In the Spring of 2013, a group of randomly selected restaurateurs in a major U.S. city received a letter in the mail with their most recent restaurant hygiene inspection score. Half of the recipients were also notified that this score would be published on Yelp.
After the letters were sent, inspection scores for all restaurants were tracked to identify any changes in performance. The result? Restaurants informed that their score was posted on Yelp tended to clean up their act and have higher scores in their next inspections.
This work stems from an open data project we announced in late 2012 to encourage cities to share their data in ways that are easy to ingest on platforms like Yelp. Most consumers aren't using clunky "dot gov" websites to find helpful hygiene information about the restaurants they frequent, so it makes a lot more sense to give them that information when they are on a site like Yelp.
We now know that when cities share their data with Yelp, restaurants behave better and consumers feel more informed, but what happens when Yelp reciprocates and shares its restaurant review data with governments?
A new article appearing in Harvard Business Review discusses this question and offers a deeper glimpse into Yelp's partnerships with governments and academic institutions. We're excited about the promise the early findings of these studies show and we're eager to continue similarly useful data sharing for the benefit of consumers.
Yelp Inc. connects consumers with local businesses. The Company's advertising products enable businesses of all sizes reach a large audience, advertise their products and drive conversion of their services. It offers a range of free and paid advertising products to businesses of all sizes, which include CPC Advertising (Yelp Ads) and Multi-location Ad Products. Its business page products include Free Business Account, Upgrade Package, Branded Profile, Enhanced Profile, Verified License, Business Highlights, Portfolio, Yelp Connect, Logo and Nearby Jobs. In addition to its advertising products, it also offers features and consumer-interactive tools to facilitate transactions between consumers and the local businesses they find on Yelp. It offers subscription services, licensing payments for access to Yelp data and other non-advertising, non-transaction arrangements. It sells its advertising products through online, its Website and Yelp for Business app, and indirectly through partners.