Reviews and the need for ever increasing reputation management have gotten a boost with the recent announcement that Yelp is making its API more accessible and easier to use. The company has increased its call limit on their API to 25,000 per day and opened it all up to developers free of charge. The upshot of the announcement is that there are likely to be a lot more Yelp reviews showing up on the internet.

“Thousands of companies have used Yelp’s API to build local information into their products and services, giving consumers even more access to great Yelp content, like Yelp review snippets, photos, ratings and business listing information,” according to Mike Ghaffary, Yelp VP business and corporate development.

Yelp is currently integrated into iOS, Mac OS X, Yahoo’s local search results, and the Pebble SmartWatch. This list is likely to grow, and quickly, in the coming weeks and months.

Yelp’s move is sure to make reviews that much more prevalent throughout the web and mobile app ecosystems. This in turn will generate even more reviews especially now that people can leave reviews from smartphones.

Reviews are a double edged sword. You have to take the bad with the good. It is more important than ever to pay attention to what is being said about your business and who is saying it. You want to be proactive and do all that you can to give your customers the best possible value and service. The stuff that inspires customers to write positive reviews.

Your online reputation can have a huge impact on business. Reputation management is quickly gaining importance as a strategy in the success of your company.