The Irrational Mind | With Kristen Berman

How Do Yelp Reviews Shape Our Choices?

May 31, 2022

Host Kristen Berman interviews Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, VP of Consumer Product at Yelp, about the power of Yelp reviews. They discuss the engineering behind reviews, why people write them, and how reviews promote human connection. They also explore Yelp's search processes, the benefits of being a responsive business owner, and Yelp's target diversification.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Driving Yelp Reviews: What Works and What Doesn't

02:21 • 2min

Optimal Timing for Practice Reminders and Project Notifications

04:36 • 2min

Nudging Users to Leave Reviews

06:30 • 10min

Catering to Different Consumer Searches

16:51 • 17min

The Influence of Yelp Reviews on Consumer Choices

33:58 • 4min

Trying something new is hard at the macro level. Yelp reviews reduce that uncertainty that comes with new things. But how do they help businesses achieve organic and meaningful reviews? In this episode, host Kristen Berman is joined by Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, VP of Consumer Product at Yelp. He explains why Yelp prefers quality over quantity when it comes to reviews and how your Yelp review creates community and helps new businesses. They also talk about high-frequency low-risk experience while taking a look at some studies and other companies’ strategies, like Spotify’s approximate nearest neighbor search. Stay tuned and learn the many features that are promoting human connection at Yelp!

Jump straight into:

(01:17) - Engineering behind a review: Reminders, thank you notes and opportune timing to enhance more reviews.

(07:42) - Why do people write reviews? The common denominators the most frequent Yelp contributors share.

(13:19) - Promoting human connection: The best hacks to make first reviews flow organically and be longer.

(16:57 - Understanding search processes’ verticals for different business categories in Yelp (and how they created the reorder button).

(26:15) - The perks of being a responsive business owner (and how Yelp facilitates clever questions to be answered by more than one person).

(32:41) - Looking for something wildly different than ice cream: On Yelp’s target diversification and the appearance of new kinds of experiences.

Episode resources

Connect with Akhil through LinkedIn

Yelp

Thank you for listening to Science of Change podcast. Reach out to Kristen through LinkedIn and visit The Irrational Labs website for more information on behavioral science.

This show is presented by SetSail and produced by Kristen Berman and Studio Pod Media. The executive producer is Rachael Roberts. All episodes are written by Kristen Berman and Ying Lin with experts, script editing by Jack viewer. Special thanks to Lydia Trupe for fact checking and citations. Music and editing provided by nodalab.