Yelp is Screwing Over Restaurants By Quietly Replacing Their Phone Numbers [telecom]

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The phone numbers add tracking before connecting to a restaurant so that Grubhub can bill for a marketing fee.

By Adrianne Jeffries

A few months ago, I opened the Yelp app, typed in the name of my favorite sushi restaurant, and clicked on the phone number. Two options popped up: "Delivery or Takeout" and "General Questions."

That's new, I thought. I dialed the number for "Delivery or Takeout," which played a perky greeting - "This call may be recorded to ensure awesomeness" - before a woman at the restaurant picked up. I asked why they were recording the call for awesomeness; she had no idea what I was referring to. I asked about the number I had just dialed; she didn't recognize it.