Yelp Traffic Stats Suggest Broad Local Usage

Yelp is often dismissed as a bar and restaurant site for recent college grads in San Francisco. But site usage released by the company suggests it has rather broad usage and shouldn’t be so readily pigeonholed. The site also says it had 15 million uniques in October, up 200 percent from the same period in 2007, and has now gathered 4 million reviews.

According to Yelp stats, 34 percent of its reviews are “restaurant” oriented, 7 percent are for “arts and entertainment,” and 4 percent relate to “nightlife.” But these categories account for just 45 percent of the site’s overall reviews. Another 23 percent are for “shopping,” 8 percent are for “beauty and fitness,” 7 percent are for “home and local services,” 4 percent are for “health,” 3 percent are for “travel and hotel,” and 3 percent are for “auto.”

The site also isn’t as heavily dependent on recent college grads as is generally thought. 23-to-29-year-olds make up 37 percent of its users. Thirty-six percent are between the ages of 30 and 39, and 12 percent are 40 to 49. The site is also 51 percent male and 49 percent female. But no information was sent about the site’s geographic distribution this time around. Company executives have suggested it is seeing broad distribution in a number of markets.