusted reviewers) or I'm someplace random and want whatever I get to not be terrible. Yelp is only okay at the later of two.

paulie_a 8y ago
There are people that are influential on yelp. I know people that get preferential treatment by the owners of higher end restaurants because their rating carries so much weight. It's pretty interesting. Tagging along with one guy we got to skip lines at special events, no wait times. The chef and owner would see him and greet him.
- sevensor 8y ago
  It seems kind of like frequent flier miles for eating out. I know a dedicated yelper who gets all kinds of perks and special treatment, but she has to write a lot of reviews to maintain her status. Which I guess is OK if (like air travel) your meal is a business expense.
- 52-6F-62 8y ago
  There's a fantastic South Park episode about this very thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsXZ5htogKg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsXZ5htogKg (episode preview - safe for work) https://vimeo.com/209623455 https://vimeo.com/209623455 (short clip -- NSFW)
- walrus01 8y ago
  South park did a really good parody of this a few years ago. Cartman becomes a high ranked Yelp reviewer.
bhj 8y ago
I think they could have leveraged their friends system to weigh the reviews more based on "people like you". In other words, use all that data to show the rating they think you'll give (a la Netflix).
zjaffee 8y ago
The thing about yelp that's nice is you can see aggregates, rather than some individual persons good or bad review. This includes, what dishes are popular at a particular place, and how popular regardless of any one opinion is a given restaurant (number of reviews). Additionally, being able to filter for niche things such as specific regional ethnic restaurants. The actual reviews themselves are honestly the worst part of the whole site.

paulie_a 8y ago

There are people that are influential on yelp. I know people that get preferential treatment by the owners of higher end restaurants because their rating carries so much weight. It's pretty interesting. Tagging along with one guy we got to skip lines at special events, no wait times. The chef and owner would see him and greet him.

sevensor 8y ago
It seems kind of like frequent flier miles for eating out. I know a dedicated yelper who gets all kinds of perks and special treatment, but she has to write a lot of reviews to maintain her status. Which I guess is OK if (like air travel) your meal is a business expense.
52-6F-62 8y ago
There's a fantastic South Park episode about this very thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsXZ5htogKg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsXZ5htogKg (episode preview - safe for work) https://vimeo.com/209623455 https://vimeo.com/209623455 (short clip -- NSFW)
walrus01 8y ago
South park did a really good parody of this a few years ago. Cartman becomes a high ranked Yelp reviewer.

bhj 8y ago

I think they could have leveraged their friends system to weigh the reviews more based on "people like you". In other words, use all that data to show the rating they think you'll give (a la Netflix).

zjaffee 8y ago

The thing about yelp that's nice is you can see aggregates, rather than some individual persons good or bad review. This includes, what dishes are popular at a particular place, and how popular regardless of any one opinion is a given restaurant (number of reviews). Additionally, being able to filter for niche things such as specific regional ethnic restaurants. The actual reviews themselves are honestly the worst part of the whole site.