Yelp Australia now open for business
Social recommendation business Yelp has finally opened itself up to Australian users, with iOS and Android apps and local account registration now available.
Yelp's home page now defaults to Australian cities for search.
(Screenshot by Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)
Yelp is a social networking service that sees users recommend local businesses in their area. Originally founded in San Francisco in 2008, the company has now gone on to open in the US, UK, Canada and Europe.
"Starting today, we hope that Aussies will find Yelp.com.au to be a fun place to share their thoughts on who has the best cup of coffee or where to find the most eclectic collection of local fashion designers," Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said on the Yelp blog.
Stoppelman added that the social reviews site will initially focus on the Sydney and Melbourne markets before an official expansion to other cities around Australia. Job listings on Seek.com.au indeed indicate that the social platform is looking for review staff in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
However, Stoppelman said that users don't have to wait for Yelp to launch official listings in their city, and encouraged users to start reviewing immediately.
"You don't have to wait for us, users can log on to the site from anywhere in Australia. For those who live by their smartphones we have a spiffy little Yelp app available for iPhone and Android devices as well as our robust mobile site."
Apps for users on iOS and Android are free, as are the tools for business owners to manage the Yelp listings for their own businesses.
The Yelp CEO added that there was a lot of anticipation for the local launch of Yelp.
"Looking back on Yelp's international expansion, I can't think of a city where there was as much interest in when we'd be launching as there is here.
"The most interesting finding for us has been that, regardless of geographic boundaries, people seem to have this altruistic desire to share their great local business experiences with others. We look forward to seeing what Aussies think of the site," he added in a statement.
Telstra's search and directory arm Sensis teamed up with Yelp in July to get the local site off the ground.