Rumors that Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) might be up for sale has been termed as tardy rather than unexpected.
At the time the company was in its initial stages, many saw it as an appalling business. It is even more astonishing that shareholders thought that the company had a lot of potential regardless of its long history without making profits. This misplaced belief resulted in stacked up losses over the years.
Yelp contributes to a series of startup companies fueled by the growing popularity of the social scene. Unfortunately, the company also happens to be among the failures of that generation which emerged within the past ten years. Initially, the company had planned on growing towards the direction of online sensations like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Somewhere along the way the company lost its original scope.
Despite the competitive nature of online platforms that now seem to be getting more active than ever, only a few companies have managed to turn into actual successful businesses. Some good examples include LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). They have managed to ramp over failures and possibilities of obsolesce by involving creative strategies aimed at maintaining their massive following.
In addition, developing better customer service features and services has been one of the strong suits propelling their impressive and enviable success. Other strategies like advertising options have been instrumental for these companies. For example, Facebook’s platform has been very successful as an advertising platform, and its ease makes it a better option over its longtime competitor, Twitter Inc.
One of the notable aspects of the successful online platforms making it as actual businesses is the fact that they do not rely on the social aspect of profitability. What’s more important is the secondary services that come with having such a wide audience.
It is for the same reason that online platforms such as YouTube haven’t registered a lot of profits. Only recently did the company start paying more attention to advertising content.
Perhaps the future is a bit brighter especially because online platforms and e-commerce have recently begun to experience more traffic.
