Rumor: Mobile Dining App Shishen Yaoyao, Dianping Reach Truce
Tencent Tech, 12/04/12
Liu Yingbo, product GM for Beijing-based Lehe Interactive Information Technology, the developer of mobile dining app Shishen Yaoyao, stated recently that the company had come to an agreement with rival online ratings and group buy site Dianping. Earlier this year Shishen Yaoyao was removed from the Apple iTunes App Store due to IPR infringement complaints lodged by Dianping.
Shishen Yaoyao's most arduous trial over the past year was the de-listing of its app from Apple's iTunes App Store, Liu said, noting that this had happened twice. One of the de-listings occurred during a period of rapid user growth for Shishen Yaoyao, and Liu estimated that the de-listing had caused the app to lose nearly 1 mln users.
Shishen Yaoyao released a number of updates to its mobile app over the past year, with one major update adding the ability for users to upload images. The company's team contains fewer than 20 people - not nearly enough to review all of the images being uploaded. Even with the service's reduced user counts and corresponding decline in upload volumes, Shishen Yaoyao still sees more than 1,000 image uploads per day at present.
Now that the service has accumulated a database of restaurant information, Liu said, a number of mapping companies have contacted Shishen Yaoyao regarding partnerships allowing the map services to overlay Shishen Yaoyao restaurant data on their maps.
To date, Shishen Yaoyao has received more than USD 10 mln over two rounds of financing. Liu said that the company derives some revenues from restaurant rankings and partnerships with some restaurants for phone orders - though the number of partners is very limited.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Apple App Store Removes Dianping Competitor for IPR Infringement" MD 9/07/12 issue and "Mobile Dining LBS App Loses 30% of User Base" MD 8/21/12 issue.
Keywords: Liu Yingbo Lehe app store IPR infringement wireless Apple Dianping online ratings Shishen Yaoyao mobile application online reviews
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