It can come from advertising in-app/sponsored results appearing at the top of search. That's not extortionate, and doesn't compromise the whole purpose of using the app.
Either the ROI on those ads is terrible (Thus leading to low-margin businesses not advertising on Yelp), or they want more money, at the expense of long-term confidence in their website.
It's possible that the current, bloated version of Yelp, with a headcount of 6,000 cannot survive on search ads revenue. [1] It's also possible that a smaller, leaner version of it could.
[1] Facebook, by the way, employs ~40,000 FTEs. Facebook's revenues are 70 times that of Yelp's.
It can come from advertising in-app/sponsored results appearing at the top of search. That's not extortionate, and doesn't compromise the whole purpose of using the app.
Either the ROI on those ads is terrible (Thus leading to low-margin businesses not advertising on Yelp), or they want more money, at the expense of long-term confidence in their website.
It's possible that the current, bloated version of Yelp, with a headcount of 6,000 cannot survive on search ads revenue. [1] It's also possible that a smaller, leaner version of it could.
[1] Facebook, by the way, employs ~40,000 FTEs. Facebook's revenues are 70 times that of Yelp's.