Google close to deal to buy Yelp

Google is in advanced talks to buy Yelp, the local reviews site, for more than $500m, according to several people close to the negotiations. The deal is "80 per cent there", but has not yet been finalised.

Yelp, founded in 2004 by two PayPal executives, Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, has emerged as the leader in user-generated reviews about local businesses in the US, and is expanding internationally . The site says it has more than 26m users a month, and users have written more than 8m reviews. It has taken $31m in funding, most recently with a $15m round from venture capital firm DAG Ventures last year.

The deal would give Google a more compelling platform to host adverts for small businesses, which it has struggled to win

David Gelles, San Francisco