And I think these big companies have another...

And I think these big companies have another option - API. Why wouldn’t Yelp just use the Foursquare API for checking in. How much would they really be “giving up?” They’d get additional traffic and be able to grow the cityguide monetization business. Plus, it would probably make for a better product experience. When you have the option to dupe, you should just API instead. This duping is basically taking us back to a world of vertical integration where people make their own inputs (tools, bolts, etc.) and deliver their own stuff. What happened to having partners, vendors, and suppliers?

YelpSquare | Jon Steinberg

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