Restaurant-Kritik.de

Restaurant-Kritik.de was a German restaurant review portal based in Hamburg. In October 2014, the company was acquired by Yelp (NYSE: YELP), the San Francisco-based company that connects people with local businesses. The acquisition, the amount of which was not disclosed, was part of Yelp's strategy to expand its content depth in key European markets. Following the transaction, Restaurant-Kritik.de's content was integrated into Yelp's German platform, yelp.de.

The platform operated as a crowd-sourced review website, allowing users to find, rate, and share their experiences at restaurants across Germany. This business model is centered on user-generated content, where the volume and quality of reviews attract more users, creating a network effect. For restaurants, the platform served as a channel for online visibility and customer feedback. Yelp's business model, which absorbed Restaurant-Kritik.de, primarily generates revenue through selling advertising space and promotional features to businesses that want to increase their visibility to the platform's large user base. This includes services like targeted advertising and enhanced business pages.

Yelp's acquisition of Restaurant-Kritik.de was one of two key takeovers in Germany to solidify its presence, the other being the purchase of Qype for $50 million in 2012. These strategic moves allowed Yelp to incorporate established local review content and user bases, significantly accelerating its growth in Europe. At the time of the acquisition, Yelp had a monthly average of 139 million unique visitors and was present in numerous countries across the globe.

Keywords: restaurant reviews, German restaurants, user-generated content, crowd-sourced reviews, online review platform, Yelp acquisition, Hamburg startup, restaurant portal, local business reviews, customer feedback, online dining guide, Qype, European market expansion