For users of computers and mobile phones in big U.S. cities, Yelp has become a popular Web site for ranting, raving or just reading about local businesses, from the auto mechanic to the neighborhood bar.

Built nearly entirely on five million reviews by zealous volunteers, the five-year-old San Francisco company shows how the Net can amplify the voices of individuals to supply useful knowledge to the community.

But as with other big sites that rely heavily on user reviews, like TripAdvisor, Amazon.com and CNet, Yelp is struggling to serve the competing needs of the reviewed businesses, some of whom advertise, and the users, who can safely and anonymously say anything they want.

Yelp has made some recent changes to please business owners. Yet it still refuses to investigate reviews accused of being inaccurate or permit businesses to reply to reviews on the site. Instead, the company operates on the premise that reviewers tend to be truthful and that greater accuracy will emerge from more reviews.

Grace Malki, a college student who lives in Berkeley, California, said she appreciated that philosophy. “Yelp is about being honest and giving citizens the real story,” said Malki, who has written 92 reviews and checks Yelp before trying restaurants or dance clubs. Millions of other humans agree — Yelp had 7 million visitors in December, up from 2.8 million a year earlier, according to comScore.

But as the company tries to expand beyond its current 24 cities, maintain its lead by rivals and become profitable, it is beginning to realize that it needs to build trust with businesses, too — particularly since their ads supply nearly all of the company’s revenue.

Yelp “can’t neglect the needs of businesses, nor can they be a site where businesses can be abused,” said Peter Fenton, who is on Yelp’s board and is a partner…

[Source] dhiram