Yelp Is More Than Restaurant Reviews

Have you ever wondered what Yelp means? What's in a name? It sounds like something we did when we were kids and got our butt spanked. It's also a combination of "Yellow Pages" and "help." File that away under stuff you didn't need to know.

Most people think of Yelp as that place you turn to to get reviews of that new Chinese joint down the street you've wanted to order from.

But wait, it's beginning to look like there's more to Yelp than just the latest restaurant reviews.


Yelps Q4 experienced an ad revenue increase of 13%. Let's put that in cold, hard numbers. We're talking about $1.28B. That's not all restaurants. The service sector enjoyed a 14% increase in ad revenue from last year, restaurant and retail experienced a 10% increase, and self-serve and multi-location accounted for about half of Yelp's 2023 ad revenue.

Yelp has big plans for 2024. According to David Schwarzbach, Yelp's chief financial officer, "Investments in our long-term strategic initiatives have led to multiple records as local advertisers continued to see the value of Yelp's high-intent audience in 2023. Net revenue increased by 12% year over year to a record $1.34 billion, while net income grew to $99 million, representing a 7% net income margin. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 23% year over year, representing a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin. As we look ahead to 2024, we're focused on executing against our growth initiatives for the long term."

Yelp has introduced new products recently to create a better experience for consumers with new discovery, review, and Service features. Some new products include an AI-powered search experience, Yelp Guaranteed, and an improved visual and interactive way to give people a better review-writing experience. Everybody wants to have fun writing reviews, right?

Yelp is taking the glass-half-full approach, expecting 2024 net revenue will be $1.42 billion to $1.44 billion as its Services initiatives pick up steam. Yelp also expects 2024 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will be between $315 million to $335 million.

Either way, you can still use Yelp to check out your next fine-dining experience if that's what you're after.

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