The Internet Association Welcomes Yelp

Washington, D.C. — The Internet Association, the unified voice of the Internet economy, is pleased to announce that Yelp has joined its growing membership of global industry leaders including Airbnb, Amazon, AOL, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Gilt, Google, IAC, LinkedIn, Lyft, Monster Worldwide, Netflix, Practice Fusion, Rackspace, reddit,Salesforce.com, SurveyMonkey, TripAdvisor, Twitter, Uber Technologies, Inc., Yahoo!, and Zynga.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Yelp was founded in 2004 to help local consumers use the Internet to find great local businesses. It has grown exponentially into a global web and app-based platform accessed by over 100 million users and listing over 47 million reviews.

“By bridging online commerce and offline transaction, Yelp’s story contributes to the Internet Association’s broader narrative: the Internet is creating tremendous economic activity for Main Street small businesses,” said Luther Lowe, Director of Public Policy. “We’re excited to join other great companies to quantify this narrative in a way policy makers can appreciate while fighting vigorously to ensure individuals are able to freely share their opinions online.”

“Yelp is a welcome and notable addition to The Internet Association. Yelp is a perfect example of how the Internet has transformed small business for the better and how the Internet provides economic value throughout the economy. Yelp’s listings, ratings and reviews have revolutionized the way consumers find businesses and the way small businesses do operate,” said Michael Beckerman, The Internet Association President and CEO. “With 85 percent of consumers reading online reviews to find local businesses, Yelp’s online review service brings consumers closer to small businesses and local economies. Having them share their story — and advocating for issues like anti-SLAPP and protecting free speech online — strengthens The Internet Association’s voice as we educate policymakers on the impact of the Internet upon communities worldwide.”