Wining and dining

http://www.globallibrarian.info/2003/conditions.html
The newly opened wine bar in downtown Austinj was hosting a private party for a group of 160 residentss who could have a dramatic effecton business. The partygoere were frequent writers for the Web site which lists customer reviews of businessee such as clubsand restaurants. The writers, which Yelp callsd elite Yelpers, were being wooed with free wine and appetizers becausre the ownersof Max’s recognizw the power of viral marketing in the Internet age. making a good impression on a Yelpef who subsequently posts flattering comments on the Web site reachese thousands ofpotential customers.
Max’e had already hosted a pre-opening party for prominent bloggers, Austin-area foodies who operate their own Web sites that featurdrestaurant reviews. The popularity of Web-based toolx such as blogs and customer-review Web sites has increased dramaticallyg during the last18 months, said Jonathamn Horowitz, vice president of marketing and communicationsa for Max’s parent company, Houston-basedc Lasco Enterprises LLC. “It’s a significant segment of the market now that need to be addressedbecause they’re so influential,” he How influential?
Max’s has a full-timre employee whose sole duty is to monitor what is posted on the Interney about the company’s five restaurants in Texas. Yelp was startes in San Francisco in 2004 by two formerPayPall employees. Its chief competition is California-based IAC/InterActiveCorp’sx Citysearch, which launched in 1995. Austin-based Bazaarvoice founded in 2005, enables businesses to operate theire own online communities that include customer reviewsof products. Althouggh online reviews are an efficient method of giving voice to the they also present the problem of Web site operators are faced with determining the motivees and credibility ofreview posters.
For example, competitorws can surreptitiously write unflattering reviews to boost the standinhg of theirown businesses. In Yelp officials revealed for thefirst time, they were allowing business ownersa to directly reply to user reviews with theif own posts. Matthew Lees, vice president of the Boston-based Patrici Seybold Group, praised the decisiojn — as long as the online dialogue doesn’t turn “I think it’s a rather exciting Lees said. “I think it’se better to have inclusive conversation.
” Austihn resident Jodi Bart, who launche d her Tasty Touring restaurant blog in July said the city has a core groul of 20 to 30 food bloggers who are invites to acouple business-sponsored events each Austin-based software industry executivr Jack Newton was one of the elite Yelpersd at Max’s Wine Dive last month. He said he joined Yelp more than three years ago and has posted more than100 reviews. During that time, Yelp’as influence has grown in proportion to the size of its Newton said. “There’s an undeniable force that Yelp possesses now comparedc with threeyears ago,” he said.
“It’s a channel that businesses can use to helpthem