Yelp announces expanding “Yelp Knowledge” social analytics program

Yelp is expanding the group of third party companies that can directly access its complete reviews data and announcing a new program called “Yelp Knowledge.” Earlier this year the company provided its full database to Sprinklr. Today Yelp identified additional partners to gain access: Medallia, Reputology and Revinate.

The concept is that through the Yelp data, multi-location brands and franchises won’t simply see reviews (e.g., 3.5 stars) but gain a more holistic sense of how their locations are performing and how customer sentiment is trending. Accordingly Yelp has positioned this program not just as “reputation management” but “social analytics,” which can yield valuable operational insights.

Though many analytics/reputation companies can monitor Yelp reviews the company says in a blog post, “Only Yelp Knowledge partners have verified, current data and a direct line to Yelp to make sure their clients are getting trustworthy data.”

Yelp sees its data being used side-by-side with other social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to help brands better understand their customers’ feedback about individual stores or locations. Previously Yelp didn’t indicate whether it was getting any license fees as part of the program. However, if there are fees they’re not significant.

Yelp sees the expanding program as a way to expose the value of its content and reviews to brands, which it hopes will become more engaged on the site: claim profiles, respond to reviews, add content. In an earlier blog post announcing the initial integration with Sprinklr, Yelp said:

For businesses who want to join the conversation with their customers and engage with them directly, we recommend claiming your Yelp pages, responding to reviews and adding photos and business information. Whether you’ve got one location or many, get started at biz.yelp.com.

At the end of the first quarter this year Yelp said it had 102 million consumer reviews globally. The company added that 58 percent of reviews and images are generated via the Yelp app and 70 percent of searches on Yelp globally come from mobile devices.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.