I’m someone who prefers Yelp to Google Reviews. 4, 4.5 and 5 star yelp rating is as good as an objective top rating for me - and the volume of reviews seems to be higher on Yelp as well.
I find Google ratings are inflated as well. I’ve commonly seen restaurants that is 3 stars on Yelp have 4.5 stars on Google. A 4.5 Yelp restaurant (in SF) at least almost always means there is a line or a reservation. 4.5 stars on Google almost always means “they won’t poison you here”
There must be some weird Yelp-fu to which I am not privy.
I have never found Yelp to be useful in the slightest. Yet my gf is able to look in Yelp and find great places to eat or find something we need. I honestly haven't the faintest idea how she acquired this superpower.
I don't pick the first place I see off Yelp, it's more of a filter for bad restaurants and then check remaining menus. I've found the actual written reviews to not be very useful unless I'm looking for authenticity (Chinese vs American Chinese)
Last I checked Yelp is used by Apple on their maps in the US (and perhaps elsewhere). As for Google reviews - they always appear inflated whenever I cross check them, so you're always eating somewhere good. Same thing for facebook reviews.
I thought Yelp was basically dead? I essentially only use Google reviews.
I don't trust Yelp. But I trust Google even less. Yes, maybe the Google Reviews people are siloed from all the bad things happening elsewhere in the company. But as far as I am concerned, anything with Big G's logo on it is automatically suspect.
/Moving my e-mail and documents off of Google as I write this
I find Google ratings are inflated as well. I’ve commonly seen restaurants that is 3 stars on Yelp have 4.5 stars on Google. A 4.5 Yelp restaurant (in SF) at least almost always means there is a line or a reservation. 4.5 stars on Google almost always means “they won’t poison you here”