Publications
Publications
- October 2020 (Revised March 2024)
- HBS Case Collection
Experimentation at Yelp
By: Iavor Bojinov and Karim R. Lakhani
Abstract
Over the last decade, experimentation has become integral to the research and development processes of technology companies—including Yelp—for understanding customer preferences and mitigating innovation risks. The case describes Yelp's journey with experimentation, from running a few experiments across various teams to building a centralized experimentation platform that standardized and improved the experimentation process. Concurrently, the case describes a pivotal experiment to evaluate the impact of geographically constrained adverts on user experience and revenue. The results of the experiment are not included in the case but are part of supplementary data (courseware no. 621-703); instructors can either provide the data to the students or give the results in a table as part of the assignment questions. Based on the results, the protagonist must determine an appropriate course of action, carefully managing the various trade-offs.
Keywords
Customer Relationship Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Risk Management; Advertising; Research and Development; Technology Industry
Citation
Bojinov, Iavor, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Experimentation at Yelp." Harvard Business School Case 621-064, October 2020. (Revised March 2024.)