Our purpose: To connect people with great local businesses

10 Things You Should Know About Yelp

1. Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics
2. As of August 2009, more than 25 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days
3. Yelpers have written over 7 million local reviews, over 85% of them rating a business 3 stars or higher
4. In addition to reviews, you can use Yelp to find events, special offers, lists and to talk with other Yelpers
5. Every business owner (or manager) can setup a free account to post offers, photos and message her customers
6. Yelp makes money by selling ads to local businesses - you'll see these yellow, clearly labeled "Sponsored Results" around the site
7. Paying advertisers can also promote a favorite review at the top of their Yelp page, but can never change or re-order their other reviews
8. Yelp has an automated filter that suppresses a small portion of reviews - it targets those suspicious ones you see on other sites
9. You can Yelp on your phone at http://m.yelp.com, Yelp for iPhone, or Yelp for BlackBerry
10. The Weekly Yelp is available in 28 city editions to bring you the latest business openings & other happenings