Research & Ideas

Online customer reviews affect restaurant business

Thai Basil in Asian Ghetto is one of many restaurants in Berkeley that is highly rated on Yelp.
Kayla Shapiro/Staff
Thai Basil in Asian Ghetto is one of many restaurants in Berkeley that is highly rated on Yelp.

We’ve all used the site, whether it be to look for the cheapest midnight burrito after a night of debauchery or the tastiest brunch spot the morning after. Yelp, the ubiquitous restaurant ratings site, has become the go-to reference for both starving undergrads looking for a cheap meal and visiting Read More…

Research & Ideas

3 UC Berkeley students win Yelp award

When three UC Berkeley students entered their computer science project last semester into a competition run by the business review site Yelp, they doubted they would win $5,000 and a meeting with the company’s representatives in San Francisco.
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Notes from the Field

ASUC to launch rating website for student housing

UC Berkeley senior Dana Rebitz would have benefited from knowing the quality of her Benvenue Avenue apartment before she moved in this semester. Her landlord failed to tell her about the apartment’s lack of a screen door, the mold growth in the bathroom and the fake thermostat that had promised Read More…