Yelp is a wildly successful online service in the US that allows customers to rate and review local businesses, covering restaurants, plumbers, retailers, and more. Looking to boost usage now in Europe, Yelp has decided to acquire the continent’s largest local review site to make it happen. Qype, founded in Hamburg, Germany back in 2006, has roughly 15 million new visitors every month in the 13 countries it covers, so the $50 million acquisition was a no-brainer for Yelp.
It also looks like the purchase could give some benefits to European users. Yelp has spent the last several years focusing on providing top mobile features to its users, and just recently entered into a partnership with Apple to integrate Yelp into local searches on iPhones and iPads.
Source: Business Week
Photo via Yelp app on Apple App Store
