You know, Yelp should cut off its relationship with Opentable and just jump into this business itself and charge either no fee or a nominal fee to restaurants (basic vs. pro).
This would solve a big problem for Yelp; if Yelp could save restaurants from the crushing cost of reservations, restaurants would be more inclined to forgive Yelp for allowing us "bored, jobless layabouts" to trash them in a public forum (http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/11/people_hate_us...).
The hard part for Yelp: getting computers (or, similar to OpenTable, specialized appliance PCs) into the restaurants. That's why OpenTable took so long to take off -- they had to convince a critical mass of restaurants that it was worth it.
I have mixed feelings about OpenTable. I know three people who work there, including an executive. I wish them well. I am concerned that the company's prosperity is based on value to restaurants that does not always actually exist. I, and the OP, could be wrong.
This would solve a big problem for Yelp; if Yelp could save restaurants from the crushing cost of reservations, restaurants would be more inclined to forgive Yelp for allowing us "bored, jobless layabouts" to trash them in a public forum (http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/11/people_hate_us...).