Google in Talks to Buy Yelp

Posted Dec 19th 2009 3:40PM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Deals, Internet, Google (GOOG)

Google (GOOG) is looking to expand its reach into the user-generated content market. It's reportedly in discussions with Yelp, a user review and ratings site that covers everything from recruiters to restaurants. The selling price is expected to be more than $500 million ... if Google and Yelp are able to reach a deal.

Will the negotiations go anywhere? As usual, there are no guarantees, and this isn't the first time Google's talked to Yelp about an acquisition. In past years, Google has shown some interest in the site, but this time around, it looks like the action's becoming serious, according to the New York Times.

Google has been hungry for acquisition opportunities, especially in social media. Back in October, rumors flew that Google tried to buy Twitter when negotiating to license its tweet-stream data.

Yelp was founded in 2004 in San Francisco, and it's revenue model is based on advertising, with ads served up on the site. More than 26 million people hit Yelp over the previous 30 days as of November.

Tags: acquisitions, goog, google, inthenews, social media, web 2.0, yelp, Yelp.com