Yelp Files for $100 Million IPO

Yelp, Inc., the online rating and social media service, has filed for an initial public offering of around $100 million. Yelp’s online service allows members to rate restaurants, local businesses, and professionals like doctors and dentists.

Several other social media websites have already gone public this year, most notably LinkedIn, Groupon and Angie’s List. Zynga will IPO later this year.

Yelp and Google

Google and Yelp have had a rocky relationship in the past. (Read our post about Third Party Reviews.) Yelp has admitted that it receives more than half of its traffic from the search giant,  so in many ways Yelp is dependent on listings in Google and other search engines.

The Future

The Apple iPhone 4S uses Yelp reviews for Siri local search
results and as mobile phone browsing becomes more and more prevalent,  mobile could become an area of advertising growth.

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