Yelp is where you go when you want to clear all doubts about a product or service you are about to get. Excitingly, a lot is going on under the hood of this massive consumer review engine. That includes how consumers see the platform, trust the reviews, and other relevant statistics.
Here are the most interesting Yelp statistics anyone should know.
Top 8 Yelp Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- Over 87% of Yelp employees have a bachelor’s degree.
- Service-based businesses were likelier to run Yelp ads than other brands in 2022.
- Yelp issued over 2,700 consumer alerts in 2022.
- Users contributed 21 million reviews to Yelp in 2022 alone.
- Yelp hit its 100 million review milestone in March 2016.
- Yelp crossed the $1 billion revenue mark for the second time in 2021.
- Yelp incurred over $1 billion in operating costs in 2021.
- 87% of Yelp employees claim that working from home makes them more productive.
Infographic
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/yelp-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-yelp-statistics.png" alt="Top 8 Yelp Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="774.4" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
General Yelp Statistics
1. There were over 265 million reviews on Yelp by December 2022.
That was the sum of all reviews users have submitted to the platform since it first launched in 2004.
2. Yelp removed over 206,000 reported reviews in 2022.
It also closed 77,400 user accounts for breaching its terms and conditions in various ways.
3. 1 in 4 of the reported and removed Yelp reviews was not a first-hand user experience.
Yelp’s 2022 consumer review removal data shows that 25% of all reported reviews removed from the platform were from users who had yet to use the product.
Another 13% of reviews were removed for having been posted by a competitor, business partner, or ex-employee. Yet another 13% of these reviews were removed for containing a threat or lewd speech.
4. 94% of suspicious content Yelp reported on Instagram had action taken against them.
This was the highest response rate among the platforms Yelp coordinated with to identify bad reviews and other suspicious activity in 2022.
| Platform | Suspicious Content Addressed |
|---|---|
| 94% | |
| Craigslist | 90% |
| 78% | |
| 62% | |
| 54% | |
| 53% | |
| 20% |
5. 53% of consumers were using Yelp in 2021.
This represented a growth against its 32% popularity among consumers in 2020. However, Google Reviews dominated the online reviews space in 2020 (63%) and 2021 (81%).
6. Yelp has 3,900 employees in 2023.
There is an even 50% split between men and women working at the online reviews company.
Yelp Demography Statistics
7. Yelp’s health inspection data is available in 96% of US states.
As of December 2022, Yelp’s inspection data was available in 48 states (including Washington, D.C.). This leaves out New Mexico and Connecticut.
8. Yelp’s health inspection data is available in 7 Canadian provinces.
December 2022 data showed that only Quebec, Manitoba, and New Brunswick needed health inspection data on the platform.
9. Yelp reviews were trusted more than Amazon, Facebook, and Google Reviews in 2021.
While 12% of consumers highly trusted Yelp’s reviews, only 7% felt the same about Facebook reviews. Amazon fared better with 11% of consumers, while Google only managed to win over 10% of the same consumer set.
10. Only about 7.1% of Yelp’s reviews were considered questionable in 2021.
In contrast, 10.7% of Google’s reviews were deemed suspicious, while TripAdvisor (5.2%) slotted in third.
11. Home & Local Services were the most reviewed Yelp business section by Q3 2022.
Accounting for 19% of all reviews on the site, it led restaurants (17%) and shopping (16%) in the top three.
| Popular Yelp Sections | Review Percentage |
|---|---|
| Home and Local services | 19% |
| Restaurants | 17% |
| Shopping | 16% |
| Other | 12% |
| Beauty and Fitness | 11% |
| Health | 9% |
| Auto | 6% |
| Arts/Entertainment/Events | 4% |
| Travel and Hotel | 3% |
| Nightlife | 2% |
12. The majority of Yelp users in 2022 were 55+ years old.
As of Q3 2022, 36% of Yelp users were either 55 or older. Users aged 35-44 constituted the second-largest base (34%), while younger adults aged 18-34 made up 29% of users.
13. 63% of Yelp users in 2022 had a college education.
Another 20% went to no college, while 17% of users had finished grad school.
14. High-income households were likelier to use Yelp in 2022.
Households with over $100,000 yearly income constituted 57% of Yelp’s user base by Q3 2022. Users earning $0 – $59,000 were 21% of the user base, while 22% were bringing in $60,000 – $99,000 yearly.
15. Over half of Yelp’s employees are White.
As of February 2023, 56% of Yelp’s employees are White. 20% of employees identify as Hispanic or Latino, while 11% are Asians.
16. Yelp employees stay at the company for an average of 3.5 years.
2023 data also shows that the average employee makes over $107,000 annually.
17. 38% of Yelp executives in February 2023 were women.
In the same timeframe, 44% of the company’s employees were in minority groups, while 31% of executives were minorities.
18. Over 87% of Yelp employees have a bachelor’s degree.
Another 5.2% have a master’s degree, while 4.2% own an associate’s degree.
| Yelp Employee Education Level | Prevalence |
|---|---|
| License | 0.1% |
| Doctorate | 0.3% |
| Diploma | 0.3% |
| Certificate | 0.9% |
| High school diploma | 1.8% |
| Associate | 4.2% |
| Masters | 5.2% |
| Bachelor’s | 87.2% |
19. In 2023, over half (51%) of Yelp employees are 20-30 years old.
This is followed by 34% of employees between 30-40 years old and 6% between 18-20 years old. Only 3% of employees are less than 18 years old, while 4% are more than 40.
Yelp for Business Statistics
20. Yelp protected about 128,500 businesses started by owners in minority groups in 2022.
These included businesses owned by the Black, Latinx, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities. Yelp removed 2,000+ potentially damaging and harmful reviews directed at these businesses before they even made the business page.
21. Consumers submitted an average of 3.8-star ratings across all Yelp-reviewed services and products in 2022.
20% of consumers left 1-star ratings, higher than the 6% who left 2-star and another 6% with 3-star ratings.
22. Over half of Yelp reviewers left 5-star ratings in 2022.
About 56% of consumers and reviewers left 5-star ratings on the products and services they used. In contrast, only 12% left 4-star ratings.
23. In 2022, 38% of US-based businesses on Yelp had between 4-4.5-star reviews.
In second place were 24% of businesses with 3-3.5-star reviews. There was a tie for third place, with 16% of brands (each) having 5-star reviews and 2-2.5-star reviews.
Only 6% of businesses had 1-1.5-star average reviews in the reporting timeframe.
24. Yelp issued over 415 warnings to businesses manipulating reviews in 2022.
Of these, 88 compensated activity alerts indicated that the businesses might be paying consumers to leave favorable reviews.
25. Businesses were issued 405 suspicious review activity alerts on Yelp in 2022.
34% of these businesses were determined to be in a cohort with deceptive review centers. The other 66% had many reviews from a single IP address, indicating the same user or a coordinated number of users in the same place.
26. Yelp blocked almost 33,000 US and Canadian businesses from opening pages on its website.
Almost 2,000 business pages were also removed for collecting customers’ leads and selling them to other businesses.
27. More than 80 million people visited Yelp looking for businesses as of March 2022.
Almost 6 in 10 (57%) users reach out to a business they found on Yelp within 24 hours.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/yelp-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/yelp-user-visits.png" alt="Yelp Users Visit for Businesses" width="768" border="0" height="411.58011049724" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
28. In August 2022, 95% of users preferred Yelp businesses with the Upgrade Package.
Since 90% of Yelp consumers are constantly comparing brands, the package might be an excellent way to stand out.
29. In 2022, Yelp stated that its ads helped businesses get 2.5x more leads.
Furthermore, 82% of Yelp users are likelier to trust a company with a Verified License badge.
30. April 2022 data shows consumers sent over 60,000 daily quotes on Yelp.
Businesses with a 24-hour response rate got up to 300% more messages, quotes, and requests than those who responded later.
31. As of April 2021, searches for black-owned brands on Yelp surged by over 3,000%.
The highest searches came from Atlanta and Georgia in the reporting period.
32. There was a 4,000+% increase in searches for Latinx-owned businesses in 2021.
Searches for Asian-owned businesses increased by 3,400+%, while women-owned businesses got 264% more inquiries in the same period.
33. Service-based businesses were likelier to run Yelp ads than other brands in 2022.
62% of service-based companies were running a Yelp ads campaign as of September 2022. However, only 38% of businesses in the restaurant niche, retail, and others also purchased Yelp ads.
34. Almost 5.8 million businesses had been claimed on Yelp by the end of 2021.
In contrast, 5.357 million businesses were claimed by the end of 2020.
Yelp for Consumers Statistics
35. In 2022, Yelp closed more than 1,700 user accounts for fake review activities.
The global reviews platform also sent over 1,100 reports to businesses for various reasons. Of these, 77% took immediate action to rectify the issue Yelp identified.
36. In 2022, Yelp protected over 9 in 10 consumers whose information was demanded via legal sources.
Yelp continues to keep its users from the abuse of the law, with the platform refusing to hand over data regarding 92% of user accounts subject to a legal process.
37. 3 in 4 Yelp reviews in 2022 were recommended reviews.
Of all the reviews submitted to the platform in 2022, 75% were tagged as recommended. Only 19% of reviews did not earn this tag.
38. 10% of reported and removed Yelp US reviews were posted for the wrong business.
Consumers also make the mistake of duplicating reviews for multiple regions, leading to a 3% review content removal in 2022.
39. Yelp issued over 2,700 consumer alerts in 2022.
3% of the consumer alerts indicated paid review activities, while 2% had signs of a questionable legal threat.
The table below breaks down the rationale behind these customer alerts in 2022.
| Customer Alert Reason | Occurrence |
|---|---|
| Compensated activity | 3% |
| Questionable legal threat | 2% |
| Suspicious review activity | 15% |
| Media attention alerts | 80% |
40. Yelp protected 84% of legally-engaged account holders from law enforcement/government agencies.
Law enforcement and government agencies brought 53 legal demands against 410 Yelp accounts in 2022. However, Yelp never disclosed any personal information regarding 346 of these accounts.
41. Yelp resisted private parties to safeguard 97% of legally engaged user accounts in 2022.
Private businesses and bodies brought 46 legal demands against 623 Yelp account users. In response, Yelp protected up to 602 accounts without revealing user data on their handlers.
42. Yelp kept over 7 in 10 government legal demands affecting users at bay in 2022.
It also kept business owners away 85% of the time when they came calling for users’ personal information.
43. More than 8 out of 10 consumers end their business search on Yelp.
As of August 2022, 83% of consumers hired a business or purchased from a brand they searched on Yelp, no matter what other search engines they used.
44. 18% of consumers in 2021 were highly suspicious of reviews they found on Yelp.
Another 34% were reasonably suspicious of the reviews they saw, while 36% were only slightly suspicious. However, 12% of consumers claimed they were not wary of the reviews.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/yelp-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/yelp-review-user-suspicions.png" alt="Yelp Review Suspicions" width="768" border="0" height="411.58011049724" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
45. 14.4% of Locksmith reviews on Yelp in 2021 were deemed fake reviews.
The lowest local business category was pharmacies, with only 0.8% of its reviews flagged as suspicious or fake.
46. Yelp consumers mentioned diversity owners in reviews more often in 2021.
Compared to February 2020, 76% more reviews mentioned women-owned businesses in February 2021. Black-owned businesses were mentioned 195% more times, while Latinx-owned businesses were referenced in 58% more reviews than in the previous year.
Yelp Usage Statistics
47. Users contributed 21 million reviews to Yelp in 2022 alone.
Yelp’s 2022 review submission volume represents a 3% increase in its 2021 value.
48. 80% of Yelp searches in 2022 did not include a business name.
Instead, consumers search for a product or service they are interested in.
49. 25.4% of consumers consulted Yelp for local business reviews in 2021.
Google was the clear leader for local businesses in 2021, as it was popular among 69.7% of consumers. Facebook followed with 38.3% of the local business market share, pushing Yelp into third place.
50. Yelp apps were present on over 33 million consumer devices in 2021.
The online review company’s iPhone app launched in July 2008.
51. Yelp hit its 100 million review milestone in March 2016.
Having been available since 2004, it hit its 1 million review milestone in 2007.
It only had to wait till October 2019 to achieve 200 million reviews on the website.
52. There were almost 50 million unique Yelp desktop users in January 2022.
At 45.9 million, the online rating service’s desktop users surpassed its mobile user count (36.7 million) in the same timeframe.
53. Over 56 million visitors went to the Yelp mobile site in 2021.
2019 saw the highest Yelp mobile visits at around 73.7 million.
Yelp Financial Statistics
54. Yelp recorded $309 million in revenue in Q3 2022 alone.
Its net income in the same quarter came to $9,000,000.
55. Yelp crossed the $1 billion revenue mark for the second time in 2021.
The first time it hit $1 billion in revenue was in 2019, with a cumulative $1.014 billion for the year. By 2020, it dipped to $872.9 million but rose to $1.031 billion in 2021.
56. Yelp made its highest net income (so far) in 2017.
As of 2022, Yelp’s highest net income was $153 million in 2017.
Between 2009 and 2021, the company recorded net losses in eight years.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/yelp-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/yelp-highest-net-income.png" alt="Highest Net Income of Yelp" width="768" border="0" height="411.58011049724" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
57. Yelp’s net income for 2021 was $39.7 million.
Although lower than 2017 ($153 million), 2018 ($55.4 million), and 2019 ($40.9 million) figures, its 2021 income is a better development than the $19.4 million net loss in 2020.
58. 528,000 businesses paid to advertise on Yelp in 2021.
This is lesser than the 2019 average (565,000) and 2018 numbers (541,000).
However, it shows growth compared to the dip in 2020 to 520,000 advertising locations on Yelp.
59. $1.02 billion of Yelp’s 2021 revenue came from the United States alone.
Only $8.7 million of its revenue from the year came from international sources.
60. Yelp ads generated over 96.5% of the brand’s revenues in 2021.
Advertising accounted for $985.23 million of the revenue share, with transactions making up $13.2 million. Other services were responsible for the remaining $33.42 million in revenue.
61. Yelp incurred over $1 billion in operating costs in 2021 alone.
This was the highest yearly operating cost spent by the company, followed by over $978 million in 2019 and $916.8 million in 2018.
62. Yelp spent $454.22 million on sales and marketing in 2021.
It also spent $276.47 million on product development and over $135 million on administrative tasks.
Here is a breakdown of its revenue spending in 2021:
| Department | Revenue Spent |
|---|---|
| Integration & Restructuring | $32,000 |
| Depreciation & Amortization | $55.68 Million |
| Cost of Revenue | $78.1 Million |
| General & Admin. | $135.82 Million |
| Product Development | $276.47 Million |
| Sales and Marketing | $454.22 Million |
Yelp Review Moderation Statistics
63. Yelp moderators removed 4% of all reviews submitted in 2022.
That was a small amount of the 21 million reviews submitted in the year.
Conversely, 2% of the posted reviews were removed by the readers themselves.
64. Yelp consumers and business owners reported over 530,000 reviews in 2022.
Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) of these reported reviews were truly removed for violating Yelp’s policies.
65. In 2022, Yelp removed more than 26,500 US reviews based on hate speech, lewdness, and harmful content.
It also reported that about 28% of all reviews reported under this category were removed. Globally, Yelp carried out extra investigations on 2% of such claims for clarity before removing them.
66. Yelp issued US businesses 48 “Questionable Legal Threat” alerts in 2022 alone.
Most legal threat alerts (52%) stemmed from businesses limiting consumers from posting feedback. Next in line (23%) were businesses engaging in legal action against reviewers who had left an honest review of the business’ services or products.
Those with legal threats accounted for 21%, while a smaller 4% combined gag actions and legal threats.
67. Yelp removed 2,000+ reviews proactively to protect US brands that self-identified in minority groups.
Its proactive moderation flagged and removed 475 reviews targeted at Asian-owned businesses, 320+ reviews directed at Black-owned brands, and 800+ reviews that might have damaged the reputation of Latinx-owned brands.
Likewise, there were 410+ related review removals from LGBTQ-owned business pages in 2022.
68. Over 74,000 US business reviews were removed due to extra media attention influx.
Thus, keeping the platform objective rather than expressing opinions about brands.
69. Yelp issued 1,900+ unusual activity alerts on business pages in 2022.
After gaining media/public attention, Yelp removed 57,600+ reviews that did not express a first-hand experience with the brand’s product or services.
70. Almost 200 public alerts were issued in 2022 to safeguard US businesses accused of/targeted for racism.
Only 3 businesses on Yelp got this alert in 2022, and 700+ associated reviews were removed for lack of first-hand experience with the targeted brand.
Overall, 16,100+ reviews were removed for different forms of public alert breaches.
71. 87 business pages got a politically-motivated Yelp Unusual Activity alert in 2022.
This led to the removal of over 4,000 reviews associated with the targeted brands.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/yelp-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/politically-motivated-yelp-business-pages.png" alt="Politically-Motivated Yelp Business Pages" width="768" border="0" height="411.58011049724" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
72. 149 US business pages got a criminally-motivated Yelp Unusual Activity alert in 2022.
This led to the removal of more than 7,400 reviews targeted at the affected brands.
73. 276 US-based businesses received discrimination-propelled Yelp alerts in 2022.
These businesses either got an Unusual Activity Alert or Public Attention Alert for issues bordering racism, anti-Semitism, sentiment, ableism, etc. This also led to the removal of over 20,900 reviews in the reporting timeframe.
Other Yelp Statistics
74. 73% of Yelp employees are projected to be with the company in two years.
The 2022 research represents a 10% increase in employees feeling the same way in the past year.
75. 87% of Yelp employees claim that working from home makes them more productive.
Likewise, almost 9 in 10 (86%) claimed they would prefer to work remotely some or all the time.
76. In 2021, 63% of Yelp’s employees worked in sales and marketing.
28% worked in product development, while 9% worked in general administrative roles.
Say Yelp, Not Welp
Yelp helps users find actionable reviews about brands and services before they commit, reducing their chances of having a poor experience with such brands.
Likewise, it has proven to be one of the prime locations, behind Google Reviews, for consumers looking for new brands to get products and services.
With that in tow, it is evident how important this platform is to consumers and businesses as it also tries to keep the playing field free of biased reviews.
While Yelp does its best to protect you from product/service review fraud, you should also apply other online shopping best practices to stay safe and free of scams.
- https://issuu.com/yelp10/docs/2022_yelp_trust_safety_report?fr=sZmZkYzU3NDM2NzY
- https://business.yelp.com/resources/study-shows-high-intent-consumers-are-contacting-businesses-quickly-on-yelp/
- https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- https://join.momentfeed.com/hubfs/2021%20Fake%20Reviews/FakeReviews_Report.pdf
- https://www.yelpeconomicaverage.com/diverse-business-report.html
- https://www.yelp-press.com/company/fast-facts/default.aspx
- https://www.zippia.com/yelp-careers-13048/demographics/
- https://s24.q4cdn.com/521204325/files/doc_downloads/esg/2022/12/Yelp-2022-ESG-Report.pdf
- https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/yelp-statistics/
- https://www.wallstreetzen.com/stocks/us/nyse/yelp/statistics
