It's a classic tale, retold a million times: The brash young gunslinger rises to the top of his craft, only to find himself facing a new generation itching to unseat him. But for Zagat surveys, the most famous name in restaurant reviews, the revolution is far from over.
Before social media was a gleam in the Internet's eye, Tim and Nina Zagat built a crowd-sourced culinary reviewing empire out of the simple idea that ordinary people could rank restaurants as well as any famous critic. Here's how they did it, and where the Zagat's guides are headed in the Digital Age.
In the wake of popular blog TechCrunch's adoption of Facebook's Comments plug-in to control the virulent, useless and nasty comments on its site, the Internet has erupted with screeds about the death of anonymity. But DailyFinance columnist Alex Salkever isn't worried -- he's relieved.
What's to look forward to in tech for 2011? Here are a few: Consolidation in enterprise computing, a check-in shakeout (Foursquare's Dennis Crowley pictured) and a surge in crowd-sourcing businesses.
San Francisco local ratings giant Yelp rolled out a new offering last week that allows merchants to provide rewards or discounts to Yelp users who check in at stores or restaurants. This move has been long anticipated as Yelp battles FourSquare.
Watch out, Groupon: Local reviews site Yelp has begun rolling out weekly deals in a number of cities. While the group buying site has a big leap on Yelp, there are many reasons why the latecomer could bridge the gap quickly.
Mobile networking service Foursquare announced Tuesday that it has raised $20 million in venture capital, bringing its valuation to a cool $95 million. Will the new round of funding put to rest recent acquisition rumors?
Last week restaurant review site Yelp rolled out a Foursquare-like system of badges awarded for mobile check-ins by reviewers. Yelp is just the latest player to take on mobile social networking leader Foursquare but may provide the stiffest competition to date. Here's why.
Consumers who write negative Internet reviews -- even when they are accurate -- are increasingly facing "SLAPP" suits from the businesses being panned, reports The New York Times. These "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" have only one real purpose: to silence the critics.
Amid a firestorm of criticism and lawsuits, Yelp, the popular website that lets anyone review local businesses, is instituting some changes to show it doesn't manipulate its results, including letting users peek behind the curtain of its review filter.
Yelp, the local business review website and social network, has apparently walked away from a Google buyout offer that was reportedly as high as $550 million. Instead, it may be positioning itself for an IPO.
