A Tale of Twelve Cities: Why Settle For Just Two?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of #foodporn Tweets, it was the age of disrupting the restaurant review industry. Three short months ago, Team Twizoo decided to take a leap of faith and “turn on” the app in a new US city every week for twelve weeks. Joining the already-live London and San Francisco, we launched in major cities across the country — from bustling New York City to sunny San Diego.
Though the decision might have been risky, the reward has been phenomenal. Not only did we prove the scalability of Twizoo, but we had the privilege of seeing our company’s name in sources ranging from The Next Web to Business Insider to Tech City News throughout the length of the project. During one week in particular, GeekWire named Twizoo ‘App of the Week’ while Thrillist considered us an ‘Essential Free App.’ Most recently, BBC News ran an article discussing how Twizoo’s method of analyzing real-time Tweets simultaneously combats the issue of fraudulent reviews while delivering a truer crowd-sourced opinion on top restaurants and bars.
So, with the launch of Miami yesterday, we have successfully concluded our #12Cities12Weeks project. You might be thinking: awesome job, Twizoo! …but, now what? Well, patience you must have, young padawan. The party is only just getting started. With Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Twitter recently announcing their annual results, it is only becoming clearer that traditional restaurant reviews are broken.
Concerning the percentage of users who actually leave a review, Yelp has remained virtually static in the past few years. Our analysis reveals that around 3% of unique visitors leave a review, and that’s not even considering the estimated 16% of reviews Yelp filters as fake. These statistics, in conjunction with the rise in fraudulent-review lawsuits involving companies such as Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Amazon, spell a recipe for disaster. After the news broke of Yelp’s plunging ad revenue growth, Bloomberg News reached out to Twizoo CEO, Madeline Parra, for an interview.
Parra warned that current restaurant review models are simply unsustainable. By tapping into the wealth of information on social media, Twizoo delivers the public opinion on top eats in a scalable, affordable fashion. For about 3% of the cost that a company such as Yelp spends, Twizoo accesses 700% more data. Additionally, there is no need for Twizoo to employ peeps on the ground to encourage folks to leave reviews! With 80% of the 320 million active mobile Twitter users Tweeting out foodie tips on the fly, Twizoo simply scarfs up the goldmine of data that is already out there.
Fueled by the success of our 12 in 12 project, we plan on taking SXSW by storm next week in Austin, Texas. The team will be out and about spreading the word (most likely wearing fancy new Twizoo t-shirts). We welcome any and all to stop by and chat with us to learn more — or just say hello!
