* What Do You Guys Think Of Sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor?
* What Do You Guys Think Of Sites Like Yelp and TripAdvisor?
Just curious…what do you guys think of “review” sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor?
“South Florida's Best 'Mom & Pop' Food Joints”
jeff, they definitely serve a purpose. the key to using them is to take the comments with a grain of salt.
These sites are the equivalent of standing in a movie line waiting to go in and asking a total stranger coming out of movie what he/she thought of it.
The sites do introduce you to new restaurants and other businesses, but the reviews can’t be relied on 100%.
I also heard that YELP has a way to get bad reviews off for the merchants, so you really never know what’s legit or not.
Jeff, I use both. I also use Open Table and others. They are all a good source of info. Of course I take the reviews with a grain of salt.
The one real big problem is that pro or con someone can really loadup the the reviews.
yelp is very powerful. tons of people follow the recommendations.
We have found some excellent local guides nad other services using Trip Advisor. We have also posted reviews, but only if the service was really outstanding or really miserable. It’s a good source, but you should put some additional work into it before making final decisions.
They are great sources to hear about restaurants.
I know that some of the comments are fake but all in all people try and give real reactions.
I use then both as a guide. After I go to a place that I first saw on one of these sites I will go back to the review and see if they match my opinion. The majority of them usually do.
You can hire people in the Philippines for $1.50 an hour who will write reviews saying whatever you want on Yelp and other sites like that. I don’t believe anything there
I think Trip advisor is somewhat credible
Maybe you can but their work stinks and they cant spell. Furthermore It is pretty easy to see real reviews from fake ones.
rob
A lot of Yelp’s reviews are bogus.
Both are very good. You generally can read reviews and if there are enough, you get a good feel for things. I was in London and I wanted to find a place near where I was. Found a great Yelp restaurant (even though only a few reviews) There were three Italian places on the same block. This place was a great find. Tripadvisor is excellent. The big city hotels get a ton of reviews. Rarely are places 100% for everyone. You can get a feel for places to try. At least you sort of know what you are getting into.
We use and contribute to tripadvisor regularly. As noted in other comments, an obvious problem is assessing the value of contributions made. One reason for this is that there is no absolute, quality yardstick by which contributors are requested to judge. At least in Zagat there are (absolute) ratings by food, service and ambience so that you can factor cost/pricing into your own equation.
Also, on tripadvisor there is no middle ground between average and very good and this can lead to more favourable ratings than places deserve. In any case, one needs to focus on the preferred type of cuisine – sometimes ice cream parlours and pizza places seem to do very well, perhaps because of popular support, but this won’t help if you are looking for French food etc.
One possible tactic in assessing reviews is to focus on more recent ones and on contributions made by top contributors or senior contributors – at least these are regular contributors (and yes, they may be regular and bad reviewers). Also, check out negative, recent reviews as some may point to issues to bear in mind.
yelp and tripadvisor are good sources. I read them regularly. get some great ideas from them. of course some of the reviews are bogus and many people don’t know what the hell they are talking about, but the sites still are a good source.
i use Urbanspoon quite a bit
This is the current number one rated Fort Lauderdale restaurant on Yelp — http://www.yelp.com/biz/eats-good-33-fort-lauderdale.
Are you serious? Give me a break!
I use it alot when i travel. I have found some realy good places i would have never found with our them.
The sites you mention are very good. They give you ideas as to where to eat and sleep.
Of course some of the reviews are phony.
Yelp is useful. Just read between the lines and you can figure out what people are saying. Most reviewers seem to be young women so take this into account.
just read a news story that at least 20% of yelp reviews are fake. they are planted by various vendors.
YELP has to be taken with a grain of salt.
If I see that the reviewer has a lot of reviews then I give the review some credibility but if I see 1 review then I kind of think its a plant pro or con.