Yelp

Yelp Inc. is a U.S.-based company that creates the Yelp.com website and mobile app, which feature user-generated reviews of various businesses. Additionally, the company offers a service called Yelp Guest Manager, which helps with table reservations. Its main office is located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2004 by former PayPal team members Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp quickly gained popularity and secured multiple funding rounds in the years that followed. By 2010, the company reported $30 million in revenue and had around 4.5 million user-submitted reviews on its site. Between 2009 and 2012, Yelp expanded its reach into Europe and Asia. In 2009, the company attempted to negotiate a buyout with Google, but the talks did not lead to a deal. Yelp went public with an initial public offering in March 2012 and achieved profitability for the first time two years later.