Yelp Hits Nine Countries in Europe with Launch in Switzerland

Yelp is now available in nine countries in Europe after launching in Switzerland, its second European launch in just over a week.

Last week, Yelp launched in Italy focused on the cities of Rome and Milan [ see our story ]. Yelp's Swiss launch is centered on Zurich -- the city with the most clubs per capita in Europe -- but like its other European roll outs users, will be able to review restaurants and places from across the entire country.

LAUNCH has contacted Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman for comment on its European launches. We will update this story if we receive a response.

Yelp's primary competitor in Europe is Qype, founded in Hamburg, Germany in 2006. Qype is available in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

Qype doesn't appear too worried about Yelp's expansion in Europe.

"Europe is a complicated and culturally diverse marketplace and large American brands aren’t necessarily welcomed with open arms, as Google, Foursquare and Facebook have found," Richard Dennys, Qype chief marketing officer told LAUNCH via email.

"Yelp’s cultural influences are clearly from the U.S., and this doesn’t always resonate well with Europeans."

Qype welcomes the challenge posed by Yelp's presence in Europe, but Richard says that since Yelp has arrived in Europe, Qype has been growing faster than the San Francisco-based company.

Yelp is now available in the U.K, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. 

CONTACTS

Yelp
Website: http://www.yelp.ch
Twitter: @yelp 
Blog: officialblog.yelp.com

Qype
Website: http://www.qype.co.uk/
Twitter: @qype 
Blog: http://en.blog.qype.com/

Jeremy Stoppelman
Twitter: @jeremys 
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremystoppelman

Richard Dennys
Twitter: @Qype_CMO  
LinkedIn: http://de.linkedin.com/in/richarddennys