Local media consultant Mark Potts writes in his blog that “Yelp is doing the kind of fundamental damage to newspapers’ traditional local entertainment listing and reviewing role that Craigslist did to classifieds.”

For Potts, that means more bad news for newspapers. “The last really defensible franchise for newspapers is local news and information, and local entertainment, dining and business listings and guides are a critical part of that franchise — especially in the ways they can attract advertisers.”

“What’s happening is that Yelp now has enough crowdsourced participants and reviews of enough businesses in enough markets to be a truly useful tool in trying to decide what to do for entertainment (and more). Combined with search and geo-location (Yelp’s iPhone app is indispensable), Yelp is becoming a very powerful tool.”

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