Yelp has always made strange noises. Discontented diners voicing their complaints (or vitriol, depending) at defenseless restaurant owners created the equivalent of sonic daggers. Then there were the lawyer sounds, as restaurant and business owners fought back, saying they were being essentially blackmailed into paying to have bad notices removed from the site — a modern-day Internet “protection fee” scheme of mafia yore.
But the most recent sound emitting from Yelp — something onetime presidential candidate and tech guru Ross Perot might call a “giant sucking sound” — is the yelping being done by shareholders. Yelp stock is down 75% since March. On Tuesday night Max Levchin resigned as Chairman and Director of Yelp to pursue other interests. “Effective immediately,” read the announcement.