Ever since Facebook launched the beta version of Graph Search, there has been some speculation around the 'Net that the social network's new feature could end up being a Yelp and/or Foursquare killer.
If that is the case, Graph Search will have some big shoes to fill, because Yelp has announced that it received more than 100 million unique visitors in January 2013 (not including the 9.4 million users who used the mobile app during the same timeframe). While 100 million is still far from Facebook's membership numbers, it does prove that Yelp has a very dedicated user base. Moreover, the engagement that came from these visitors was equally impressive.
Yelp reported that there were more than 4.5 million calls and more than 5.6 million directions generated from the Yelp mobile app in January alone. Additionally, the site received more than 1 million new reviews and had 475,891 local business listings submitted last month. It is also interesting to note that on average, customers who leverage Yelp spend $101.59 on their first visit.
The data seems to show that Yelp is helping millions of people make spending decisions each month, and business owners who are not already managing and monitoring their company's presence on this platform are likely missing some valuable customers - who are ready to make spending decisions.
Check out Yelp's infographic below, which is based on metrics from Google Analytics and comScore, to discover more data about the local review service.