Internet business review site Yelp Inc. has hired lobbying firm Monument Policy Group for Capitol Hill representation.
The San Francisco-based marketing and reviews giant, which allows users to rate businesses they have frequented, will be using MPG for general lobbying issues in relation to the computer industry, labor issues and civil liberties, and specifically, “Internet issues related to competition and free speech,” according to lobbying registration documents.
Founded in 2004 by former PayPal employees, Yelp currently staffs about 3,250 and boasted 2014 revenues of nearly $380 million. The site, which received nearly 200 million U.S. visits for the month of January, according to data by Quantcast, is the focus of a forthcoming documentary film titled Billion Dollar Bully, which details the business' often controversial practices. Longtime Hollywood publicist Michael Levine is the film’s executive producer.
A 12-member team at Monument Policy Group will head the Yelp account, including firm founder and partner Stewart Verdery, a former Homeland Security assistant secretary and staffer for Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Don Nickles (R-OK); Andrew Howell, former VP-homeland security policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Rich Thomas, former legislative director for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ); and Katharine Lister, former chief of staff for Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
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