16 Popular Review Websites Businesses should track
Yelp
Founded in 2004, San Francisco-based Yelp has collected approximately 102 million crowd-sourced
reviews of businesses in a wide range of categories — from restaurants and hotels to dentists, boutiques,
and mechanics.
Studies have shown that 82 percent of Yelp users visit the site when preparing to spend money. Also, 93
percent of Yelp users go on to make purchases at the business they looked up and researched on the site.
Google
While Google is more commonly known as the world’s leading search engine, the company also hosts
online reviews and ratings of businesses in order to enhance users’ search experience. These reviews are
displayed on Google+ business pages, Google Maps listings, and Google Search results.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor describes itself as the world’s biggest travel site, and it’s hard to disagree. Founded in 2000,
the travel planning and booking site has collected over 350 million customer reviews and opinions
covering more than 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants, and attractions. It also generates 340
million unique visits per month, operates in 48 markets worldwide, and operates other travel media
brands, including BookingBuddy, Oyster, SeatGuru, Viator, and VirtualTourist.
According to World Travel Market, TripAdvisor ranks ahead of personal recommendations, tourist board
websites, and guidebooks as the most trusted source for travel planning.
Don’t get the wrong idea: while TripAdvisor is a great platform for hotels, it isn’t just for hotels. The
review website also offers reviews and ratings of restaurants, tourist attractions, tour operators, theme
parks and entertainment attractions, museums, landmarks, and other types of businesses that cater to
travelers.
Facebook
Facebook, the world’s biggest social networking site, is also one of the fastest-growing platforms for
online reviews and customer feedback. In 2015, Facebook quietly launched Professional Services, a
search feature that allows users to find and discover the highest-rated businesses in a given geographical
area.
Does Facebook even have reviews? Yes, and they’re coming in droves. Our research team here at
ReviewTrackers recently studied the review quantity and velocity (the pace at which reviews were being
generated) of 250 restaurants over a 6-month period. Facebook outperformed other popular review
sites, growing its review volume at a pace 4 times faster than TripAdvisor, Google, and Yelp.
Foursquare
Primarily known as a local search and discovery service and mobile app (it does work on desktop),
Foursquare gives users the ability to find places to eat, drink, shop, and visit — in any city in the world. It
became famous for popularizing mobile “check–ins,” and while Foursquare has since moved its gamified
